James,
I bought a little (old) 4" Sears Craftsman bench top jointer from my neighbor for $25. Put some new blades in it. Ran some boards through it and wondered how did I ever get along without one! Go for it.

 

Howdy James.....

Just another opinion here, but here's what I think. In a word, "Maybe". how's that for riding the fence? First I'd take a look at the amount of wood you might plan on running over the jointer. If in your opinion, it would be a fair amount..........well then..perhaps a good investment to be sure. However, would accomplishing the same ends via different means override the investment? If you're planning on using smallish to medium sized boards, ski's and a table saw jig would accomplish pretty much the same end result...

I'd say that if you already own a planer then yes it would be a good investment. With the jointer you're essentially working on 2 sides of the board. Truing up 1 edge and one face. Once this has been accomplished, its off the the planer or sander to do the opposing face and then to the table saw to run a parallel edge. Aside from the occasional novelty board I'll pick up on Ebay or here and there, 99% of the wood I get is roughsawn and requires my truing it up. Nice thing is, I can true it up to "MY" specs!!

I've a 6" Craftsman Professional jointer and I have to say, I really would NOT want to do without it. The only thing I would change would be I wish it were an 8" jointer. She gets used on just about every piece of wood I bring into the shop. From shorties to 8 footers. The cut it leaves behind is acceptable. I say acceptable due to the fact that the knives are about shot and should be replaced soon. When new, and set up properly she leaves behind an excellent finish (for a jointer!!) Noise is not a big issue. Need to be a bit careful when working with figured woods, tearout can be a problem and almost impossible to avoid unless you have one of the high end spiral cutters. An expense comparable to the cost of the jointer itself in some cases. On occasion the chips do clog up the unit, usually when I'm rushing things *L*. A dust collector is not a must, but unless you want to spend a good deal of your time with a broom and dust pan in hand, its handy to have. Setup is pretty straight forward and should be checked regularly. Keeping the knives sharp and a little rust prevention is about the only maintenance.

BTW... even if you don't have a planer, a well tuned #4 or #5 handplane along with a pair of winding sticks and a good straightedge can make quick work of truing up that 2nd face with a little practice.

SO, I'd say if ya got the funds, the room and the wood, most likely an investment you will not regret....

hth..
bill

edit to add: I've found that when chipout is a problem, slowing down and shallowing out the pass has helped considerably.....grain direction over the knives is a biggie!!!!

 

I have the small 6" Grizzly jointer. Prior to that I used a 60+ year old jointer in my father's home shop.

Jointers are wonderful at the 2 main jobs they perform, making one board face perfectly flat and then making one edge perfectly 90 degrees to that face. Edge rabbets are also possible with some jointers, but not important to me.

With any kind of rough lumber, a jointer is indispensable in the shop.

Best of luck, that one in the link looks like it would do what you need just fine.

 

---

accidental double post

 

A jointer will save you a lot of time and produce two perfectly flat, flush sides. This opens up the option of buying rough cut lumber which is a big money saver. It also allows many more options in wood selection. One option to consider is buying a used jointer. They are simple machines and hold up well. If buying new consider the spiral cutter head as they are quieter and produce a better cut. I recommend a 6 inch at a minimum. In evaluating 6 inch versus bigger sizes ask yourself how wide you want boards in a glue-up for a table top. Many woodworkers want 6 inch max (to limit warping) so a larger jointer is unnecessary. Having said that the 6 inch capacity limits your board size when buying unless you are willing to run wider boards through your band saw. (Often the twists in rough lumber won't allow use of a table saw until the board is jointed.)

 

I bought a used 6 inch Jet off of Craigslist. I really like it and often wonder how did I ever get along without it.

Note: My work area is small and there is no way I could fit an eight incher in there.

Seems many boards these days are cupped so I usually rip them down, then joint a flat side and edges. Then I run them through the planer.

My latest project, a toy box, was built that way which resulted in 18 inch wide panels. It turned out pretty nice.

Mike

 

I vote wholeheartedly "YES"!!!!! It is a Godsend for rough lumber. I'm not good enough (or patient enough) with a handplane or router to flatten or square boards consistently that way. The jointer gives very repeatable results with very little time investment. Time is a premium.

I'm on my second jointer, as a matter of fact. I liked the smaller one I had so well I bought a longer one and retrofitted it with a Byrd Shelix Cutter Head with Carbide Inserts. I couldn't see working without it.

 

James
A jointer has it uses besides jointing boards for edge glue ups you can cut rabbets ,chamfers. I have a jointer but usually I use my table saw and router to do the above cuts.
But I would never be without my planers I build nothing that I have not corrected the thickness before I start good luck making your decision. John

 

cutting rabbets...




I meant to ask, John.

How do you cut a rebate on the jointer. Mine is supposed to have that capacity, but I cannot see in the cr@ppy chinenglish manual how that is done?

 

I have an 8" x 72" and couldn't work without it anymore. I stand between my TS and the jointer and I often take boards off the saw and turn around and run them over the jointer to get rid of saw marks before making another cut. I also use a lot of rough lumber and the jointer and a planer are absolutely necessary for me and both have paid themselves off.

I also sometimes take small logs up to about 8" in diameter and 4' to 5' long and run them over the jointer until I get 1 flat side then turn it and get a 90 degree face to it. Then plane the other faces and you have a timber you can cut lumber from.

 

Hello James (jw2170) !



All as been said excepted that a planer is a good thing,
but a planer-thicknesser a must.

Where I stay i the only way to get good wood is to prepare it yourself.

So the planer makes it flat and squared to a 2nd face.
Then the thicknesser will make a third face parallel
and then the 4 th one.
That's the only way.
the planer alone cannot make a 4 squared with egal thickness.

Sorry, that might double the investment...

I would condider looking for a one made of cast-iron, because of the abrasive
contact with wood. Are some good used ones .

But I have seen one over-used old cast-iron one that I, and no one could
be able to set-up properly, because of wear on the planer cast-iron table.

We got a reasonably good one in france, that is simple but solid.
And is provided with a mortiser. Motor is brushless 230-240v 2hp.
Dont know if tables are still cast-iron (fonte d' acier in french) but was in the recent past.

Dégau rabot KITY | Outillage 2000

KITY Dgau-Rabot 439 (230 V) + Pitement roulettes + Mortaiseuse - Kity-Scheppach machines et outillages pour le travail du bois

Got this Metabo one :
Rabot dégauchisseuse stationnaire METABO HC260C | Leroy Merlin

But I think the kitty more solid and provides a morticer.

Regards.
Gérard.

 

James
I am a beginner woodworker.I had delta cousin of one you are looking at.The tables we're twisted and ran down hill.I gave it away and bought a used 8in. delta dj20 difference of night and day.If you have room and funds I would recommend larger one,and get the spiral cutter head,I live in northern part of my state and rough sawn lumber is plentiful.

 

Thank goodness for that.......VBG.

I was surprised to get so many responses so quickly.

The responses to date all seem very positive.

I have a good supply of recycled timber on hand and the jointer will enable me to use the majority of that and I will be able to buy rough sawn timber in future.

Second hand jointers within a reasonable distance are very few and far between here in Sydney.

I already have a thickness planer, so the jointer will complement that.

Looks like a drive with the credit card in pocket.......

 

But wait... there's more.

I bought a Rockwell 4" Jointer off craigslist. It soon became apparent that 4" width was very restrictive. I sold it and bought a 6" Powermatic off craigslist.

The platform on casters I built for the Rockwell worked with the Powermatic.

Works very well to take out saw marks from table saw or band saw.

 

Thanks everyone......I have a 6" jointer being delivered after Easter.

 

caveat


Hi James,
You said you've got a stock of recycled timber. I would urge you to check it very carefully for buried bits of nail etc, as they will wreak havoc on your shiny new jointer knives! Have fun
John in frozen England

 

Thanks John. I am aware of that danger...

 

I would look at an 8inch unless 6in is a big as you get

If you are using scrap the first step should be to get the board flat

That said there are many ways to skin a cow!

Enjoy

 

I guess I'm different than everyone else. I had a bench top joiner which I had mounted too high. I slipped off the edge of a board and put two fingers into the blades. I then got rid of the jointer and figured out different ways to accomplish the same thing. To take out the curve in a board by clamping a long, about 16' aluminum C channel to my table saw fence and run the board through. To put a finished side to a rough sawn board I run it through my planer. My table saw. Grizzly hybred, puts an excellent edge to a board for laminating up boards. Many times I've had people scratching their heads trying to find the joint. I put a helical cutter head in my Ridgid thickness planer and so I get a great finished side to a rough sawn board.

 

It may be a smooth surface, but if the board is bowed, you will just have a smooth bowed board. And yes, it is a very good idea to operate machines at a proper and comfortable height. Any machine can be dangerous otherwise.

 

Just buy it, You won't regret it!

 

Use push blocks when working on the jointer. Very good for safety, better grip and you can control the needed pressure on the wood for warped stock.

 

Indespensible.

 

Come on James, use a Scrub Plan for the hard work followed a No 6 for the overall flattening.

You should be using a Jointer plane after the rough milling anyway.

Then you may as well finish the board with a decent smoother.

So go visit the nice people at Lee Valley and order the following;

Veritas Scrub Plane
Veritas No 6
Veritas Bevel-Up Jointer
Veritas Bevel-Up Smoother

No noise, no pollution, healthy heart rate, bulging muscles to impress the young ladies, what more could you want?

 

I have a 6 inch Powermatic and it is a Godsend with rough and warped stock. I did considerable research before buying and went top of the line. Did not get the spiral cutter, straight blades are fine. It does something no other tool can match without a considerable amount of trouble. For example, face frames that start out true and straight, planed on one edge, then TS to exact width. It is the kind of tool that gives you that 1 or 2 percent more accuracy, the difference between good and excellent. I bought mine from Amazon and didn't have to pay any freight--saved more than $150 that way. The unit came in two boxes with the works encased in stiff foam so it was nearly perfect out of the box. I used a Wixly angle finder to get exact 90 degrees on the fence, go for 1/16th per pass and learned to transfer the down pressure from feed to jointed end as the board passes through.

I started looking at smaller, cheaper planers, but quickly discovered infeed and outfeed table length and flatness are key to a good machine. I almost bought a Rigid (good machine), but the price kept going up and HD wouldn't honor the lower price. When the difference turned out to be less than $300 including shipping the Rigid vs free shipping for the Powermatic, I decided I'd never regret getting the longer machine and popped.

I love working with planed stock. So, I guess you know my vote.

If you are using recycled lumber in particular, but really for any rough stock, get a good metal detector or nail finder and use it . One little staple or nail fragment can ruin a blade and even a project (found a nearly invisible staple fragment in the edge of a piece of face frame material just yesterday). I thought over the difference between a 6 inch vs 8 inch cutter and chose the 6 inch because I think you're better off gluing up smaller pieces to make a wide surface, less likely to warp that way, often cheaper to buy the smaller stock.

The Jointer is also able to do up to half inch rabbits, but I prefer other methods, so haven't tried it. Enjoy the purchase. I recently used the Jointer to produce a wooden plane blank that was a perfect square. Trued up the whole thing by using the fence after flattening one edge. It was beautiful, my engineer square said so.

 

I dont think this was mentioned, the jointer makes table saw work safer and more accurate, as a flat board is less likely to get snagged and tossed back at you.
I still find hand planes needed to work a board a little before running through the jointer at times to save material.
I always use push blocks, I had a board that looked sound, blow apart when jointing.
I have an 8" Grizzly, now looking for a 12" Northfield!

 

Check the fence

James,

I agree with just about everything said in favor of a jointer. I was able to pick up a 6 inch Ridgid on sale at Home Depot and have never regretted it. The only thing I'd add to what's been said is, make sure your fence is accurately set to 90 degrees before jointing the edge or you may end up with an "uh-oh" on a glue up. Gee, how do I know that? I tended to struggle using a triangle and ended up buying a digital angle gauge which has been a great help. I also learned the hard way (is there any other way?) to recheck the angle after I lock the fence down. My jointer will move the fence as much as .2 degrees when I tighten the handle. I've learned to set the fence to 90.2 degrees on the angle gauge then lock it down to get to 90.

A shop vac hooked up to the dust port helps to keep the machine clear since a jointer can produce a lot of shavings very fast and can jam it up. Did that too.

And finally, I like to give the bed and fence a coat of Renaissance wax from time time both for rust protection and to help the wood slide easier.

 

Go For it!

I'm refurbing a Sears 4" that belonged to my father. He turned out some great items with a table saw, the jointer, and hand tools. It hasn't run for a couple of decades, so stripped it down and reworking it from ground up. Nothing makes things fight like starting with straight edges.