I've had a very well performing Grizzly 8" jointer for a while now. It's a long bed, and takes up a lot of room. Since I've been restoring old machinery, and replacing the newer stuff with them, I've been looking for another jointer.
Back in July I saw a CL ad for a J.D. Wallace 8" jointer. No age on it, and a couple crappy pictures. It was located 250 miles away in Traverse city. I sent an e-mail, and got a response a couple days later. The jointer is from the late 30s to early 40s.
It was taken apart because he had wanted to rebuild it, but decided other things were more important. I told him we were planning a trip north, and could stop by on the way up.
Trip time finally came up, and away we went. Took my pickup instead of the car, because Wifey didn't want a 400 pound machine in the trunk of her Taurus . Guess I can't fault her for that.
A pleasant drive to Traverse, through areas of the state we haven't seen in many years. Got to his home, and backed up to the barn. There it was, sitting on the floor in pieces, just like the pictures.
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Got everything loaded, transferred the dollars, and we left to meet with our Grandson, who is going to school at North Western in Traverse. Had a nice lunch and visit with him, and headed out to our final destination, Onaway.
This thing took up a bunch of room in the truck, especially with a Craftsman 6" jointer that I carry around for weight.
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Got it home and put it together to see what I had to work with. These were a very solidly built jointer. The cutter head has what is called Skewed knives. They are set with a slight angle, instead of being straight across. An early helical head.
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I've started on the restoration, and been busy the last couple weeks with it. I bought a pneumatic needle scaler at Harbor Freight to remove old paint and rust. It takes a lot of air to use it, but it does a great job. Sure beats sand blasting. Painting the parts as I get them done.
This jointer was originally a direct drive unit, but the motor and coupling had been removed and conversion to belt drive had been started by a previous owner. Not a bad idea really. I decided to not use the iron table top, and built a new one out of some 100 year old pine I have. Helps keep it period correct.
I cut a hole in the top for chip collection, and have so far gotten the motor and A frame mounted. Going to take a break this weekend and get back at it Monday.
![Image]()
![Image]()
Back in July I saw a CL ad for a J.D. Wallace 8" jointer. No age on it, and a couple crappy pictures. It was located 250 miles away in Traverse city. I sent an e-mail, and got a response a couple days later. The jointer is from the late 30s to early 40s.
It was taken apart because he had wanted to rebuild it, but decided other things were more important. I told him we were planning a trip north, and could stop by on the way up.
Trip time finally came up, and away we went. Took my pickup instead of the car, because Wifey didn't want a 400 pound machine in the trunk of her Taurus . Guess I can't fault her for that.
A pleasant drive to Traverse, through areas of the state we haven't seen in many years. Got to his home, and backed up to the barn. There it was, sitting on the floor in pieces, just like the pictures.
Got everything loaded, transferred the dollars, and we left to meet with our Grandson, who is going to school at North Western in Traverse. Had a nice lunch and visit with him, and headed out to our final destination, Onaway.
This thing took up a bunch of room in the truck, especially with a Craftsman 6" jointer that I carry around for weight.
Got it home and put it together to see what I had to work with. These were a very solidly built jointer. The cutter head has what is called Skewed knives. They are set with a slight angle, instead of being straight across. An early helical head.
I've started on the restoration, and been busy the last couple weeks with it. I bought a pneumatic needle scaler at Harbor Freight to remove old paint and rust. It takes a lot of air to use it, but it does a great job. Sure beats sand blasting. Painting the parts as I get them done.
This jointer was originally a direct drive unit, but the motor and coupling had been removed and conversion to belt drive had been started by a previous owner. Not a bad idea really. I decided to not use the iron table top, and built a new one out of some 100 year old pine I have. Helps keep it period correct.
I cut a hole in the top for chip collection, and have so far gotten the motor and A frame mounted. Going to take a break this weekend and get back at it Monday.
