Jointer Advice

I'm taking a look at some new toys. Wood Guy Disease in full effect.

Does anyone have any experience with this Delta 37-195 Jointer or recommendations on something else? Main concern being size right now.

[Ryan]

I don't have any personal experience with Delta jointers, however, I have the Ridgid 6", and I highly reccomend it. Especially since their lifetime warranty is included again! It runs smooth and does a great job, and the price was right. Just my $.02.

[Monty]

Don't really know about that jointer. Here, read this: link, keeping in mind that this was published 6 years ago.

Originally Posted by insomniac

Don't really know about that jointer. Here, read this: link, keeping in mind that this was published 6 years ago.

Wow, how do you come up with this stuff so quick?? Oh, never mind, "Insomniac" I get it now. Thanks though, really. That was a good article. I read most of it after seeing the comparison chart. Pretty informative stuff. Although, like you said, 6 years old. I will have to see if I the other jointers mentioned are still around or if they have changed.

One good thing I guess is that I picked out a machine with "editors choice" rating. But I'm still interested in hearing what the others here have to say before I'm sold.

[Steve D]

I know that you said space is a constraint and I don't know what you have available. My biggest regret is that I bought a 6" instead of an 8". If you could make it work in your space this model just came out and received a positive reviews.



It retails for about $100 more ($625) than the Delta but you will have much greater capacity for face planing to flatten stock. If you want flat stock, you can't get there without a jointer and wider is better.

[SteveColes]

I have the 37-275X which is its more expensive brother. (not sute why it is more expensive. Looking at the specs they identical.) Anyway it sure does what I hoped it would it do. Take a look at this review of the 195 that is recent.

I am looking for some edu-kashun guys. Assuming you already have a planer, what does an 8" jointer provide you with that a 6" does not? I realize trying to do edges on a planer is "tricky" , but what else do you use your floor standing jointers for? It seems snipe is an issue with both machines, is it not? For beveled edges wouldn't the table saw work as well? Please be careful with how you answer - it doesn't take to much encouragement to justify a new tool!

[McRabbet]

Originally Posted by rcorne01

I am looking for some edu-kashun guys. Assuming you already have a planer, what does an 8" jointer provide you with that a 6" does not? I realize trying to do edges on a planer is "tricky" , but what else do you use your floor standing jointers for? It seems snipe is an issue with both machines, is it not? For beveled edges wouldn't the table saw work as well? Please be careful with how you answer - it doesn't take to much encouragement to justify a new tool!

Planers can't truly "flatten" a board because the infeed and outfeed rollers and tables are too short -- a typical 6" jointer has about 2 feet of infeed & 2 feet out flat outfeed, while an 8" one adds another foot to each. That means you can flatten a board over the full 6 feet without any curl or bow. Snipe is also eliminated if the board is fed correctly across the knives -- I usually only take about a 1/64" cut anyhow, and I get no snipe at all. I'd agree with Steve_D's recommendation for the $625 Grizzly -- great buy.

Sorry to add to your WG Disease vulnerability.

[D L Ames]

Rick, I have used my jointer to face plane one side of cupped and bowed boards. Once I get one face trued up then I pass it through the planer to thickness the board. And for that purposes wider is better since with a 6" planer you can only true up the face of a 6" wide piece of stock.


D L

[clowman]

PHJ.

you may have already seen this, but we have had a recent thread on jointers. I think that barbara started it, and ended up with a ridgid she is really happy with... Check it out here

Edit
After reading the post again, I think she was trying to decide upon a bench model or floor model, but it may still interest you

[TominZebulon]

I have had the Grizzly 6" jointer for just about a year now and I love it! However, if I had it to do over again, I definitely would have gotten the 8". It is amazing to me how often I need to joint the face of a 6 1/4" board and cannot. Floor space is at a premium for me also, but that is one machine that would stay after some others went if I had to. Of course, flattening a face using a #7 jointer plane is always fun if you have the time and actually enjoy listening to music or something while you work.

[Monty]

Yep, with a 6" you have to rip your wide rough stock down to < 6" to face joint it. I have gotten in the habit of cutting out my stock down to roughly close to finished dimension - the pieces almost always fit fine on my 6" jointer then. But if you're trying to make a wide panel, it still kind of sucks to take a nice 8" board and rip it down into two 4" boards just so you can joint/plane them and glue them back together again...

[Steve D]

Right on the money guys in terms of face planing. The common thought is that jointer are for trueing the edge and removing saw marks. They are good for that purpose but their primary purpose is to flatten stock. Hopefully this will help, but I was always taught that you cut rough stock to approximate length, usually the finished dimension plus a couple of inches. The next step is to flatten the face of the stock on the jointer. As McRabbet said, this is really the only tool that can do this operation effectively. After the face is flat, place it against the fence and joint the edge. This gives you one face and one edge that are flat and square. Next move on to the thickness planer and plane the board to the finshed dimension plus a little extra for sanding (1/64 - 1/32). Rip to width +1/32 and pass over jointer to remove saw marks (2 passes at 1/64 or 1 at 1/32). You now have a board that is flat, true and 4 edges at right angles. The extra length allows you to trim to final dimension and remove any snipe from the planer. Remember to trim both ends of the board because neither end is squared at this time.

The better your equipment, and even more important, the more accurately you set them up, the better the results. With everything tuned and a good rip blade you can minimize or eliminate the need to oversize stock.

Thanks guys. It really helped to hear how these tools are used. Definitely what I was looking for. I have nearly 100' of rough cut walnut, so of course will be dealing with trying to flatten some of the pieces. On the down side, I think I am hearing a sirens song caling out, and my wallet now seems restless.

Now that you guys have got me exposed to the jointer strain of woodguy's disease I thought I would share a couple things I found:

First - borderline sacrilage!

Second - a good add-on to the explanation Steve provided, I found this article as well.

Now to find the shop space!