If you must get a benchtop but need 6 inches, take a look at the craftman cast iron one for $275. It weighs 100 lbs, so it is not the most portable. I got one, and the only (and major) problem was that the bars holding the fence were brittle and when clamped with enough pressure to hold the angle, stress cracked. The replacements were the same. I made some out of 1/4 by 1 1/4 flat steel bar stock. You will need a drill press, a few drills near metric measurements around 10 mm, a 10 mm x 1.5 mm tap, and a grinder. If you could find 3/8 by 1 1/4 bar stock, that would work well. The dovetail fence slide lock is made out of the same suspicious metal, but seems to be beefy enough. I think it is a pressed, sintered product where they do not use enough pressure, heat, or voltage to get the metal tough enough for bending loads.
Other than that, every thing else is as solid as a decent floor standing model.
Specs:
Blades (2) 6 1/8 by about 1/16 in thick, disposable, indexed (the jack screwheads sit in slots in the blades). Replacement blades are $15.
Infeed table is 13 in cast iron, but it is somewhat difficult to adjust depth. I just keep mine at 1/32 locked down, as I would for most any jointer.
Outfeed table is part of the cast iron base and similar in length.
Fence is 23 x 4 1/2 cast iron mounted to a dovetailed cast iron slide, all locked down by 10 mm ratchet handled bolts. Properly repaired, this is a great little fence.
Motor 12 amp brush type (kinda cheap looking, but should be adequate), cog belt driving the machined aluminum cutterhead mounted in sealed bearings.
Blade guard is aluminum with a smooth spring mechanism.
It has the trash can dust colletion system similar to the craftsman planers, and works pretty well. Mine gets hooked up to the dust collector and is virtually dust free.
I bought mine because there were no good quality bench tops anywhere. All the other fences completely suck. If craftsman would spend the 50 cents to use plain old steel to make the fence clamps, I would rave madly about how good this is. If they add a decent little induction motor with better belts for $300, I'd sell them for free. Nothing is plastic until you get near the motor. Even when I build my dream shop, I'll keep this around for small things.
If you have basic metal working skills and tools, and this fits your budget and space requirements, buy it. This is the best benchtop jointer I've found without spending $700 or more. It is in a completely different league than the grizzly, delta, et al, benchtops. And I don't rave about tools lightly. Perfection would cost craftsman $15 more per unit.
william
