What is the best first power jointer for woodworking?

  What is the best first power jointer for woodworking?

I first learned to use a power jointer in my grandfather’s shop more than 60 years ago. I bought my first new jointer in 1972. I have owned a number of them and operated them for decades. And, as an officer in a woodworking guild, I have helped woodworkers choose among the various models on the market and listened to the horror stories of those who bought a bad one. In buying one there are a number if things one must consider.

What is the best first power jointer for woodworking?

The first of these is WIDTH. For almost all woodworking needs a 6-inch jointer is more than adequate. An 8-inch jointer is nice. And, if you have the space for it and can afford it, there is no reason not to buy one. But you could go your entire lifetime without making use of the extra 2-inches of width it offers over a 6-inch model. In my entire 60-plus years doing fine woodworking I have needed an 8-inch jointer exactly once to flatten a wide cupped board. Unless you routinely buy improperly dried junk lumber, or build things out of timbers rather than S2S cabinet grade hardwood, for almost all planing needs greater than a few of inches you will use your planer rather than your jointer.

LENGTH.

In order to joint a flat edge, especially when you are jointing long pieces, you need long infeed and outfeed tables. Twenty-four inches should be the minimum. The Powermatic Model 54 6–½ inch jointer pictured above, a highly regarded machine, has 32 1/2-inch infeed and outfeed tables. Some machines, fir example the Hitachi combination jointer/planer have folding extensions that add infeed and outfeed table length when needed.

POWER

You will need about 1 horsepower to power a 6-inch jointer. the motor is usually a 110/220-volt TEFC (Totally Enclosed Fan Cooled) motor drawing 13 amps at 110 volts and 6.5 at 220. Some combination jointer-planer machines use brush type Universal Motors. These are equally effective, though they are much noisier than the TEFC motors.

FENCE

The jointer fence must be sturdy, rigid, and securely attached so that when adjusted it cannot be move under normal pressure. It must be a solid casting, rather than sheet metal. And it should be long enough to keep a long board in proper position throughout the cut. The fence on the pictured Powermatic is 38-inches long and 4 ¾-inches high.

CABINET or TABLE TOP?

Unless you intend to limit yourself to building miniatures or doll house furniture, you should avoid the small table top jointers.

Table top jointers are not heavy enough to be stable and the tables are not long enough to adequately support a board during a long cut. Although not suitable for general fine woodworking, these table top jointers are useful for finish carpenters who need a portable jointer on the job site.

STRAIGHT or SPIRAL CUTTERS?

Each has its advantages. Spiral cutters run more quietly and require less power. And they are marginally easier to adjust in the cutter head. Those advantages are, however, academic. I have never needed more power when using a jointer. And adjusting planer blades using magnetic alignment tools or a gauge and a dial indicator is not difficult. Disadvantages of the spiral blades are that they are much more difficult to sharpen and more expensive to replace. Theoretically spiral blades should produce a smoother cut. When a jointer is used by a skilled operator I have not seen a difference in the surface quality of the machined board. And spiral blades do not eliminate machine marks.

LEVERS versus WHEELS?

There are two ways the mechanism which adjusts the heights of the jointer’s infeed and outfeed tables can be adjusted: Levers and Wheels. Lever adjustment designs are very difficult to precisely set. You are always over or under your desired setting and any attempt to finely adjust the mechanism will usually force it way past the desired setting. Moreover, lever adjustment mechanisms are notorious for going out of adjustment WHILE YOU ARE USING THE MACHINE. A jointer that uses a wheel and screw mechanism to adjust the table height is much easier to adjust and use.

COMBINATION or INDIVIDUAL MACHINES?

If you have a jointer you also own, or will eventually buy, a planer. There are combination Jointer/Planers that do both of these tasks.

For a small or home shop these combination machines are often a good choice as they save shop floor space. As you accumulate tools and get involved in bigger woodworking projects you will find that the shortage of shop floor space becomes one of your biggest problems. If the combination machine meets all of the criteria cited above and meets your needs it may be a good choice and should be considered.

WEIGHT In woodworking machinery the heavier machine is almost always the better machine. A heavier machine indicates that heavier castings were used rather than cheaper sheet metal, there is more copper in a heavier motor, there are bigger shafts and bearings. The heavier machine will run smoother with less vibration, will last longer, and, most importantly, it will stay in alignment.

WHAT BRANDS? I STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU BUY A QUALITY MACHINE MADE BY POWERMATIC, DELTA, GENERAL (IN CANADA), HITACHI, OR MAKITA. 

As a former officer in a woodworking guild I have heard all of the horror stories and tried to help woodworkers repair machines and solve problems after they made the mistake of buying a lightweight machine, or a cheap import such as those made by Grizzly, Jet, or anything sold by Harbor Freight. The cheap imports can vary from machine to machine that are supposedly the same make and model. They are plagued by warped tables and castings, misaligned shafts and bearings and pulleys, vibration, inadequate fences, tables that do not remain parallel throughout their adjustment range. The motors in the cheap imports are always of very low quality…often using sleeve bearings where roller or ball bearings are required.

Moreover, repair parts are difficult if not impossible to get. And, when and if you do get such a repair part, you often discover that the part won’t fit because the builder DID NOT USE INTERCHANGEABLE PARTS (!) but rather hand filed and scraped and fitted crudely cast and machined parts to make it fit your machine! With woodworking machinery, you get what you pay for.

 

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