I need to buy a Planer Jointer Combo Machine

[GDay]

I sold my Seperate Powermatic Planer and Jointer, I am moving to a smaller house. I will not have room for all the big machines. My CNC Router will take up one bay of the 3 car garage. I mainly prepare rough stock to machine on the CNC. My Planer and Jointer had Byrd heads and I am spoiled. It seems my choices are the Jet JJP-12HH and Grizzly G0634XP. The European machines are available in 16" and cost 2X the price. They also do not have Spiral Heads. I am not a fan of Jet and have never bought Grizzly before. I am looking for input and experience here. Thanks in advance for sharing ideas.
Gary

[jteneyck]

Take a look at Hammer. Yes, they are expensive, but it's arguably the top end of J/P's and I can't remember anyone regretting their purchase. It's available with a spiral head, too. They come in 10" and 12" models, too, besides the bigger ones. Click on the promotional price available tab and then on the details/accessories tab; part way down you'll see the Silent Power spiral head option. The Order Online Now tab will show you the prices.

I have an Inca 10-1/4" J/P and it's a great little machine. Not in the class of the Hammer, to be sure, but it's been a reliable performer for me for over 25 years. They sometimes are available used for around $500 and are a bargain at that price if nothing is broken and it has a separate, belt drive induction motor like mine.

John

[GDay]

John, that was very helpful info. There does to appear to be a 4 to 8 week wait. They are pricey for sure, but it is on my list now.
Gary

[bandsaw]

I'm looking at the new Rikon 25-210H with helical head. Haven't found much feedback yet but it looks good.

http://www.rikontools.com/productpage_25-210H.html

[Rick F]

http://www.minimax-usa.com/index.php?opt...4&Itemid=35

I agree about looking at the Hammer. But also look at Mini-Max .. The two brands are in the same league IMO ..

Although Hammer and Mini Max will cost you more than the Asian Import, if you ever go to sell either one, they typically sell quickly and for a really decent value.

There's a member here who works for SCM Group which owns Mini Max..

Mini Max is Italian, Hammer is Austrian .. Both are exceptional quality.

[jteneyck]

This MiniMax just went for $1151 at auction. Looked like a good machine.

John

[Big Woody]

GDAY, if you are absolutely only considering the Jet & The Grizzly, then my vote is for the Jet, for one simple reason:

IIRC, the Jet does not require you to crank the planer table all the way down before converting back to jointing, whereas the Grizzly does. This is a HUGE PITA, and the reason I passed on a great deal for a used Grizzly.

Maybe the newest model is different, but I'd check carefully.
----------

Another thing to look at is how easy these are to adjust jointer table flatness. Some are not a parallelogram design & so need shimms. (ughh.) - I'm not sure about these two models, though. (I think the Jet is.)

[GDay]

Big Woody said:

---

GDAY, if you are absolutely only considering the Jet & The Grizzly, then my vote is for the Jet, for one simple reason:

IIRC, the Jet does not require you to crank the planer table all the way down before converting back to jointing, whereas the Grizzly does. This is a HUGE PITA, and the reason I passed on a great deal for a used Grizzly.

Maybe the newest model is different, but I'd check carefully.
----------

Another thing to look at is how easy these are to adjust jointer table flatness. Some are not a parallelogram design & so need shimms. (ughh.) - I'm not sure about these two models, though. (I think the Jet is.)

---

That is a nice bit of info to know. Thanks
Gary

[JGrout]

fyi

compared to the small inconvenience of how high the planer tables have to be moved between operations I would not give Jet a second look compared to Hammer or SCMI

The machines are in two completely different classes and Jet is not in the preferred one; I would take the Grizzly over the Jet even

<having operated and maintained three of the four in question and physically inspected the fourth in person Jet is last among those discussed so far.

HTH

Joe

[ruffcutt]

When I first bought my Felder J/P it came with hand cranking only for moving the planer table up and down. It's a PITA. It only took me about 2 weeks to order the electric life kit. The lift kit turned a PITA machine into a machine that's a pleasure to use.

If at all possible but something with an electric lift for the planer table. I don't know if Hammer offers that option or not.