Grizzly J/P decision

[AloneInPhx]

All, I would really appreciate some help on this!  I'm looking to buy a 12" jointer, and was looking at the G0634Z or the G0834. 

I already have an 18" woodmaster planer.  The compact size of the 12" appeals to me, and a planer to boot would be nice. 

My big issue is that the cutter head has 32 inserts, vs 96 on the 834. 

Reviews (and especially videos) of the G0634Z are hard to find.  Lots of reviews on the 8", but I'm not going that route. 

If the cut quality is the same, I'd rather go with the 634Z, for the foot print/planer pro's.

Thanks in advance!!

PS, I also searched woodnet for this topic as well, and came up empty.  Hopefully this isn't a double post.

[jteneyck]

Unless you really need to save space I would go with the stand alone jointer.  Much heavier construction, longer tables, and I'll bet the cut quality is better, too.  You already have an excellent planer.  I would go with the stand alone jointer to compliment it.  And said as an owner of a combo J/P.  

John

[AloneInPhx]

Unless you really need to save space I would go with the stand alone jointer.  Much heavier construction, longer tables, and I'll bet the cut quality is better, too.  You already have an excellent planer.  I would go with the stand alone jointer to compliment it.  And said as an owner of a combo J/P.  

John

Thanks!

[kurt18947]

Thanks!

I think it's mostly about space and if you need the wider jointer. I use mostly rough air dried stock so a 12" jointer is handy. I have a Jet JJP-12 as well, I'm a little space constrained so the J/P checks the boxes I wanted checked - wide jointer, induction motor on the planer, beefier than a benchtop planer. One thing you need to consider with a combo machine. If you plane a bunch of pieces then switch to jointer mode, you'll lose the planer thickness setting so if you need to plane more to the same thickness you'll want some sort of thickness gauge more accurate than a tape. With a standalone planer you may not have to move the depth setting.

[atgcpaul]

Agree with John also as an owner of a J/P (Jet 12"--excellent machine, though). I had a lunchbox planer and no jointer so going with the combo machine was an upgrade and I sold the planer. However, I would have loved to have had an 18" planer and I would have gotten a standalone jointer if the space allowed.