Considering Getting A Jointer

[Joe W.]

Greetings all,

I am interested in getting a jointer and using it to glue up panels I would then use for cutting out scroll saw patterns.  That said, I feel the edge joints need to be tight with no gaps.
I have a DW table saw and planer.
Most of the wood I plan on edge jointing/gluing up would be 24”-36” in length and ½” -3/4” thick. 
I think I’ve narrowed it down to an 8” Benchtop Jointer with possible candidates of Wahuda, Wen, Rikon, and Grizzly. 

I’m looking for opinions/thoughts from anyone out there about getting a benchtop jointer – space and cost are limitations for me. 
I don’t expect to use it for jointing long pieces very often, if at all.
I’ve seen various postings about using a router instead to do the edge jointing and wonder if that’s the way to go instead.
I've also seen some postings that a benchtop jointer doesn't give good results.

So if any of you are out there doing jointing, I’d appreciate learning from your experience.

[don in brooklin on]

Just purchased the King 8 inch helical jointer just last Thursday and so far I am really impressed.  The cut is really clean and out of the box the fence was 90 degrees.  A friend has one too and he has only turned the cutter once in over a year and he does a lot.

I am sure there are are other exactly the same from the same factory as I looked at another and it looked the same except the colour and logo.  The grizzly looks the same.

It is just over 8 inches too that I wanted too.

 

 

 

 

[OCtoolguy]

I've got a Makita portable planer that I'm going to build a base for. Upside down, it will joint anything I need and it takes up very little space.

[kmmcrafts]

I've got just a garage sale $20 Delta 6" jointer I bought back in 2013.. I'm kinda curious as to why you'd need a 8"  if all you need is the edges for glue ups.. I've never did anything wider than 1- 1/2 inch before.. when the knives get dull in that spot I move the fence over a couple inches.. I'm not at the point of needing new knives.. but the motor is somewhat having issues so I'm thinking about looking for another one.. I guess if there is not price difference from a 6" - 8" then maybe that's the way to go.. As for panning surfaces I have a planner for that.. and honestly wouldn't try planning narrow boards on a jointer anyway.. unless that would be the only option and very seldomly done. 

Edit:

I just looked over the possible candidates you mentioned and they all look the same, Probably all manufactured same place with different paint jobs and stickers..   

Edited February 9, 2023 by kmmcrafts

[Joe W.]

1 hour ago, kmmcrafts said:

I'm kinda curious as to why you'd need a 8"  if all you need is the edges for glue ups.

Well, I was thinking there might be times when I would be edge jointing and gluing two 8" wide pieces.
Plus, I've heard the suggestion to get bigger if you can as you might outgrow the smaller (6 inch) one.
 

[Dave Monk]

I have an older delta 6" jointer that I bought used several years ago that has a pretty long bed. Would like to have an 8" but I guess I'm too tight to spend the money.  I buy a lot of 4/4" lumber that is planed hit of missed. Many time I may have a piece that has a little cup to it so I will run it through my jointer to get one side flat before I plane it. 

You may use it more than you think

[OCtoolguy]

God, I so envy you guys having all that space.

[Peter N White]

You could use a no 6 hand plane I have a jointer but most times I use hand  plane especially for those lengths

you mentioned and takes up no room.

[Dak0ta52]

I just purchased the WEN JT833H 8-inch jointer and I'm completely happy with it. I will only be doing limited jointing and figured with light use the WEN should hold up pretty well. I've got several other WEN products and have only had issues with on which was fixed rather quickly under warranty. This jointer is the spiral type but doesn't have as many blades as the helical. That means less blades to replace when they get dull. I've used it to joint a couple pieces of oak and it came out smooth as glass. It may not be as popular as some of the name brands but it does pretty darn good for what I need.

[don in brooklin on]

The WEN looks just the same as my King they just name it spiral versus helical.

Recently I have been doing a bunch of chactuterie boards from a twisted slab that was given to me.  They contain some scrolling but more milling and sanding.  That is why I needed 8 inches wide.  Would love to get 10 or 12 but this was all the budget would allow.  The Kind in Canada was $625 CAD plus tax.

This is an example of one of the boards.

 

 

[Joe W.]

9 hours ago, Dave Monk said:

I buy a lot of 4/4" lumber that is planed hit of missed. Many time I may have a piece that has a little cup to it so I will run it through my jointer to get one side flat before I plane it. 

Yeah, I found the same thing with some Select Pine S4S 2"x6"s I bought at Lowes to make a 45"x27" tabletop for my daughters laundry room.  
I tried truing them up with the table saw.  Some cuts were good.  Other's, not so much. 
Which reminded me of the old saw (pun intended):  The right tool for the job makes a world of difference.  
 

[Joe W.]

8 hours ago, Dak0ta52 said:

I just purchased the WEN JT833H 8-inch jointer and I'm completely happy with it. I will only be doing limited jointing and figured with light use the WEN should hold up pretty well. I've got several other WEN products and have only had issues with on which was fixed rather quickly under warranty. This jointer is the spiral type but doesn't have as many blades as the helical. That means less blades to replace when they get dull. I've used it to joint a couple pieces of oak and it came out smooth as glass. It may not be as popular as some of the name brands but it does pretty darn good for what I need.

Thanks!  The WEN JT833H 8 inch is one of the models I was considering.  It's one of the lower priced models, but spec-wise and design-wise seems similar to the other 3 models I'm looking at. 

[Joe W.]

1 hour ago, don in brooklin on said:

This is an example of one of the boards.

Thanks for the input and the photo.  That looks really good!

[Scrappile]

I use to have an 8" (I think) Ridgid jointer, but finally sold it.. I just could not get over the fear of using it.  Never have been afraid of any other tool, but the jointer just plain scared me.  I have  often regretted sell it, but even when I had it I tried every other means possible to get the job done without using it.

[kmmcrafts]

5 hours ago, Scrappile said:

I use to have an 8" (I think) Ridgid jointer, but finally sold it.. I just could not get over the fear of using it.  Never have been afraid of any other tool, but the jointer just plain scared me.  I have  often regretted sell it, but even when I had it I tried every other means possible to get the job done without using it.

Yeah they're not the safest tool.. The guy I got mine from showed me 3 missing finger tips.. He got a bit too close three different times.. Gotta say it would only take me once and I'm either not using it or I'm figuring out a safer way to do the job, LOL.. He didn't want to sell it but his wife was making him sell it.. His first issue he told me was taking the guard off so he could see what was happening.. seems like he could have seen his fingers too close.. I'm not certain he was all there.. seemed pretty smart talking to him other than taking the safety stuff off and doing it three different times.. 

An example of me finding another easier way is I got the tip of my pinky finger with a palm router.. I bought a CNC router to do the work for me with my hands on a computer keyboard rather than holding the router.. Hand router hasn't been out of the cabinet since. Lucky it only got just the skin and tip of my finger nail..

[Gene Howe]

On 2/8/2023 at 5:00 PM, OCtoolguy said:

I've got a Makita portable planer that I'm going to build a base for. Upside down, it will joint anything I need and it takes up very little space.

I have a Bosch and was considering doing the same. If you are using plans, can you share?  

[OCtoolguy]

4 hours ago, Gene Howe said:

I have a Bosch and was considering doing the same. If you are using plans, can you share?  

No plans but lots of youtube vids. Not rocket science but many variations.

[Scroll-N-Skydiver]

On 2/11/2023 at 7:15 AM, Gene Howe said:

I have a Bosch and was considering doing the same. If you are using plans, can you share?  

 

[Bill WIlson]

I've been woodworking for almost 45 years.  I've never owned a jointer.  Never had the budget and/or the space for one. 

This TV stand was made entirely from rough sawn, solid oak lumber.  The only plywood used was for the back panel.   I've learned how to work around the need for a jointer by using mostly my table saw, planer and occasionally a jack plane.  I've never had a problem getting the results I want.  

I would never try to talk anyone out of getting a jointer, if they want one.  I only want to point out that, like so many things in woodworking, there are many ways to accomplish various tasks.

[OCtoolguy]

5 hours ago, Bill WIlson said:

I've been woodworking for almost 45 years.  I've never owned a jointer.  Never had the budget and/or the space for one. 

This TV stand was made entirely from rough sawn, solid oak lumber.  The only plywood used was for the back panel.   I've learned how to work around the need for a jointer by using mostly my table saw, planer and occasionally a jack plane.  I've never had a problem getting the results I want.  

I would never try to talk anyone out of getting a jointer, if they want one.  I only want to point out that, like so many things in woodworking, there are many ways to accomplish various tasks.

I always try to keep in mind that folks did a great job way back before they discovered electricity and power tools.

[MarieC]

Joe, I have a 6" bench top Grizzly which works okay for me.  I like the bench top ones because they don't take up sooo much space... except they are really pretty short.  Rikon makes a new bench top that has extensions that you can pull out to make it longer but I'm not sure if you can get a wider one than 6".   For edge jointing I use my track saw mostly because I hate to spend the time going back over the edge until it is straight and I too am pretty afraid of Jointers.  Here is a good Youtube video that shows how to do it with a track saw if you don't already know: 

For flattening large pieces that are warped or twisted, I am making a router sled which I am hoping will work instead of buying another scarier larger jointer .  

[Bill WIlson]

18 hours ago, OCtoolguy said:

I always try to keep in mind that folks did a great job way back before they discovered electricity and power tools.

Just how old do you think I am?  

[Norm Fengstad]

I had a jointer but found a good "planer/jointer" blade for my table saw that is what I use now for edge glue ups

[OCtoolguy]

3 hours ago, Bill WIlson said:

Just how old do you think I am?  

You may have missed my point. Lol.

[Davevand]

I use my table saw to edge joint short boards. I have a couple of Tru-grip Clamp and Tool clamps (different lengths) that I clamp to one edge, run it thru the saw with the clamp along the fence. Remove the clamp turn the board around and use the fresh cut edge against the fence and you have have two parallel, straight edges.  I also have a 6" benchtop jointer but I don't use it very often