I'm considering purchasing a 6" benchtop jointer. Space is an issue in
my shop, as is money. I know these things are not any good for long or
wide stock, but I do a lot of small work (boxes, frames, etc) so I'm
thinking that one of these machines might be adequate for the smaller
stock I'm usually working with.
The three possibilities I'm looking at are the Delta and the Shop Fox,
which can be seen on the following page:
http://tool-corral.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/page90.html
and the Woodtek here:
http://woodworker.com/cgi-bin/FULLPRES.exe?PARTNUM=115-955&LARGEVIEW=ON
To me, the Shop Fox actually looks like the best machine, although there
don't seem to be many dealers and I worry about parts and service
availability.
Does anybody have any experience/recommendations with these or any other
brands I've not looked at? Or are these things just toys I'll be sorry I
wasted money on? Keep in mind I'm just a hobbyist, but I don't want to
buy something totally useless either.
Charlie M. 1958 wrote:
> I'm considering purchasing a 6" benchtop jointer. Space is an issue in
> my shop, as is money. I know these things are not any good for long or
> wide stock, but I do a lot of small work (boxes, frames, etc) so I'm
> thinking that one of these machines might be adequate for the smaller
> stock I'm usually working with.
I had the delta as my first jointer. The motor was great. But the
tables were aluminum and the outfeet table drooped in one corner as
much as 1/8". Make sure you get one with flat tables.
Regardless, you'll want dust collection. A shopvac should do the
trick.
If I could start over again, I would get a proper six inch jointer. If
space were an issue, I would take the legs off and put the 6"er on the
bench. It wouldn't take up that much more room.
You may also want to consider permanently setting the depth at 1/32" or
something like that, then build extension infeed and outfeed tables you
can take off and put away. The sort tables will seriously limit
things.
brian
Leon wrote:
> "If" you use the jointer to flatten stock for small projects it should work
> well for you considering it limitations.
> If you only want to straighten the edge of you stock you can easily an more
> cheaply get by with a sled guided by your fence on your TS.
> I have a stationary 6" jointer and prefer using the TS and a sled with
> clamps to straighten boards up to 8' long.
> I use the jointer for 6' and under boards.
Thanks, Leon. Yeah, I'm perfectly comfortable using the TS for edges,
but I'm really more concerned with those boards that aren't quite flat,
or the times when I'm trying to glue up boards of slightly different
thicknesses.
Swingman wrote:
>
> Just a word of caution ... it is a mistake, and misuse of the tool, to rely
> upon, or use a jointer, to thickness your stock, as a jointer can't
> guarantee you parallel faces ... for that you need a planer.
>
> My advice would be to buy a planer first.
>
Swingman,
In the short time I've been hanging around here, your advice always
seems straightforward and practical, so I'll definitely give that some
thought.
The reason I was leaning against a planer, though, was that I heard
(maybe erroneously) that a planer often did a poor job on the ends of
boards. Working with a lot of short stock, I really can't afford much
waste. Also, what are the problems with feeding short stock into a planer?
Charlie
There are physical limits to what size wood you can pass
through a planer "unassisted".
The rollers and blades can not deal with anything that
is shorter than the distance between rollers.
A piece too short "might" get canted upward into the
blades causing a hell of a mess and causing you to
go change your shorts.
Having said that, you can do short pieces as long as
they are "supported" in a planer "carrier".
Here is an example of that:
http://www.woodworkingtips.com/etips/etip030711wb.html
This will help a great deal with the "snipe" issues..
Charlie M. 1958 wrote:
>
> The reason I was leaning against a planer, though, was that I heard
> (maybe erroneously) that a planer often did a poor job on the ends of
> boards. Working with a lot of short stock, I really can't afford much
> waste. Also, what are the problems with feeding short stock into a planer?
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I used to use the Delta 6" benchtop jointer ...the one you can find at Lowes
for about $200+. Worked really good since I am also cramped for space. The
only problem I had was when it came time to change the knives. Delta used
Allen keyed screws to hold the knives in but I was able to only get 2 of the
8 loose. I tried 3 different allen keys, they keys kept bending from the
torque I was using. Found a better allen key attachment for my nut driver
but was still unable to get them off...even tried heating them, using WD-40,
using PB Blaster...nothing would work so I upgraded to a 6" Jet jointer with
enclosed stand...
To sum it up, the only problem I had with the Delta was changing the knives.
"Charlie M. 1958" wrote:
> I'm considering purchasing a 6" benchtop jointer. Space is an issue in
> my shop, as is money. I know these things are not any good for long or
> wide stock, but I do a lot of small work (boxes, frames, etc) so I'm
> thinking that one of these machines might be adequate for the smaller
> stock I'm usually working with.
>
> The three possibilities I'm looking at are the Delta and the Shop Fox,
> which can be seen on the following page:
>
> http://tool-corral.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/page90.html
>
> and the Woodtek here:
>
> http://woodworker.com/cgi-bin/FULLPRES.exe?PARTNUM=115-955&LARGEVIEW=ON
>
> To me, the Shop Fox actually looks like the best machine, although there
> don't seem to be many dealers and I worry about parts and service
> availability.
>
> Does anybody have any experience/recommendations with these or any other
> brands I've not looked at? Or are these things just toys I'll be sorry I
> wasted money on? Keep in mind I'm just a hobbyist, but I don't want to
> buy something totally useless either.
--------------6B395705972C4709EFD5AFA9
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<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en">
<html>
I used to use the Delta 6" benchtop jointer ...the one you can find at
Lowes for about $200+. Worked really good since I am also cramped
for space. The only problem I had was when it came time to change
the knives. Delta used Allen keyed screws to hold the knives in but
I was able to only get 2 of the 8 loose. I tried 3 different allen
keys, they keys kept bending from the torque I was using. Found a
better allen key attachment for my nut driver but was still unable to get
them off...even tried heating them, using WD-40, using PB Blaster...nothing
would work so I upgraded to a 6" Jet jointer with enclosed stand...
<p>To sum it up, the only problem I had with the Delta was changing the
knives.
<br>
<br>
<p>"Charlie M. 1958" wrote:
<blockquote TYPE=CITE>I'm considering purchasing a 6" benchtop jointer.
Space is an issue in
<br>my shop, as is money. I know these things are not any good for long
or
<br>wide stock, but I do a lot of small work (boxes, frames, etc) so I'm
<br>thinking that one of these machines might be adequate for the smaller
<br>stock I'm usually working with.
<p>The three possibilities I'm looking at are the Delta and the Shop Fox,
<br>which can be seen on the following page:
<p> <a href="http://tool-corral.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/page90.html">http://tool-corral.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/page90.html</a>
<p>and the Woodtek here:
<p><a href="http://woodworker.com/cgi-bin/FULLPRES.exe?PARTNUM=115-955&LARGEVIEW=ON">http://woodworker.com/cgi-bin/FULLPRES.exe?PARTNUM=115-955&LARGEVIEW=ON</a>
<p>To me, the Shop Fox actually looks like the best machine, although there
<br>don't seem to be many dealers and I worry about parts and service
<br>availability.
<p>Does anybody have any experience/recommendations with these or any other
<br>brands I've not looked at? Or are these things just toys I'll be sorry
I
<br>wasted money on? Keep in mind I'm just a hobbyist, but I don't want
to
<br>buy something totally useless either.</blockquote>
</html>
--------------6B395705972C4709EFD5AFA9--
In article <[email protected]>, "Charlie M. 1958" <[email protected]> wrote:
>The reason I was leaning against a planer, though, was that I heard
>(maybe erroneously) that a planer often did a poor job on the ends of
>boards. Working with a lot of short stock, I really can't afford much
>waste.
Depends on the planer. Some snipe worse than others. Also depends on your
technique: supporting the ends of long boards as they enter and leave the
planer reduces snipe substantially.
>Also, what are the problems with feeding short stock into a planer?
High-speed ejection of the board through the INfeed end is the major problem
associated with feeding too-short boards into a planer. Read the manual
carefully. It will prescribe the minimum length of board that can be planed
safely. They mean it. As long as you're over the minimum, though, you won't
have a problem.
--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)
It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.
> "If" you use the jointer to flatten stock for small projects it should
> work well for you considering it limitations.
> If you only want to straighten the edge of you stock you can easily an
> more cheaply get by with a sled guided by your fence on your TS.
> I have a stationary 6" jointer and prefer using the TS and a sled with
> clamps to straighten boards up to 8' long.
> I use the jointer for 6' and under boards.
>
I am considering getting a combination machine with a 40" long jointer. I
doubt it is good for jointing anything much over 4' long, but I rarely glue
anything much longer than that anyhow. But when I do, it will be a serious
problem.
Do you use the TS for long board just for cosmetics, or does it give you a
glueable edge? Doesn't seem likely, but it would be a solution for me.
That's my solution.
"Patriarch" <[email protected]> wrote in message > >
>
> A Stanley #6?
>
> Patriarch
"brianlanning" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> If I could start over again, I would get a proper six inch jointer. If
> space were an issue, I would take the legs off and put the 6"er on the
> bench. It wouldn't take up that much more room.
>
I built my jointer stand so that a board passes over the tablesaw wing,
clearing the fence by about a half inch. It's not really inconvenient to
bend a bit when using, and may even help on longer stock. Generally you can
expect to handle 8' on a 4' table, as long as the wood's not too heavy.
Then a support of some sort makes sense.
Charlie M. 1958 wrote:
> I'm considering purchasing a 6" benchtop jointer. Space is an issue in
> my shop, as is money. I know these things are not any good for long or
> wide stock, but I do a lot of small work (boxes, frames, etc) so I'm
> thinking that one of these machines might be adequate for the smaller
> stock I'm usually working with.
>
> The three possibilities I'm looking at are the Delta and the Shop Fox,
> which can be seen on the following page:
>
> http://tool-corral.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/page90.html
Where are you at? If you're anywhere near Charlotte, NC, I have a Delta
Shopmaster with a base that I'll make somebody a good deal on. Lightly used;
replaced with a 8" North State bohemoth.
Make me an offer.
--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com
"Charlie M. 1958" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> I'm considering purchasing a 6" benchtop jointer. Space is an issue.
<snip>
> Does anybody have any experience/recommendations with these or any other
> brands I've not looked at? Or are these things just toys I'll be sorry I
> wasted money on? Keep in mind I'm just a hobbyist, but I don't want to
> buy something totally useless either.
>
A Stanley #6?
Patriarch
"Charlie M. 1958" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm considering purchasing a 6" benchtop jointer. Space is an issue in my
> shop, as is money. I know these things are not any good for long or wide
> stock, but I do a lot of small work (boxes, frames, etc) so I'm thinking
> that one of these machines might be adequate for the smaller stock I'm
> usually working with.
>
> The three possibilities I'm looking at are the Delta and the Shop Fox,
> which can be seen on the following page:
>
> http://tool-corral.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/page90.html
>
> and the Woodtek here:
>
> http://woodworker.com/cgi-bin/FULLPRES.exe?PARTNUM=115-955&LARGEVIEW=ON
>
> To me, the Shop Fox actually looks like the best machine, although there
> don't seem to be many dealers and I worry about parts and service
> availability.
>
> Does anybody have any experience/recommendations with these or any other
> brands I've not looked at? Or are these things just toys I'll be sorry I
> wasted money on? Keep in mind I'm just a hobbyist, but I don't want to buy
> something totally useless either.
The Delta works, it's cut everything I've thrown at it with no difficulty,
and for me "anything" includes lignum vitae, ipe, and purpleheart. If it
will cut those it will cut just about anything.
Its big weakness is the fence--getting it aligned to an adequate
approximation of 90 degress is a pain in the butt and once you've got it
there you don't want to move it off of that setting because of the
difficulty of getting it back. One of these days I'm going to make one up
that's fixed at 90.
The tables have a good deal of friction--if it's not fastened down to
something solid the wood you're cutting can easily drag the whole jointer
around. Waxing the tables helps but it's not a complete solution--the
"right" solution is to fasten it down to something.
I've successfully jointed 8-foot boards on it but it's not something that I
would want to do regularly. For that you really want something with longer
tables.
Looking at the pictures and descriptions of the Shop Fox and Woodtek my main
concern would be dust and shaving extraction--the Delta has a wide open
chute with no obstructions and that sometimes fills up with shavings to the
point that they have to be pulled out by hand--I'd be concerned about the
others, with much smaller outlets, getting clogged to the point that
disassembly is required to clear them--of course there may be a nice
cleanout on the back that doesn't show in the pictures.
"Charlie M. 1958" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Swingman wrote:
>
>>
>> Just a word of caution ... it is a mistake, and misuse of the tool, to
>> rely
>> upon, or use a jointer, to thickness your stock, as a jointer can't
>> guarantee you parallel faces ... for that you need a planer.
>>
>> My advice would be to buy a planer first.
>>
>
> Swingman,
>
> In the short time I've been hanging around here, your advice always seems
> straightforward and practical, so I'll definitely give that some thought.
>
> The reason I was leaning against a planer, though, was that I heard (maybe
> erroneously) that a planer often did a poor job on the ends of boards.
> Working with a lot of short stock, I really can't afford much waste. Also,
> what are the problems with feeding short stock into a planer?
Snipe is mainly an issue with long boards (i.e. ones that are too long to be
fully supported by the planer during the entire planing operation). If
you're dealing mostly with short stock this is pretty much not an issue and
even with long boards a reasonable effort to keep the boards level during
planing pretty much eliminates the problem.
You really should have both.
"Charlie M. 1958" wrote in message
> Swingman wrote:
>
> >
> > Just a word of caution ... it is a mistake, and misuse of the tool, to
rely
> > upon, or use a jointer, to thickness your stock, as a jointer can't
> > guarantee you parallel faces ... for that you need a planer.
> >
> > My advice would be to buy a planer first.
> >
>
> Swingman,
>
> In the short time I've been hanging around here, your advice always
> seems straightforward and practical, so I'll definitely give that some
> thought.
>
> The reason I was leaning against a planer, though, was that I heard
> (maybe erroneously) that a planer often did a poor job on the ends of
> boards. Working with a lot of short stock, I really can't afford much
> waste. Also, what are the problems with feeding short stock into a planer?
For a non-neander, IME it takes a very good, and usually expensive, machine
to effectively plane stock not much longer than the combined infeed and
outfeed table without snipe, and you still may need to come up with a jig of
some type to do it, although it is doable.
However, a practical solution is to plane your boards while they are a much
longer length, then crosscut to final dimension.
This is pretty SOP for most woodworkers.
Another option, since you're dealing mostly with for small stock, is a
thickness sander ... might want to check those out two.
HTH ...
--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/29/06
In article <[email protected]>,
Charlie M. 1958 <[email protected]> wrote:
>I'm considering purchasing a 6" benchtop jointer. Space is an issue in
>my shop, as is money. I know these things are not any good for long or
>wide stock, but I do a lot of small work (boxes, frames, etc) so I'm
>thinking that one of these machines might be adequate for the smaller
>stock I'm usually working with.
>
>The three possibilities ...
<...snipped...>
>
Consider the Stanley too.
--
Contentment makes poor men rich. Discontent makes rich men poor.
--Benjamin Franklin
Larry Wasserman - Baltimore, Maryland - [email protected]
"Charlie M. 1958" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm considering purchasing a 6" benchtop jointer. Space is an issue in my
> shop, as is money. I know these things are not any good for long or wide
> stock, but I do a lot of small work (boxes, frames, etc) so I'm thinking
> that one of these machines might be adequate for the smaller stock I'm
> usually working with.
>
> The three possibilities I'm looking at are the Delta and the Shop Fox,
> which can be seen on the following page:
>
I had the Delta, and while some people seem to like it, I thought it was a
piece of crap.
I got it because I was really really short on space, but decided I needed to
cram a real jointer in somehow.
"Charlie M. 1958" wrote in message
> but I'm really more concerned with those boards that aren't quite flat,
> or the times when I'm trying to glue up boards of slightly different
> thicknesses.
Just a word of caution ... it is a mistake, and misuse of the tool, to rely
upon, or use a jointer, to thickness your stock, as a jointer can't
guarantee you parallel faces ... for that you need a planer.
My advice would be to buy a planer first.
--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/29/06
"Charlie M. 1958" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm considering purchasing a 6" benchtop jointer. Space is an issue in my
> shop, as is money. I know these things are not any good for long or wide
> stock, but I do a lot of small work (boxes, frames, etc) so I'm thinking
> that one of these machines might be adequate for the smaller stock I'm
> usually working with.
>
> The three possibilities I'm looking at are the Delta and the Shop Fox,
> which can be seen on the following page:
>
> http://tool-corral.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/page90.html
>
> and the Woodtek here:
>
> http://woodworker.com/cgi-bin/FULLPRES.exe?PARTNUM=115-955&LARGEVIEW=ON
>
> To me, the Shop Fox actually looks like the best machine, although there
> don't seem to be many dealers and I worry about parts and service
> availability.
>
> Does anybody have any experience/recommendations with these or any other
> brands I've not looked at? Or are these things just toys I'll be sorry I
> wasted money on? Keep in mind I'm just a hobbyist, but I don't want to buy
> something totally useless either.
"If" you use the jointer to flatten stock for small projects it should work
well for you considering it limitations.
If you only want to straighten the edge of you stock you can easily an more
cheaply get by with a sled guided by your fence on your TS.
I have a stationary 6" jointer and prefer using the TS and a sled with
clamps to straighten boards up to 8' long.
I use the jointer for 6' and under boards.
On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 10:18:33 -0600, "Charlie M. 1958"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>I'm considering purchasing a 6" benchtop jointer. Space is an issue in
>my shop, as is money. I know these things are not any good for long or
>wide stock, but I do a lot of small work (boxes, frames, etc) so I'm
>thinking that one of these machines might be adequate for the smaller
>stock I'm usually working with.
>
>The three possibilities I'm looking at are the Delta and the Shop Fox,
>which can be seen on the following page:
>
> http://tool-corral.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/page90.html
>
>and the Woodtek here:
>
>http://woodworker.com/cgi-bin/FULLPRES.exe?PARTNUM=115-955&LARGEVIEW=ON
>
>To me, the Shop Fox actually looks like the best machine, although there
>don't seem to be many dealers and I worry about parts and service
>availability.
>
>Does anybody have any experience/recommendations with these or any other
>brands I've not looked at? Or are these things just toys I'll be sorry I
>wasted money on? Keep in mind I'm just a hobbyist, but I don't want to
>buy something totally useless either.
I haven't used a benchtop jointer, but that's what Michael Dunbar of
Windsor chair fame uses, and he likes it just fine. If it's good
enough for him . . .
I've never owned or used a jointer in my woodworking, and IMHO I've
made some really nice furniture. I just haven't found it necessary. I
do find a thickness planer indispensable. It saves lots of money when
you can buy rough stock, and you can tweak the thickness you need. I
"joint" edges by ripping on the tablesaw, and find the sawn edges --
with a good blade -- to be more than adequate for glue-ups.
Go for the planer first.
tt
Agreed.
"Test Tickle" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I've never owned or used a jointer in my woodworking, and IMHO I've
> made some really nice furniture. I just haven't found it necessary. I
> do find a thickness planer indispensable. It saves lots of money when
> you can buy rough stock, and you can tweak the thickness you need. I
> "joint" edges by ripping on the tablesaw, and find the sawn edges --
> with a good blade -- to be more than adequate for glue-ups.
>
> Go for the planer first.
>
> tt