Jointer and Planer - You get a Re-do, what you going with?

[luvmytoolz]

Given the price of lumber these days, "virtually no cost" can still be a couple hundred bucks for the table surface and "scrap" wood for the sled if you don't already have a large enough table.  Let alone not having a high-horsepower router to run it.

If all a person has is an OF 1100 or a trim router, a slab-flattening router sled isn't "virtually no cost", even if it's shop made, unfortunately.

I think you misunderstand the basic sort of sled that can be made, materials in OZ are probably the most expensive of anywhere in the world, but you'd be hard pressed to find any half competent woodworker here who couldn't make a simple sled as shown out of scrap MDF, chipboard, old kitchen benchtops, fencing, etc, etc, etc.

And if the cost of making such a sled is so prohibitive to some, I'd say they probably should look for a cheaper hobby than woodworking. There's nothing about doing woodworking on any decent scale that's cheap.

 

[derekcohen]

The choice of weapons depends on the type of woodworking you do.

When I was younger, the only machine I owned was a table saw, and I processed boards with planes and teeth. This got a bit much when I reached my 95th year. Also my dentures kept falling out.

I did have an 8" jointer and 13" thicknesser-planer for a few years, but the neighbours in the next state complained about the noise. The neighbours next door were shell-shocked by the racket, which sounded like a banshee in heat, but eventually complained to the council, who replaced everything with a Hammer A3-31. Now silence reigns.

I build medium-sized furniture, and the A3-31 is just perfect. I might want a longer bed if producing tables and beds commercially. I might want a wider bed if using boards greater than 12", but these are quite rare in the real world. I do not thickness laminates. I thickness single boards. A sled is useful if you only need to thickness on occasion, but then you are back to square one with the screaming banshee!

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[RussellS]

I did have an 8" jointer and 13" thicknesser-planer for a few years, but the neighbours in the next state complained about the noise.

Regards from Perth

Derek

You need to move.  According to Google, Western Australia has a population density of 1.1 people per square kilometer.  But the Northern Territory only has 0.18 people per square kilometer.  Its way too dense where you live.  There are way too many people where you live.  You have more than one person per whole square kilometer!!!!!  Step out your front door and you run into someone.  You need to move over to the Northern Territory.  You could have 5 square kilometers and still not get to 1 person near your property.  Heck, in the Northern Territory, if you got the right 5 square kilometers, you could have your own forest and cut your own trees for woodworking.  No need to ever leave your shop.  [smile] [smile] [smile] [smile] [smile]

 

[jeffinsgf]

I know this community spans an enormous range of ages, interests and geographic bases as well as spanning every woodworking level from rank beginning amateur to seasoned professional. So, I'm going to throw out this comment knowing full well I could be inviting a barrage of criticism. I use a 1985 INCA combination jointer/thickness planer that I've had for a couple years, and couldn't be happier with. I have a brand new Powermatic 8" jointer and 15" planer at work (Woodpeckers) and routinely bring material that I need for video demonstrations home for a final pass through my INCA rather than rely on the Powermatic pair. Contrary to earlier comments regarding alignment of jointer tables, I have never...in a couple years of pretty heavy "amateur" work...had anything other than perfectly straight and flat edges from the jointer. No...I can't take a quarter inch off per pass. But to be honest, you can't push the Powermatic planer, either. It takes me 2 minutes and about $20 to put fresh edges in my planer. I know helical heads are great, but changing out a nick in one area takes longer than putting a complete new set of edges in my TERSA cutterhead, and a complete blade change on a helical head (which would take at least an hour) still won't match my INCA for surface finish.

I've said it before (but maybe not here)...in the past 40 years power hand tools have made enormous leaps forward, but stationary machinery has devolved faster and farther than power tools have advanced.

 

[luvmytoolz]

I often see people obsessing over getting the machines dialled in just perfect, and on some machines it's doable, on others it can be a pain needing regular adjustment. I have no doubt my planer probably doesn't produce a perfect 90 degree now, but even if it did, I wouldn't expect to always rely it would keep doing that.

I only really plane for jointing or sometimes for more or less squaring up stock. And as a rule when jointing, I always flip the second edge, so if the planer isn't bang on every time it doesn't matter, the second edge being flipped cancels out any deviation and is a perfect joint as a result. In fact I could set it to 45 degrees and it would still be a perfect joint every time doing it this way.

 

[Michael Kellough]

I often see people obsessing over getting the machines dialled in just perfect, and on some machines it's doable, on others it can be a pain needing regular adjustment. I have no doubt my planer probably doesn't produce a perfect 90 degree now, but even if it did, I wouldn't expect to always rely it would keep doing that.

I only really plane for jointing or sometimes for more or less squaring up stock. And as a rule when jointing, I always flip the second edge, so if the planer isn't bang on every time it doesn't matter, the second edge being flipped cancels out any deviation and is a perfect joint as a result. In fact I could set it to 45 degrees and it would still be a perfect joint every time doing it this way.

Clamping them together wold be a little dicey…

 

[luvmytoolz]

I often see people obsessing over getting the machines dialled in just perfect, and on some machines it's doable, on others it can be a pain needing regular adjustment. I have no doubt my planer probably doesn't produce a perfect 90 degree now, but even if it did, I wouldn't expect to always rely it would keep doing that.

I only really plane for jointing or sometimes for more or less squaring up stock. And as a rule when jointing, I always flip the second edge, so if the planer isn't bang on every time it doesn't matter, the second edge being flipped cancels out any deviation and is a perfect joint as a result. In fact I could set it to 45 degrees and it would still be a perfect joint every time doing it this way.

Clamping them together wold be a little dicey…

Yes normal clamps could make it tricky, I should have mentioned I use the Frontline clamps which are true 4 way clamp and keep loads of pressure on the faces as well as the edges.

But even without panel clamps like the Frontlines, so long as you use a biscuit joiner or Domino for alignment, these will keep them flat regardless of any angle on the edges.

 

[Cheese]

I'm a big fan of the combo units because of the space they save but I can't really find much wrong with my 735 with a Shelix head. A small foot print and portable (sort of) and I'm still happy with it after 10-12 years. The changeover to a Shelix head was a game changer. It cost almost as much as the planer itself but it's worth every penny.

A few years back I tossed the 735 into the truck and transported it to my folks house where I double beveled 12' lengths of 2 x 6 cedar for sun deck railings. To do that in my small basement shop would have been impossible. But moving the equipment to the site instead, was easy and fast...very Festool style.

So combo units vs separates, both have their supporters as do track saws vs table saws.  [smile]

 

[MikeGE]

I often see people obsessing over getting the machines dialled in just perfect, and on some machines it's doable, on others it can be a pain needing regular adjustment. I have no doubt my planer probably doesn't produce a perfect 90 degree now, but even if it did, I wouldn't expect to always rely it would keep doing that.

I had a Chinese-made Holzmann HOB260NL, that became my greatest purchasing mistake (so far).  While I did not have any expectations that I could get it dialed in just perfect, I would have been content with just close enough.  However, it was not possible with this machine.

In all seriousness, it took me less time to learn to hover a helicopter during flight training than it took to get the Holzmann's jointer infeed and outfeed tables coplanar and the planer table parallel to the cutter block.  Even then, the adjustments would not last more than a week of light use before I had to repeat the process. Between the sloppy machining and design errors, I realized spending more time trying to keep this monstrosity

After getting rid of that nightmare, I bought the SCM (Minimax) FS 30G and could not be happier.  No adjustments were required after uncrating and moving it to my basement.  The Tersa knives are wonderful and the SCM is better in every way than the Holzmann.

 

[jordanrossbell]

- where are you / the machine located geographically?

Hans

Sorry for late replay, I’m in the Dallas Texas area

 

[SoonerFan]

As others have mentioned, space and budget are big considerations.

I have a Jet 8" Helical Head Jointer and a Jet 15" Helical Head Planner.  I bought them both when I moved into the new shop.  I went with these two separate units for a few reasons.  First, and very importantly I have the space and think there will always be some compromise with a combo unit.  I have both setup in proximity to my table saw and drum sander to make milling convenient.  Second, I wanted helical heads and have been very happy with the cut quality of both units.  Third, since we built the new shop, I had plenty of available 230V 1 Phase power.  When buying new tools I typically go with bigger motors and 230V if that is an option.  Forth, these units have all the capacity I need.  Lastly, I have always had get great results with Jet tools.  Only issue I have ever had is with the blade adjustment on my band saw.  I called and Jet sent me a new part UPS that day. 

 

[xedos]

I'd be looking for a vintage 12" Northfield, Crescent, Yates, Fay& Egan, or Oliver jointer and a Powermatic 100 planer.

If money and space were no object (  [laughing] ) I'd be getting a matching pair of Martins