HF Jointer Help

[burrellski]

As I am spending more time in the shop and producing better projects, I find myself in the market for a jointer......cheap. $200 is the absolute max amount I can spend. I have seen a couple HF jointers in that range on sale with a 20% coupon and I know a few people on here have made positive comments about them. So of these two jointers, which would you reccomend?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=31849

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=30289

Is there something else I should be considering? I can't find any of the craftsman jointers mentioned in the bargain alerts within 500 miles of me and the $200 delta benchtop model seems pretty limited in its capacity. Maybe I'm wrong about that though. I've never owned a jointer, so if someone thinks the benchtop would be a better idea for the $, set me straight.

Thanks in advance
Matt

[just4funsies]

Don't go benchtop... too small for any real work. You'll just cuss alot and eventually go buy a floor-stander.

[JR]

I have the 7" model. It seems to work fine, but it's my first one so what do I know!

I did have to tweak it a bit when I first got it, just to line up the tables properly. I'd think any jointer could get out of adjustment during shipment - these things are heavy!

On the plus side, the HF unit is solid cast iron and very solid.

On the minus side, the fence is tricky to set up, but solid once done. And there's no dust collection, just a chute for dropping chips on the floor. I was able to fabricate a DC port pretty easily.

Good Luck,
JR

[dtam]

I have the 6" HF jointer, and it works fine once everything is setup. I had to shim the tables to get them parallel. The fence is not easy to set up either. I have never seen the 7" model in the retail stores, and the 20% discount is for retail store items only.

[RHunter]

I have the 30289 that you are looking at, and I can confirm a couple of things.

• The fence is a pain to align, but once done, why move it?
• The stand is a pain to assemble, and the directions are almost worthless.
• There is no dust collection, just the chute, but an adapter caulked on the end will allow you to hook up a DC hose.
• It weights alot!!! Get a friend to help you mount it on the stand.
• Build a mobile base with locking casters, assemble the stand right to it, then mount the joiner.
• The knives are not the greatest, plan on replacing them with some decent knives. (Charles G.G. Schmidt, or Global Tooling have good reviews at Woodnet)
• You may have to shim the tables to get them planer- mine were fine out of the box- but I understand that is not the norm with HF tools. They occasionally require some tweeking.

All that being said, I am far from a pro, in fact I am almost willing to classify myself as a bad novice- but it does do the job, it's not that expensive, and I don't have to pay for S4S lumber.

Would I take it over an 8" Griz or Powermatic? No way, but at my skill level, it is enough tool to do what I want without breaking the bank.

Once I get better/richer- then I'll look seriously at a decent 8"er.

Hope this helps!

[burrellski]

What is the normal sale price for the 6" model in the store?

thanks
Matt

[John Hunter]

What is the normal sale price for the 6" model in the store?

thanks
Matt

Non sale price for the 6" http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=30289 is $289.99 but they go on sale every now ant then. I think I picked mine up locally for around $200 about a year ago.

[messmaker]

If you wait for it to go on sale and use a 20% off coupon, you can get it for a good bit less than $200.