Your advice or experience on these jointers

[3thumbs]

I am going to get a better jointer, and I am looking at the Grizzly GO 452 or the GO 654 VS the Jet JJ 6CSX. The Grizzlies are new, of course, and the Jet is said to be new on Craigslist. The Jet is a bit more expensive, and doesn't have a transport base.
I don't know much about Grizzly, but I do have a Jet dust collector which in my opinion, is top notch quality.
DM

[Knottscott]

The Jet is actually very similar to my older Grizzly G1182...also similar to the Sunhill, older GI, former Bridgewood, and Woodtek. At one time the Jet, and the others mentioned were made in the same Taiwanese factor as the 1182, but I believe Jet has since changed the country of origin on that model...likely to China but I'm not certain. All nice jointers, but I don't believe one is worthy of a premium over the other without dealer support and warranty. Sorry, I'm not overly familiar with the newer Griz jointers.

[SARGE..g-47]

Pretty much what Scott said.. all are relatively equivalent to each other. Jet's pricing is a bit higher than Grizzly but that doesn't necessarily relate to better. I think you would be fine with any of them.

Good luck...

[toolguy1000]

i would stay away from the jet. i havr only one jet tool, an 18" BS, and i find it is reperesentative of all their tools....long on promise and short on delivery. were i to replace it, i would never buy another one. their tech support is also just so absolutely disappointing. and their tools are not inexpensive, making them, IMHO, a poor value. while it wasn't mentioned, the ridgid 6" is a very effective jointer and reasonably priced. wood magazine rated it a best buy in last year's jointer test.

[Hoover]

I have had good experiences with tech support from Jet. I wouldn't hesitate from buying from Jet. Just because there was one bad experience, I wouldn't condemn the entire brand.

[sweensdv]

I have had good experiences with tech support from Jet. I wouldn't hesitate from buying from Jet. Just because there was one bad experience, I wouldn't condemn the entire brand.

+1 My experience with Jet products has been very favorable. I own the Jet jointer you're looking at and have been very happy with it. Every single company out there has at one time or another had a lemon get out the door.

[poolhound]

Jet is part of the WMH group that also owns powermatic. I have tools with both labels and have had need to contact customer service a few times for minor issues. The same folks responded to my issues and dealt with them efficiently and without any problems.

I think you will be happy with either of these jointers. while I would like a new jointer I am happy with my simple openh base JT360 and if I ever did it would be to get more capacity and I would seriously consider a helical cutting head. One that had the 4 sided inserts. No matter what jointer you have, changing and setting knives is a PITA.

What jointer do you have now?

[3thumbs]

What jointer do you have now?[/QUOTE]

I have the JT-160. It works fine for birdhouses etc. Just too small for longer pieces.
DM

[SARGE..g-47]

As Scott mentioned.. the Jet is similar to the Sunhill and 7-8 years ago came from the same plant in Taiwan. The difference in the Sunhill and Jet was the paint and the Sunhill had cast iron extentions that gave it a 55" table. That and the price was what opted me to go with the Sunhill. That Sunhill got worked hard for 4 years until I up-graded to an 8" 3 years ago. It still works hard about 5 mile down the street from me for who I sold it too.

The Jet has hand wheels which I prefer but the levers on the Griz are fine. Notice the 0452 has a on-off swithch mounted above and the 0654 below I believe. The 0654 is a bit cheaper leading me to believe it came from the plant that does the Steelex for Grizzly Shopfox.

Every company has hits and misses.. the original Jet 18" BS Toolguy mentioned was a miss as it was poorly designed leading JET to re-design and come out with an up-graded line several years ago. Their 14" BS is great and they make the best 12" BS on the market. So... the JET.. Grizzlies.. the Ridgid and the Sunhill are all good jointers IMO as jointers are simple machines in reality. I would chose based on price to the door on each as all those are great candidates in your price range and current needs.

Good luck...

[toolguy1000]

ok, so i'm ranting a bit

i feel the need to correct some references that have been mades to a comment i made earlier regarding jet tools. my comment was aimed at jet''s tools and their TECHNICAL support. no references were made to their customer support, which i haved found to be both cordial and well intentioned. my issue is with the tools that are made for them with, which i consider to be priced above the level of utility they provide and with their utter failure to provide what i think most observers would consider even marginally acceptable TECHNICAL support. as for their dealer network, at least in my experience with two of them, it is wholly inadequate. they were unable to service my band saw as the manufacturer, whoever that is, does not provide the dealers with the necessary tools/jigs to service those tools, at least according to H.I.T. Distributors in nassau county, NY.

i am not a big fan of jet products, and i wanted to be one. the company's, and their dealers', inability to address an issue concernig their product is the source of my dissatisfaction. and you only get one chance to make a first impression, which they made in a very unsatisfactory way. end of rant.

[Hoover]

Good luck 3thumbs in your search, hopefully you got enough GOOD information to make a decision for your jointer whether it is a Grizzly or a JET jointer.