Rusty Jet bandsaw

[raleighdave]

I have an opportunity to buy an older blue (light teal?) Jet 6" joiner, model JJ6CS for $175 (and a 3-hour round trip drive). It gets decent reviews and originally cost about $650. My concern is that it's pretty rusty: bed, fence face, and even the chromed adjusting wheels and adjusting screws seem from the photos to have lots of rust. Owner says "Works fine, just needs some elbow grease to remove some surface rust and cobwebs, its been in storage for several years." I've never owned a joiner, never owned a rusty power tool needing cleanup.

Visible at http://eastnc.craigslist.org/tls/4196172827.html

Is this worth driving 100 miles to look at, or is it likely that a rust cleanup won't bring it back to good operating condition? Do joiners need mirror-clean surfaces without pitting? Can chromed and painted handles that are 25-30% rusted on the surface be cleaned up and the rusting stopped? Would cleaned up adjustment threads (approx. 1" shafts) work OK even with some pitting? Would the cost of cleanup make this not such a good deal even if it worked well as a result?

I'm hoping that one of you joiner and tool restoration experts can help me out here!

Thanks,
David

[LCHIEN]

I don't recall any Jet green tools, maybe it was before my time but I think they have been blue before then ivory/white.

Shiny chrome handles look good but aren't required for good operation. THe table surfaces are machined flat to support the wood. Pits won't really hurt that any but looks like crap. A rusted table and fence can be cleaned up with WD40 and sandpaper and elbow grease and will be flat and usable despite stains. It'll never look good unless you re-machine it but it will do the job.

[greenacres2]

I've had good success with Boeshield products--Rust Free for cleaning, T-9 as a protectant. Using a ScotchBrite pad with the Rust Free took some nasty stuff off both my used joiner and band saw when I got them.

No pitting would be preferable. On a joiner, the tables need to be flat to each other--in other words, can the infeed and outfeed tables be flat across their width? Once you determine that, then do the tables move as they should? Tougher to see the table ways, and honestly mine is set to remove about a 64th and I haven't moved it in a year or more. Finally, is the fence flat and will it square to the table.

The other stuff--brittle cord, rotted belt (I'd anticipate both) are not bad to deal with. Here's one article that offers a little info on someone else's purchase:
http://lumberjocks.com/reviews/1952

Might be worth the 100 mile drive. I paid around $150 for my similar vintage Grizzly--but got really lucky to find it.

earl

[Ruben]

For that price you cant go wrong for a nice machine, as long as it works properly i would go take a look. some pitting in the tables is not going to hurt. Just make sure the tables are not warped.

[Pappy]

Looks like a good deal to me, also. personally , I would use a fine sandpaper (400 or finer) to knock down the rust then clean it the rest of the way with DuPont rubbing and polishing compounds. Both are non silicone products and available at any auto parts store. Follow up with a good non silicone way to protect the surface.

My Rockwell was in about the same condition. I went a little further, breaking it down and running it through electrolysis, and repainting everything.

http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=25709

[LCHIEN]

yeah light/teal blue is the older jet stuff.

That rust doesn't look all that bad. It'll clean up to a usable state pretty quick,
after you get it cleaned up keep a coating of Johnson's paste wax or better yet Boeshield T-9 on it to keep it from rusting over again.

T-9 is supposed to be really good stuff, according to the tests I've seen run. Works for me.
http://boeshield.com/wp-content/uplo...3/stoprust.pdf

Boeshield Rustfree might be good stuff to clean the rusty tool with - I haven't tried it personally.
http://boeshield.com/features-benefits/rustfree/

[capncarl]

My cast iron Delta jointer was one of my first "big tool" purchases. It is also the most least used tools that I own. I thought that it would solve all of my table building problems but it only started more problems untill I learned that it is only used on one side of a board and the table saw is for the other side. That said, I usually use the table saw on both sides of the board and leave the jointer parked in its corner. That money could have been way much better used buying a good band saw or thickness planer. IMO I would not spend the money on it unless that is the last tool you need to finish up your tool list.
capncarl

[LCHIEN]

I wouldn't say its a useless piece of gear - clearly its ideal use is flattening one side of a board and making an adjacent edge square and straight. Can't be beat for that.
I don't think you can do that with a table saw effectively unless you have a flat and straight board to begin with. The second edge belongs to the TS to rip and the opposite flat side to the thickness planer to finish.

Unless you have acceptably good wood to begin with then and only then can you rip to width using the table saw.

[capncarl]

Agreed, it is not a completely useless piece of gear, but imo it should not be high on a small shops budget unless he really needs that device! Too many other tools that money could be spent on. I have been rough cutting 8" x 8" 100 yr old barn timbers into planks with the table saw to produce 1-1.25 thick planks that I worry down to about .75 on the thickness planer. Then I square up the 2 sides on the table saw, eleminating the need for the jointer. My problem with a jointer is if you do not know when to stop you end up with a wedge shaped board.
capncarl

[paultnl]

For an example of what can be done in tool restoration, have a look at this thread http://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/w...on-t72815.html

[raleighdave]

I'm looking at buying some local sawmill lumber, given the lower prices. (E.g., cherry at 1.50/bd ft for air dried.) I had assumed that it might need more finishing than stuff bought at the regular retail outfits, and that a planer and joiner might pay for themselves in this context. Incorrect? Can my Bosch tip-up workplace saw really rip as cleanly and orthogonally as a joiner and planer? And for 4-6" boards?

[Pappy]

Stand alone, a jointer is limited in its usefulness. As Loring said, in combination with the planer and table saw, it can earn its keep processing rough cut stock.

As to the wedge shaped results, a jointer is one of the simple tools made but has a steep learning curve. It takes a lot of practice to learn to read the grain to determine feed direction and then get the feel of how to apply pressure as you feed the stock to get the best results. Once you get the 'touch' you wonder what took so long.

[capncarl]

If you are buying dried sawmill lumber you just need a surface planer (thickness planer) A lot of discussion about planers on this site! Your saw is fine to rip the sides of the boards. With a good blade you can create tabletop slabs with no sign of joints.
capncarl

[LCHIEN]

If you are buying dried sawmill lumber you just need a surface planer (thickness planer) A lot of discussion about planers on this site! Your saw is fine to rip the sides of the boards. With a good blade you can create tabletop slabs with no sign of joints.
capncarl

If you have a flat board with some bow, you can fasten it to a straigth edge and rip one side straight then use the rip fence to rip the other edge straight and parallel, granted.

but if its warped or concave, if you run it thru a thickness planer then you will get a warped board of very uniform thickness.

[greenacres2]

I'm looking at buying some local sawmill lumber, given the lower prices. (E.g., cherry at 1.50/bd ft for air dried.) I had assumed that it might need more finishing than stuff bought at the regular retail outfits, and that a planer and joiner might pay for themselves in this context. Incorrect? Can my Bosch tip-up workplace saw really rip as cleanly and orthogonally as a joiner and planer? And for 4-6" boards?

For that purpose, a joiner will pay for itself. And, you'll end up with straighter lumber than you can buy pre-processed at the big box stores at much higher prices. Keep in mind, do your milling at the time of use as a lot of wood will move after you release the internal tensions. You'll develop a feel for it.

For most of the commissioned pieces I've done, I begin the pictorial history with the rough stock and show the milling as part of the build. Seems to help people overlook my flaws in the build!!

earl