DIYbanter - View Single Post

dpb

On 4/7/2012 2:08 AM, wrote:
I've been looking at jointers and planers for a home shop. It
seems that all of the commercially available jointers are 6" and the
planers are about 12". What's the point in having a planer twice as large?

I must be missing something obvious... help a rookie out?

You're limiting your looking too much, then...

http://www.grizzly.com/products/category/450000
http://www.grizzly.com/products/category/490000

for a sample selection of what is easily available at reasonable price
points...obviously higher capacity machines are higher cost.

These, of course, don't even begin to cover the "real" industrial-sized
machines.

The advantage of a larger jointer is twofold--the surface width is the
obvious one to easily surface larger stock in preparation for the planer
but the second is the longer bed length. There's actually a third in
that the extra mass alone is beneficial in any piece of gear as well.

There's a tendency here to minimize the value of a jointer to simply the
single operation of jointing edges--this is a great under-utilization of
the machine. It's also capable of rabbeting, tapering, as well as the
obvious. If you can find the room and have the budget, I recommend at
least 8". If room and cost are real constraints, consider one of the
newer combo machines that are 12-13" planer/jointer-in-one at reasonable
cost. FWW had a review of several just within the last couple of issues.

--