HerHusband wrote:
I need to buy a jointer, and haven't had much luck finding a used one.

So, I've been looking at the budget 6" jointers by Ridgid and
Grizzly, in the sub $600 range. Grizzly's new G0813/814 jointers
aren't in stock yet, and the shipping costs would make it more
expensive. I could have the Ridgid shipped to my local store for
free, making it a bit cheaper.

Price aside, which would be the better jointer? Are there other
brands in that price range I should consider?

If they were still being made, I would suggest Bridgewood, distributed by
Wilke Machinery but they are not, nor is Wilke Machinery still in business.
However, that is what I bought a dozen or more years ago because they were
very well made and gave the most bang for the buck.

If I had it to do over, I would buy none. Why? Because I rarely use it and
because I can do what it does in other ways. Consider...

Before you can join an edge, you must have a flat face. I can - and do -
get that with my drum sander. Normally, I do both sides of a board on the
sander (I start with rough lumber); at that point it is very unlikely that
either edge is at right angles to the faces so I skim off one edge on the
table saw, flip it and skim off the other edge.

IME, even rough lumber almost always has one edge that is suitable for
guiding on the saw fence. On the rare occasions that is not true, I will
use the joiner to nip off a bit so it is; however I could do the same thing
with a hand plane, or with a saw or router and straight edge.

I also use the sander for edges; it will only do up to 3" wide but is is
surprising how many parts are that ot less. For wider pieces, I could use
the joiner but I'm more likely to use my router table, especially on very
wide pieces, because I can run it flat rather than on edge.

In short, if I had to give up a tool, the joiner would go first; last would
be the drum sander. Yes, I'd dump my table saw before I gave up the sander.
Which doesn't mean you shouldn't buy a joiner, just saying. If I were you,
I'd not worry about width; as others have said, longest bed is best. Why
not worry about width? Because a joiner can give you a flat face but not
parallel ones...you need something else for that. Plus, because I wouldn't
run wide boards through a joiner without some sort of power feed.