# Jointer Question



## alambert (Feb 21, 2008)

I have a Home Depot gift card that I would like to buy Jointer with.


I'm having trouble deciding between these 2

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...3&productId=100092374&N=10000003+90401+501489

and

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...3&productId=100375605&N=10000003+90401+501489

Which would you choose if you take price out of the decision making process? Looks like the jet is less powerfull... 

What do you think?


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## skymaster (Oct 30, 2006)

Alambert; Jet has advantage of 3 blades, Rigid has advantage of having 1 hp instead of Jets 3/4. Really depends on how much you are going to use it.
3 blades will give a finer finish
2 blades and extra power gets a a bit faster and easier cutting.


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## Knot Home (Feb 14, 2008)

For my money I would go with the extra 1/4 pony and the extra 1/8". Powering through hardwoods bogs a jointer down pretty good. You'll want all the power you can get. An extra 8th would be nice too.

Roy


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## kkaye (Jan 7, 2008)

I bought the Jet jointer from home depot recently and it's my first jointer. It is really easy to assemble and also easy to manipulate the fence and the infeed table. I've been running a lot of hardwood through it and it hasn't even flinched. It came out of the box already tuned and didn't require any adjustments to the blade. The only problem I have with it is that the chute doesn't clear away the woodchips and it does get clogged which only requires you to (with the power off and unplugged of course) to undo the cover to the chute and clean it out. I'm sure a dedicated dust vac hooked up to it would take care of it. The clogging doesn't affect the cut but makes wood shavings fly out the top. But all in all I am very happy with it because it is nice and solid.


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## Capt Crutch (Jan 21, 2008)

How long are the tables? One looks to be 46" and the other one says "45 Feet"...I hope you have a big shop!

Long tables are a plus!


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## alambert (Feb 21, 2008)

Thanks guys for the tips.. I think I will go with the Ridgid.


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## Gerry KIERNAN (Apr 20, 2007)

It looks to me like the Rigid has a longer table, at 55 inches, as opposed to the Jet at 46 inches. With the extra bit of power, and a cosiderably lower price, I think I would also go with Rigid. Either way, they are both probably pretty good tools. That said, if you don't have one yet, why not get a thickness planer instead?

Gerry


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## Hack (Oct 9, 2007)

skymaster said:


> Alambert; Jet has advantage of 3 blades, Rigid has advantage of having 1 hp instead of Jets 3/4. Really depends on how much you are going to use it.
> 3 blades will give a finer finish
> 2 blades and extra power gets a a bit faster and easier cutting.


I've always wondered about this myself. more HP is more HP, no question.

But, with three blades, each blade is taking a lighter cut, reducing load on the motor to cut the wood. Is the reduction 1/3? If so, then the 3/4 HP with three blades may be more "powerful" than the 1 HP with two.

I don't know this to be true, but it may be interesting discussion :huh:


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## skymaster (Oct 30, 2006)

3 blades mean lighter cut,SLOWER feed rate. 3 blades to adjust is a bit more hair pullin also. There is NO substitute for cubic inches or horsepower. On soft woods probably never notice the diff however go to Oak,Maple, really Hard woods You will definately notice the lack of power.


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## wood138 (Feb 26, 2008)

I would go with Rigid have jointer,planner, never had one once of trouble and enough power to handle the job good luck Joe


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## alambert (Feb 21, 2008)

Adjusting three blades sounds like even more of a reason for me to go with the ridgid. Thanks again guys.

Anyone have a good resource for learning how to use / setup it up?


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## firehawkmph (Apr 26, 2008)

*blade adjustment*

Get yourself one of the magnetic jigs for setting your blade heights and you won't have to worry about how many blades you have. Also, you will be more apt to change them when they need sharpening instead of leaving them in when they are nicked. (I've heard people do this.....lol). I have two lathes, a bandsaw and a dust collector by jet and like them all. The dewalt thickness planer has one of the easiest setups for changing blades. They have a couple of pins that locate each blade for their height. You can slide the blade side to side about an eight of an inch. If you get a minor nick in the blades, you can slide one blade over in the opposite direction that the other two are set at and it will clear up the nick in the wood going through it. Very simple process, takes about ten minutes to change the three blades out.
Mike Hawkins


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## allthunbs (May 14, 2008)

Buy the Ridgid only with the lifetime guarantee.

When I first started woodworking I thought the jointer was only for making nice square joints. Little did I know that it has become one of the premier tools in my shop.

I got the 6" Delta with the nice long 48" table. The Ridgid was not available to me at the time. Since then, I've used it on every project. It squares lumber and then sets the angle for that "perfect" joint (ya right!)

Now, alternatives... SteelCity makes a product functionally identical to the Delta except it has a few additional features. SteelCity is ex-Delta employees that struck out on their own. Their philosophy is to offer Delta comparable product with additional features at the same or less cost. 

We have BusyBee in Canada that offers products similar to your Jet in the U.S. I can buy blades for my Delta from SteelCity or from BusyBee. It is interesting the number of substantially identical products in the marketplace with so many different brand names. Go figure. I hope this helps.


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## Joe Spackle (May 20, 2008)

*a different view of*

Jointer knife setting.

http://woodworkerszone.com/wiki/index.php?title=Jointer_Blade_Alignment


Joe


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## redmtnfurniture (Mar 31, 2008)

check out the grizzly jointers awesome machines for the price and buy something else with the home depot gift card


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