| Review by Greg3G | posted 46 days ago | 391 views | 0 times favorited | 16 comments |  |
- Steel City 6" Industrial Parallelogram Jointer
- Brand: Steel City | Category: Jointers
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I purchased this at the March Woodworking Show in Chantilly, VA. I had been looking for a jointer for some time. At one point this was listed for $999 but since they have decided to drop this from their line, I picked it up for $499 with an extra set of knives thrown in the deal.
The equipment was picked up at the show (Skarie was the distributer) and came in two boxes. One is the cabinet the other the jointer bed assembly. The boxes showed no damage so I felt fairly certain that everything was in good shape.
We (my brother Adrian and I) unboxed the base cabinet box which contained all the hardware and instructions. The instructions were pretty well written and had good illistrations. We set to putting it together. Everything went pretty smoothly … until.
Once we had all the base assembled it was time to attach the jonter to the cabinet. The first 3 mounting bolts went in easily, the last one however, was a bit of a different story. The bolt is installed from the bottom side, toward the front, behind the dust chute. I could barely reach it. I had to have my nephew attach that last bolt. Once that was done, the rest of the assembly we rather well.
The coating they apply for protection during shippment came off pretty easily for the most part. The only trouble spots were in the fence mechisim which was to be expected.
After set up, we decided to fire it up and run a few test cuts. Now I know that I need to add a few more circuts in the shop area. When we plugged it in, it went into the same circuit that carries the load for the shop lights. Upon start up, it made the floresent fixtures flicker. Adrian thought it was cool, I thought that I really need to get those new circuts run.
The Parallelogram beds adjust very easily and lock down well. The fence was a bit tricky to get set up properly at first but when we went back to the instructions we found that we had missed a step during installation. A quick adjustment, and all was good. The outfeed bed came dead on out of the box and I only need to slightly adjust the infeed table. All the surfaces were flat and true.
After a quick cleaning and a coat of wax on the bed. We fired it back up and ran some red oak through as a test. It worked like a champ! After a few passes, it had the edge as smooth as glass. I should have done this sooner.
Pros:
It’s heavy and absorbs vibrations well.
Set up and adjustments are straight forward.
Bed is flat and true
Cutting depth adjustments are simple and easy to make.
Cons
It’s heavy (I know I also said this was a Pro) it not something you want to lift without help.
There is one bolt that is difficult to install.
It does draw a lot of load on a 110 circuit.
-- Greg - Charles Town, WV
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16 comments so far
GaryK
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6982 posts in 321 days
posted 46 days ago
Great review. Looks like the weight is a mixed blessing, huh?
-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.
Greg3G
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576 posts in 418 days
posted 46 days ago
Thanks Gary, the weight listed on the Steel City site is 320lbs (350lbs shipping) I must be getting old, because it felt a lot heavier coming off the back of my truck when we unloaded it.
-- Greg - Charles Town, WV
Dick Cain
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4158 posts in 632 days
posted 46 days ago
Great review Greg.
I’m happy for you.
I had the same, only a fuse problem with my Rikon bandsaw.
With the heavy cast iron wheels it takes extra amps. to get started.
-- Dick Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1
teenagewoodworker
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1010 posts in 101 days
posted 46 days ago
cool great review. I’ve been looking into Steel City Lately and although i haven’t heard much everything has been good. thanks for the review.
-- if you haven't already check out my blog http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/teenagewoodworker/blog/3961
Richard Williams
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41 posts in 125 days
posted 46 days ago
Wow, Greg! Looks very nice. Use it in good health my friend. Been tremendously busy now with all kinds of new assignments. Plus just the other day SolidWorks Corporation asked me to write a weekly column for their Teachers Web Site. I gladly accepted of course. A great honor for me. Take care of that machine and keep it clean. Your little buddy. God Bless.
-- Rich, Nevada,
Greg3G
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576 posts in 418 days
posted 46 days ago
Very cool Rich, you’ll have to send me a copy every now and again. Take care and congradulations!
-- Greg - Charles Town, WV
DAN
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2335 posts in 316 days
posted 46 days ago
well done review … I liked the way you explained the difficult bolt assembly
great photo too ! looks professional >grin<
-- Hey ! I was born in IOWA .... don't blame me
Karson
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11029 posts in 733 days
posted 46 days ago
Greg Great review and congratulations.
-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com
Sparky977
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19 posts in 53 days
posted 46 days ago
I am going to pick up an 8” Steel City jointer on Friday. Glad to know you like yours!
-- I get payed to play with power tools! What could be better than that?
Kevin
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189 posts in 291 days
posted 46 days ago
Can you rewire this jointer to run on 240 volts? That would help a lot with the flickering lots.
-- Kevin, Wichita, Kansas
Lee A. Jesberger
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1732 posts in 312 days
posted 46 days ago
Hi sparky;
A customer of mine recently bought the 8” steel city jointer, and is thrilled to death with it.
He also bought a table saw to go with it. Also steel city, also thrilled. Really well made machines.
Good luck with your new toys guys.
-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com
dlcarver
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171 posts in 63 days
posted 45 days ago
like I said , I can only wish.
Dave
-- Dave Leitem,Butler,Pa.,http://dlcarver.etsy.com
Brad_Nailor
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506 posts in 290 days
posted 45 days ago
Another thumbs up for Steel City! Great review
-- Brad Nailor is just my handle..my Name is David, feel free to use it!
grumpycarp
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112 posts in 78 days
posted 45 days ago
If I were king of the world ALL planers would have a built in mobile base. You would unbox the unit, and assemble it with the wheels already on it. These thing always get jacked up from people lifting them by the tables and moving them around. Good on ya’!
Scott Bryan
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6413 posts in 155 days
posted 43 days ago
Thanks for the review Greg. I have been looking at the Steel City tool line. This one looks good.
-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.
rikkor
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5904 posts in 207 days
posted 43 days ago
Great review. Thanks.
-- Maplewood, MN