# The right 6" Jointer?



## SawScat (Feb 11, 2017)

Looking for a good 6" jointer for myself.

Some facts/controls about the situation:
1) Benchtop unit required - small shop (garage) where I need to be able to put tools away
2) 6" is the target - The only benchtop unit greater than 6" I find is the Jet 8 jointer/planer combo and I'm not keen on combo tools/devices so 6" seems like the target
3) I'm essentially a novice - My father built staircases but I haven't been able to really start doing anything until this point in my life

I've looked around and essentially boiled it down to these
Grizzly G0725 - $265
Grizzly G0821 - $385
Delta 37-071 - ~$315
Porter Cable PC160JT - $280

I've seen the Rikon 20-600H 6" (~$450) around as well, but know nothing about its quality.

Anyone have some opinions on these to push me one way or another? I like the fact that the *Grizzly G0725* is cast iron and am more or less sold on that one & my dad was pushing me towards a Delta, because that's what's worked for him for years, but wanted a few other opinions. The *G0821 *has a spiral blade, which is nice, and when I asked Grizzly's customer service about if the *G0725 *is able to be upgraded with a spiral or helicoidal blade they said "We currently do not have a spiral cutterhead that is compatible with the G0725" which I'm not sure how to take. Does that mean there's something special about that unit that makes flipping the blade type out impossible or does Grizzly just not make the blade, but I could get one elsewhere?


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## TheFridge (May 1, 2014)

if space is that limited I'd consider buying an old Stanley 7 or 8 and going the handplane route before buying a benchtop.


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## SawScat (Feb 11, 2017)

> if space is that limited I d consider buying an old Stanley 7 or 8 and going the handplane route before buying a benchtop.
> 
> - TheFridge


I actually have a couple of hand planes. This low angle one I picked up recently. It needs to be cleaned and tuned


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## Lazyman (Aug 8, 2014)

I bought a Porter Cable 6" bench top jointer last year off of Craigs List for $150 and I am very happy with it. At first I was not impressed but discovered that (1) the blades were very dull, probably because the former owner used it to strip off white (titanium) paint from some wood (there were chips still stuck in the exhaust shoot) and (2) the blades were set at the wrong height. Once I got sharp blades and set them correctly, it works very well. I hook up my shop vac to the exhaust port and it captures 99% of the chips. It can handle even some really hard hickory that I milled myself from a dead tree and leaves a glass smooth finish on it. My only complaints are that the fence is a little fidgety to get set correctly, possibly because I bought it used, and the aluminum tables are a little annoying because they have intentionally milled grooves in them. I was actually trying to find the G0725 that you are leaning towards because I think that the cast iron table would be a definite improvement over the PC's aluminum ones.

For just $100 more I would go for the one G0821 with spiral blades but it looks like they are out of stock at the moment. I would ask them when they expect more. I think that Cutech makes one with spiral blades as well that is comparably priced with the G0725 but I have no experience with it.


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## Kirk650 (May 8, 2016)

I have a 6 inch floor standing Ridgid, I added a spiral carbide cutter head a couple of years ago. That was a wonderful upgrade. If you can afford the spiral carbide cutter head, buy it.

Prior to this jointer, I had a Delta benchtop unit. As someone told me back then, it's great if you build bird houses. I got rid of it after a short while. I highly recommend a free standing jointer if you can afford it and have a spot for it.

As for which jointer, the basic ones, like mine, look pretty similar.


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## Mike_D_S (May 3, 2012)

Well, respecting the bench top requirement, then the G0821 would seem to me to be the clear choice. Yes it's $120 more, but that $120 gets the 3 row spiral head with carbide inserts and the relative advantages of that.

While it would be nice to have cast iron top/fence, I suspect that as a bench top unit you're probably going to have to clamp it to the work surface no matter what. In which case the weight/mass is less of an issue. On the other hand, no cast iron also means no surface rust to worry about either.

I'd also be thinking about noise levels with the 2 knife cutterhead.


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## SawScat (Feb 11, 2017)

> For just $100 more I would go for the one G0821 with spiral blades but it looks like they are out of stock at the moment. I would ask them when they expect more. I think that Cutech makes one with spiral blades as well that is comparably priced with the G0725 but I have no experience with it.
> 
> - Lazyman


I actually wrote them about that. They said mid to late April


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## bbasiaga (Dec 8, 2012)

I had the basic grizzly bench top for a long time. It worked great on boards up to about 4feet. Hard to go wrong for the price.

Brian


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## ShaneA (Apr 15, 2011)

Wait, he casually mentions he has a hand plane…then throws up a pic of a Stanley 62? lol, that could be sold and prolly pay for a nice 6" jointer.

That is a nice plane!


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

I have the Cutech 6" benchtop with the spiral head and insert cutters. Quite nice small machine as long as ya don't get too aggressive with long workpiece and really aggressive depth of cut.
Aluminum beds, but that has not been a detriment.
Good chip collection too.
Bill


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## SawScat (Feb 11, 2017)

> Wait, he casually mentions he has a hand plane…then throws up a pic of a Stanley 62? lol, that could be sold and prolly pay for a nice 6" jointer.
> 
> That is a nice plane!
> 
> - ShaneA


Haha! Yeah . I'm not going to sell that one. 
The plane guy at a local shop keeps hounding for it too.

Thanks for all the info guys!


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## SawScat (Feb 11, 2017)

> I have the Cutech 6" benchtop with the spiral head and insert cutters. Quite nice small machine as long as ya don t get too aggressive with long workpiece and really aggressive depth of cut.
> Aluminum beds, but that has not been a detriment.
> Good chip collection too.
> Bill
> ...


Hadn't looked at that one before so thanks for the plug. I'll check it out.


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## HankLP (Jan 9, 2017)

I was ordering the Grizzly benchtop jointer with the spiral cutter, but they were out of stock and no info on when they would be available. So I went with the Cutech, and I'm glad I did. I don't know what the Grizzly would have offered for the extra $100 it would have cost. It's about two months now, and I've run quilted maple, walnut, sapele and a few other woods with excellent results. Quick, quiet (relatively), and smooth. I did had to level the infeed and outfeed tables, which was quite easy after I read the manual. It was good to have to do that and get acquainted with the machine.


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## Davem23 (Mar 1, 2017)

I have a similar situation in that I have a small shop. I went with the Shop Fox (with some mods) and it worked out great- first project was for a 4'x3' glue up, milling 4-4 walnut. I plan to do a 7×3 glue up for a dining room table in a few months. Details and pictures are here:

http://lumberjocks.com/topics/208058


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