# Jet Grizzly or neither? Help!



## Harchamatic14 (Jan 18, 2014)

Need a jointer pretty bad. I have a tone of rough sawn lumber that I inherited and I need a jointer. I have been searching ebay and craigslist for a few months now and I am having a hard time deciding how much to spend and what is worth the money. I only want to spend around 400 or 450 tops. Can across a 6" Jet jj-60s that has some surface rust but the owner says can be cleaned easily. Says it was purchased around 1999.They want $300 for it. I also found a 6" Grizzly G0452P that looks pretty clean. They want 350 firm for that one. I would like 8" jointer, but I don't think that $450 budget will get me there. Do you think that either one of these are a good deal?


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

I think I paid $300 new for my Ridgid from HD if that gives you a reference. I have several Grizzly tools and they have all been good for me.


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## Luthierman (Jun 4, 2015)

We must be near each other, as I have seen this exact jointer in my local craigslist. I have been considering that grizzly. You should get that over the jet for dust collection alone. The grizzly will also weigh a bit more which can yield better results.


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## MT_Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

I bought a Used 6 inch Jet a couple of years ago. It must be a 90's model. It is blue. The cutter head was rusty from setting up and the knives needed to be replaced. I ran it for about a year like that. Then I started hearing a noise and finally figured out one of the bearings was bad.

After looking the head over closely (rusted bolts), and comparing the cost of new bearings, new head and blades, I decided to order the spiral head from Grizzly. It was on sale last year. It came with new bearings installed. Simply "plug and play". I figure I won't live long enough to wear out all of those cutters. Each one has four cutting sides and it came with five replacements.

Hope this helps.
Mike

Edit: I just noticed the Jet is an open stand model. Mine has a cabinet similar to the Jet. dust collection is good.


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

Either should do the trick, but I'd go for the closed base….it might even have a slightly larger motor.


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## Harchamatic14 (Jan 18, 2014)

Thanks for your reply everyone…Think I will try and go for the Griz. That is if Luthierman doesn't get it before me…. haha. Hope I can talk him down a bit and save up for the spiral head. The only concern I have is the Griz is a polar bear series which I have read that these were made with cheaper materials. Does anyone know if this is true or not?


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## Luthierman (Jun 4, 2015)

It's all yours buddy. I already have a jointer, this would've been an upgrade for me. They show up fairly frequently on CL. Right now I am trying to quench my thirst for hand planes so you needn't worry about me sniping the grizzly.


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## WoodNSawdust (Mar 7, 2015)

I would choose the Grizzly. The only reservation is that I have fund a 6" jointer as too small.


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## ElChe (Sep 28, 2014)

I have the closed base Jet and I had to fiddle with it a lot to get the wings coplanar. Lots of shimming. Lots of cussing. Got it dead on and it's stayed that way. If you can find an 8" jointer for 450 then you would SUCK.  Take a straight edge and a square when you look at the Grizzly. If each wing is flat then you can shim it to coplanar in the dovetailed ways. If the wings are warped, keep looking. Also check the fence to make sure it is flat and that it can be adjusted square to the cut. I reground my Jet fence because it was cupped. Fortunately a machinist friend and I trade woodworking for machining services.


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

I have a personal preference for Jet machines, but the tools they made 20 years ago don't compare with what is offered today. This is a time when older is better. Quality has been gradually falling off over the years, so if quality is primary, I would look for an older machine. There have been many comments lately about the bearings used in Grizzly machines. They seem to have replaced Japanese made bearings with Chinese made ones (to cut costs) resulting in more bearing failures. For that reason alone, I can't recommend any of the current machines unless I know where they were made and what materials were used. That costs money. A lot of research is needed, but quality today equates with cost whether you want to believe it or not. That doesn't mean high cost always means high quality, but it would be hard to find high quality at a low cost.


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## rwe2156 (May 7, 2014)

IMO Jet is a step up from Grizzly, but I'm sure others' will argue this.


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## TheDane (May 15, 2008)

I have a G0452 … bought it about 5 years ago, and have absolutely no complaints.


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## Gixxerjoe04 (Jan 31, 2014)

I'd go with the grizzly out of those two. I just upgraded to a used grizzly 8" with the byrd head, man is it sweet especially compared to my bench top model one, I paid quite a bit more than $450 though.


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