# Ridgid JP0610 Jointer/Planer



## bbqking

Congratulations. I own the same planer and totally agree with the 5 star rating. It is a shop workhorse and I have never had any trouble with it since straight from the box. I own other Ridgid equipment and this seems to always to be the case. They always work great. Note- I had mine moved over 1000 miles by a relocation firm, carted all over the east coast on its way to Georgia, carried around the house and into the basement shop. When I had it where I wanted it, I plugged it in and ran a board through. No adjustment necessary. Amazing. bbqKing.


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## bayouman

I agree with the bbqking. Mine is an excellent machine and it gets a sizable amount of work. I buy almost all of my material in the rough and mill it to what I need. I couldn't do that without my Ridgid joiner. It has already saved me enough money to pay for itself.


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## Emeralds

I too own the same the jointer and it's been a great asset to my shop. I would also rate it as 5 star unit.


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## laflaone

I may sound like a broken record, but I have the same jointer, and I love it. My base is similar: A piece of MDF to match the jointer base, then two 2×4's which extend out 3" or so on each side, then rollers. It raises the jointer up to a decent height, and eliminates the problem of it being tippy. Only one complaint. The blade guard will allow something slightly under 3/4" to slide under it. Now, I would be uncomfortable jointing something 1/2" on less, but there still is a lot of dimensioned lumber that could stand a bit of jointing and planing. I have solved the problem, but I am afraid OSHA would come after me if I revealed how.


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## mot

Nice review. I have the same jointer and have had good use from it.


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## kansas

I bought mine from a outlet store selling reconditioned tools. I got it for $270 but it needed a belt, the nut for the big bolt that tightens the fence was gone and the key for the switch was also missing. I'm a cheapskate so I made do. It seems to have a bit of a table concern if you set the fence close to the guard. I've fiddled with it a lot and can't seem to make it any better. Someday I hope to replace it with a better machine but the price was right and it's did a lot of work.


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## MikeGCNY

I was at HD last night and noticed this jointer is on sale for $301.00. I had a 10% off coupon and picked it up for $270.00 plus tax.

Setup was a breeze, and it seems to be fairly well aligned out of the box. I did have one issue lining up the bolt holes of the motor support and the base.

Just bring someone with you to pick it up. I was alone when I noticed it on sale and had to wrestle it onto a cart and lift it into my car.


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## Tangle

Me too. I just wish it was 12 inches wide and had a 9 foot table.


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## glassyeyes

I have to give it five thumbs up, too! (My wife tells me I'm all thumbs, but she exaggerates.) I don't have a first-class straightedge, but the infeed and outfeed tables seemed quite flat, and parallel. The only adjustment I had to make was to raise the outfeed table a few thousandths to match the blades. It does seem to spew a bit of dust, but a better dust collector (next on my list) may improve that. I had the Delta benchtop, but the fence simply flexed too much, the aluminum makes it hard to use magnetic-based gauges, and setting the knives was fairly finicky work.


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## clics

I just bought this same jointer last night. I'm wondering if you could provide more pix and details of your mobile base.

Thanks,
Chris


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## ferstler

Hi, Chris,

The photo I posted shows pretty much all of the details count. Note that in the picture the wood-colored items on the wooden stand and under the planer base are movable "chocks" that I use to wedge/stabilize the base when the unit is in use. I store them in that area.

First, I built a rectangular frame out of 2×4 sections and then screwed and glued a piece of 3/4 inch plywood to the top of that frame. The resulting frame/plywood base is maybe 3-4 inches wider and longer than the outer footprint of the planer base. I painted the thing with a grey, fast-drying primer, and (after the paint dried) I then screwed 4-inch, 125-pound rated, soft-tire wheels underneath to the four corners. I previously had used 3-inch, hard-tire wheels, but they were just too awkward handling and bounced the unit too much on my wooden deck outside. The 4-inchers allow for much easier rolling than those 3 inchers and glide smoothly. Then, I just screwed the metal planer base to the top of the wood stand using thick wood screws driven down through the same holes on the bottom tips that normally would use the adjustable feet that came with the unit, and through the plywood and into the 2×4s. I had a buddy of mine help me hoist the assembled planer onto the stand before doing the screw work.

Job done.

PS: it is important to have the vertical wheel axes be at the same point or a bit outside of the ends of the stand legs where they hit the stand. Otherwise, the assembly will have a tendency to tip too easily. If I had it to do over again I would have built the wooden bass a couple of inches wider and longer to get better stability. What I have now is fine, however.

Howard Ferstler


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## clics

Hello Howard,

Thank you so much for your help with this. That's a pretty through description and I am looking forward to taking your advice on building this base.

-Chris


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## KTMM

I got this jointer yesterday at the North Jackson (MS) store for 214.00 I have a store near me, but they were sold out two days ago after marking the unit down to 321.00 I don't know if they've lowered the price that much or if they're closing it out. Just thought I'd post so you guys might can make your local store price match…...

I would have put the thing together last night, but I was too busy putting my new table saw together.


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## GuyK

I just bought this jointer. It is a great addition to my shop. Well made and easy to put together. Only caution I would have for anyone buying it is that in the assembly directions it tells you to get help to lift it. I didn't and pulled some muscles. So pay attention to the directions. As for the machine it self the tables are aligned and near perfect. The power is great. I was very inpressed with the quality of the fit. I also bought the Ridgid oscilating sander (spelling) another great tool.

I was also thinking of building a mobile base for it, so off I went to HF for some wheels. When in HF I noticed they had "Furniture Dollys " for $ 16.99, they hold 1000lbs so I bought one of those instead of buying wheels and having to come home and build one. Works perfectly.


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## a1Jim

Thanks for the review


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## NBeener

Howard-

A thousand thank you's.

As some may know, I'm fairly new to ww. As I embark on buying the essential tools, it became obvious that a jointer-planer is among them.

A minute on my local Craigslist turned up this exact unit, a few months old, and with an asking price of roughly $100 below HD's current price (probably negotiable, too).

My brother-former Ridgid rep-said it's a great unit, but … your review is comprehensive, intelligent, information-dense, and answers questions that I'd never have even /thought/ to ask.

Tomorrow night, I head down there to look at it … combination square in hand. If it looks as good as it should, I'll leave a deposit and-not being as dumb as I look-go back with a friend and a rental van ;-)

I love this site. Thanks for providing just one more good reason why….

Neil


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## NBeener

For the record … I bought one, brand new, at HD instead, and set it up today.

1) Damned thing is *heavy!*
2) Twice, I wished for an extra joint in my arm to tighten the motor to the assembly, but … no worries
3) Realistically, the setup was a breeze/instructions were perfect. They blister-packed, with cutouts and labels, all the hardware. EVERYTHING was there, and absolutely simple to put hands on;
4) Maybe 45 min from all-unpacked to power up 
5) It's not quite as bad as "I don't know why I bought this thing," but it IS fair to say I've never used one before. Now that I've done a few laps with it … I totally get it. Cool!!

I also picked up about five bucks worth of cull at the Depot, and … 15 minutes ago … turned fifty-one cents worth of cull into about three bucks worth of S4S!!!

This is a pretty slick unit 

Tomorrow will be all the true tuning and alignment stuff, but … first glance looked awfully damned good.

I like it. I like it a lot. Gotta' either get a true DC unit now (eyeballing one of the HF units), or-at the very least-a 2 1/2" > 4" adapter to get down to my ShopVac. This thing can make it snow!


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## ferstler

Note that a jointer can fill up a shop vac with dust and cuttings pretty fast. You might consider getting one of those adapter units that shunt most of the heavy chips to a separate container, with only the finer stuff going to the vac container. Grizzly and Rockler both sell them.

Luckily, I work adjacent to a wooded area and use a cheap dust collector to just blow the cuttings out into the yard area. Nature and termites take care of the rest, although after a while I might have to use a rake to scatter things a bit further.

Howard Ferstler


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## Karson

Great review. Thanks.


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## NBeener

You're sure right about that, Howard. Did my first empty today!

May look into the separator/cyclone sort of thing … or … a legit DC system.

For now, though, I ordered a 4" > 2 1/2" adaptor so I can keep throwing the Shop Vac at it. I'm just gonna' dump all the shavings into the back yard. At some point, it WILL look nice


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## Viking

Howard;

I have this jointer and assembled it today. I too would like the working surface to be higher so, have been considering installing some Steelex 5" two way locking casters (H0688 from Grizzley) in place of the present leveling feet which should raise the bed by at least 6 inches, a comfortable height for me.

Do you forsee any tipping issues with it? It won't be moved often or far.

Thanks in advance for your advice.


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## ferstler

The problem with putting casters in place of the feet on the ends of the metal stand legs is that since casters can turn inward the spacing between the four support points might be so small that the jointer would indeed be tippy. My solution was to put a wooden base under the stand, bolting it to the base, and then installing casters on the underside of the base far enough apart for their support points to always be at least as far apart as the stock feet. The wooden base also stiffens things on the bottom, making the stand itself more rigid.

Howard


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## Viking

Thanks Howard. Good advice, had not thought of that. From your picture, your base looks to be about 14-15" wide?

Best regards.


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## jp93274

Just Picked up this model on "clearance" for $199 can't wait to use it!


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## BreakingBoardom

jp93724-Where did you find it on clearance? Home Depot? And where at?


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## glassyeyes

My neighbor put this unit on a rolling base. I thought he had a good idea; he made the rolling base wider than the jointer stand, and placed the jointer somewhat off center, so the rollers don't trip him. He puts a sandbag on the back for extra stability.


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## bigike

That's one nice jointer, great review.


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## cypresscutter

I just purchased one of the Ridgid JP0610 jointers. The setup went pretty well for being new to jointers. I have discovered after getting the machine assembled the outfeed end of the outfeed table appears to be lower than the infeed side of the outfeed table. I made this assumption from looking at the fence and the gap shown on the outfeed end is appx. 1/8" greater than the infeed side of the outfeed table.

Here is the question: do I check this with a straight edge across the cutter head holder to the infeed table? and will adjusting the gibbs correct this problem?
Thanks for your help.


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## glassyeyes

If you have or can borrow a good straightedge, it's worth checking the parallelism of the infeed and outfeed tables. Rotate the head so the knives are out of the way; use a pair of heavy magnets to hold the straightedge to the outfeed table, run the outfeed table up close, and use a feeler gauge at front, middle, and back. Do this at the rear, in the middle, and up front. If the tables aren't parallel (or reasonably flat), you *CAN'T* get a straight edge. You'll have to shim the ways on one or both tables to get them parallel, then re-set the knives to the outfeed table.

P.S. Although the mobile base system at Woodcraft (that bolts to a piece of 3/4 inch plywood) isn't very cheap, it's sturdy, and doesn't raise the machine too much. I bolt a piece of plywood across the two foot levers that raise the unit; it makes it faster to use. Just make it 5 or 6 inches wider than the jointer base to reduce any chance of tipping.


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## phatso

I am an old phart new to wood working and want to ask about planer jointers. I just bought a Steel city planer that has immediately failed. I am looking at this combo (rigid 610)....my question; when planing rough lumber with a planer such as this can you plane 1/2 a 12 " board and flip it? of do you simply rip the board to 6"? Dumb question but I am ignorant.


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## Furnitude

Thanks for this great review. I'm wondering if anyone who owns this jointer could comment on the fence. I might have an opportunity to buy one of these. Wimpy jointer fences are a pet peeve of mine. If you square the fence well and lock it in place, does it move very much? Is it rigid (pardon the pun)? I'm hoping it's hefty enough to really press a board against. Thanks for any comments.


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## ferstler

Mine has never shifted. This month I ran 260 feet of reclaimed redwood boards through it with no problems. (It was redwood shelving once used by a friend to hold a model train collection that he is now selling off.) The redwood, once the weather cools enough for me to work out on the deck adjacent to my shop, will (along with some mdf to make an interesting style statement for bookcases) be used to build bookcases in my larger bedroom and also refurbish some home-theater system speakers I built a while back. The speaker refurbishing involves using the redwood as a 3/4-inch thick "veneer" over the existing pine and mdf cabinets. They go from a utilitarian look to the look of luxury. There will be no change in electrical performance.

Attached is a shot of the fence mechanism of the unit I originally reviewed at the beginning of this thread. Notice the wooden knobs on the controls. I have gradually replaced most of the plastic knobs on all of my tools with ones I fashioned out of wood. Looks more rustic.

Howard Ferstler


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## ShaneA

Fence seems pretty solid to me. I check it every so often, and its usually square. If its off, only takes a second to re align start making dust. I have been pleased with mine.


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## Furnitude

Thanks for the comments. And thanks, Howard, for the photo. I've been looking for one of these jointers to come up on craigslist and one finally has. One more question. The model I found for sale is the JP6101. Does anyone know the difference between the JP6101 and the JP0610? Is the JP6101 the older model?


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## ferstler

Hey, Furnitude,

I think they may be pretty much the same, and I should have said JP06101 in my review title, which is what is printed on both my unit's ID tag and the owner's manual title page. I think that in the old days they had a version with the grey paint scheme, but I am not sure what its number was. (Maybe it was the JP0600 I have seen mentioned in some places.) You see a lot of references to the JP0610 out there, but when they show photos it looks like the JP06101 I have and which is pictured in places under that name, so I am simply making an assumption, but probably an accurate one, about them being the same. It may be that the last digiit has something to do with a second production run on the same design. You could always ask a sales clerk at Home Depot, but usually they know next to nothing.

Another option is to go to the Ridgid chat site and post a question. It is at:

https://www.ridgidforum.com/forum/forum.php

Once there, scroll down to the power-tool discussion link. You do have to join and then log on to gain the ability to post questions. It is a good site for Ridgid enthusiasts.

In any case, there are enough photos out there for both so-called versions for you to confirm the ID of whatever model you might be able to purchase.

Howard Ferstler


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