# Powermatic PJ-882HH 8-Inch Parallelogram Jointer & Mobile Base Review



## pintodeluxe

Parallelogram beds are a great feature. I have enjoyed carefree use on my Delta DJ-20 8" jointer.
Now my only complaint is it's only 8" wide! When I first upgraded from a 6" to an 8" jointer, the next stack of lumber I purchased was entirely 12" wide. Argghh.

I can see the reason behind that jointer guard design. It encourages you to move the fence toward the front for face jointing narrower boards. This way the left edge of even thin stock will contact the guard and it will work normally. If you leave the fence pushed all the way back for jointing narrow boards, the board will not contact the guard, which reminds you to pull the fence forward before making the cut.

Basically they want us to cover as much of the cutterhead as possible with the fence. I try to do that anyways, but I can see how the design would be an annoyance in some circumstances. I think if you get in the habit of sliding the fence forward, it should function normally.

Nice review, which I found quite detailed and informative. Thanks.


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## ssnvet

Nice and thorough write up.

WRT the blade guard… try using a flexible magnetic strip… or use double sided adhesive to mount a flexible piece of plastic, like HDPE or UHMW.

Enjoy your new jointer. I'm jealous :^)


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## JBrow

pintodeluxe,

I appreciate your cutter guard comment - thank you. After taking a closer look, it appears you are exactly correct. Powermatic, as you suggested, does recommend adjusting the fence to minimize the exposure of the cutter head. However, I made no connection of a properly functioning guard to the fence position when I first read the manual. Powermatic's manual was silent regarding the importance of the fence adjustment in order to allow the cutter guard to function properly. It would have been nice if Powermatic Technical Support had made your point when I checked today and before I embarrassing myself here.

Re-looking at the cutter guard and the position where the cut-out begins, adjusting the fence for the narrowest cut possible allows the leading edge of the stock to fully contact the guard in front of the guard's cut-out; swinging the guard out of the way.

What puzzles me are those circumstances when workpiece being face jointed is at an uneven thickness long its length. At the beginning of the cut, the guard will always swing out of the way. At some point in the cut, a thin section of the workpiece passes under the cut-out section of the cutter guard and the cutter guard springs toward the fence covering the workpiece. Everything remains good unless the workpiece's thickness then increases as the cut continues. But then, as the stock gains in thickness, perhaps the guard makes contact with the edge of the advancing workpiece still on the in-feed table and pulls the guard back out of the way before any binding can occur. The cutter guard does seem to have some vertical play allowing it to "float" (apparently by design) and thereby perhaps preventing a bind.

After looking at your post, I face jointed a couple of boards with the fence adjusted as you suggested without the cardboard. The guard swung out of the way and stayed there until the thickness equaled that of the cut-out in the guard. At that point, the guard slide over the workpiece, but there were no problems. Perhaps I can get rid of the masking tape and cardboard by simply adjusting the fence and give Powermatic that fifth star I withheld.


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## jawqn87

This is a very well written review and thank you very much for taking the time to post it. In regards to the blade guard there are a few very good points between JBrow and pintodeluxe. I have a 6" bench top unit that I hope to one day upgrade to an 8" unit with a helical head. However, if one does not have a helical head and just has straight knives, wouldn't the need to adjust the fence to the front of the machine cause the front of the knives to dull first? Obviously, this isn't a big problem with the helical heads, you just rotate the inserts that are dull but on straight knives I think it could cause an issue with uneven wearing. Even with my 6" jointer, I don't run a lot of pieces that are 6" wide through the machine, so I am usually trying to use the full cutter head with the passes that I take, in order to "dull" the blades equally and evenly. On my Grizzly unit, the blade guard has a constant thickness on the leading edge of the blade guard. Just thinking out loud here, let me know any thoughts.


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## JBrow

jawqn87,

Thank you for your comments.

Thanks to pintodeluxe's insightful observations I removed the cardboard and did some face jointing. The guard worked fine by simply adjusting the fence to accommodate the width of the lumber.

Many times face jointing is done with lumber of differing widths. No doubt, and as you pint out, the cutter edges, whether knives or carbide inserts, will see more wear nearest the guard when face jointing since all boards, regardless of width, will pass over the cutters/knives near the guard (when the fence is adjusted for the narrowest practical cut). However, some balance of wear (which sounds like what you are doing) is possible during edge jointing. The fence can be positioned to expose the cutting edges infrequently used during face jointing operations. I would also think that by taking light cuts thereby putting less stress on the cutting edges would reduce the effects of differential wear across the length of the knives (by reducing wear overall). The effects from differential wear are probably further lessened if limited use of exotic and tropical woods is made. From what I understand, some of these woods can be hard on cutting edges.

There were a couple of reasons I wanted to go with the helical cutter head. The first was that the inserts were carbide, lengthening the time between refreshing cutting edges. The second was the anticipation of eliminating or significantly reducing lumber tear out. Until I actually used the helical cutter head, I worried that mill marks left by the cutter head would be more severe than with a straight knife. That fear was unfounded with this jointer. While I hated changing the straight knives on the Craftsman, I was and remain unconvinced that refreshing the edges of the helical inserts is "easier"; just different.

Manufacturers' promotional literature suggests that "all you have to do" is simply rotate a cutter(s) to get refreshed edges. It is definitely much easier to rotate a few relatively new inserts that are nicked than replace 3 or 4 jointers knives. Unfortunately, refreshing the edges of the carbide inserts requires more effort than implied. Dust and debris can accumulate and prevent the inserts from seating properly if not cleaned away. I imagine this cleaning could require a nylon or even a brass brush and maybe some pitch remover. This debris can be found on either the insert or the cutter head, so both should be cleaned. Then each screw gets a light coat of oil. At this point, the inserts can be secured in place. With 54 cutters, this could take a while. It is also recommended that all inserts are rotated a one time, especially after some number of hours of use, since even the carbide wears and dimensions can change, affecting performance.


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## RobWoodCutter

I have been using one since 2007. Great machine.

Use an air compressor to blow out the trapped saw dust when replacing/rotating the inserts. 
I only rotate inserts that are clearly damaged as I discover them. The surface will be finished with a card scraper and sandpaper for minor annoyances so I don't seek perfection straight from the jointer.

You can normally tell when it is time to rotate them, as it will feel like you are actually needing to use pressure to force the board across the cutter head.


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## BuzzBate

I appreciate your review. Recently, a new PM 15HH was delivered to my shop, and this machine will likely be it's partner before too long. I don't know how I ever worked with the helical heads for so long. Having restored my 1950s PM50 last year, I'm having a hard time justifying the upgrade right now.

Good review, good information.


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## MartyBacke

Enjoyed the review and comments


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## JBrow

RobWoodCutter,

Thanks for the tips. I will try rotating only the few cutters when its time. That will probably be good enough and if I get the same results you report, great. If not, I can always finish rotating all 54 cutters with a lot more work.

Brian,

Like you and as I attempted to say in the review, I think the helical cutter head (HH) is a great woodworking innovation. Unlike you, I am going in the opposite direction. I now have the jointer with the HH cutter head but not a planer. My next shop upgrade is to replace the straight knives on my Woodmaster 12" planer with the HH cutter head; hopefully before my next project. I am saving money now.

One thing to throw into the mix when trying to justify upgrading the restored jointer is safety. Even so, I admit, it would be hard for me to replace the restored PM50 with a new jointer. I am sure it is a great American made jointer. Perhaps a HH cutter head is made to fit the PM50. What I find with light cuts while face jointing is that the neoprene push pads do not slip on the new jointer unless fairly dirty; slipping MUCH less than when face jointing on the old Craftsman with its straight knives. Less slipping not only makes it easier to keep the board moving, but I think makes accidents less likely.

All,

Thank you for the kind words and tips!


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## ColoradoKerry

Just got a PJ882 and I agree with all the review comments. Super stable, seems like it has plenty of power, nicely packaged in that huge crate. Plastic fence insert on my jointer was adjusted/installed perfectly.

My tables were flat when I got them, to within the accuracy of my straightedge (.003 over 36"). I removed the adjustment levers with a cheap pulley puller and adjusted the cams to get the tables parallel also to within the accuracy of the straight edge. It's a bit of back and forth but not particularly difficult. Lots of set screws! But it's so much better to do this job on a parallelogram planer like this one, I always hated dealing with this on my older dovetail jointer. And in the end it's perfect and stays that way.

I upgraded it with a Byrd head that I bought from Byrd. I didn't get the Powermatic helical head because it's so expensive - $800 from Powermatic but only ~$400 from Byrd. The replacement was actually pretty easy, took less than 1 hour. It is a thing of beauty. I agree that changing the inserts requires that you take care to clean things, I've had a few inserts on my 15"/Byrd planer break, possibly because of incorrect installation or chips/dust where it should be clean. The Byrd instructions with the head didn't mention oil, might be interesting to try this.

Seems a bit of a pain to adjust the outfeed table just a tiny little bit, but since this happens infrequently it seems not a big deal. I haven't had any issues with the notch in the guard but the installation and adjustment procedure is a bit hokey - swing the spring all the way around and then just slightly loosen the set screw to adjust the tension? It works, best that can be said for it.

The way I read the PM manual, they say to set the outfeed table exactly in line with the helical cutters, but a few thousandths lower for the straight cutters. This seemed to be a bit of a surprise from what I've read on this site and elsewhere but I figured I'd try it with the outfeed table that high. The cuts are perfect right now, I'll be interested to see what happens after it's seen a few hundred board feet. How did you adjust the table vs. the Byrd cutters?


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## JBrow

ColoradoKerry,

Congratulations on the new jointer!

Outfeed Table Height Setting. I am not really sure how the outfeed table surface relative to top dead center of the carbide cutters on the helical cutter head is set. I started by setting the outfeed table to the same height as top dead center of the cutter using a straight edge. Then a board was dressed at the table saw to produce a pair of parallel edges. This test board was edge jointed several times. If snip existed on the last inch or so of the board, the outfeed table was raised ever so slightly and new test cuts made. If the leading edge of the board became narrower than the trailing edge of the board, then the outfeed table was lowered ever so slightly.

In the end, within the error of my measurements, I found that a board with initial parallel edges that is edge jointed several times retains those parallel edges.

The Guard. I hated the cardboard solution, so the cardboard that covered the cutter guard slot was removed. I then positioned the cutter guard as low as possible but ensuring that it swings without contacting the outfeed or infeed tables. This adjustment helped when dressing one face of 4/4 stock, but there is a point where the up-side of a board can still get rub against the guard's cut out; it is now less frequent.

Question for you. It sounds as if you adjusted the tables to be co-planar. Since two pairs of set screws that lock the parallelogram mechanism are located under the small auxiliary table to which the cutter guard is attached, that auxiliary table must be removed to make the set screws accessible. However, my faint attempts to remove that auxiliary table were frustrated by my inability to fit a wrench over the nuts that secure the auxiliary table to the infeed and outfeed tables. How did you manage to loosen those nuts and remove that auxiliary table?


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## ColoradoKerry

JBrow

I'll try your scheme to see what I come up with regarding the outfeed table height. I haven't noticed any snipe but you are right that there might be a slight taper that I haven't noticed. Boards slide nicely from the infeed to outfeed table without getting caught on the leading edge of the outfeed table, but again I might not notice a couple of thousandths.

I used an offset box end wrench to get those two bolts off for the aux table. I had cheap ones from Harbor Freight in my toolbox, that's also where I got the pulley puller I used to remove the adjusting levers. I also removed the fence entirely, which is an easy job but the fence is a bit awkward to get back on by yourself. I had a 1/2" drive 1 1/4" socket (not sure why I had that) and a long breaker bar - for some reason I thought that the cams would be hard to turn but they turn easily. Unfortunately, the cams behind the levers cannot be adjusted with a socket so I just used a big adjustable wrench.

So when I adjusted the tables I had uncluttered, free access to both tables as well as an easy ability to see the straightedge from every angle. That's nice since I look for light under the straightedge as well as using a feeler gauge.


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