Benchtop Jointer

[Salty]

Hey all, I need some input.
I'd like to get a new benchtop jointer and have a few questions.
First, does anyone have good or bad information on the Grizzly G0612 unit? I cannot find pictures of the back to see what the fence adjustment looks like. At nearly 100 lbs. it has to be far better that the aluminum one I have now.
I've also looked at the JT160 but it gets a lot of bad reviews, along with some good ones. Seems the quality of the tables and the fence are the drawbacks.
Also, is there a big advantage to a variable or multiple speed unit? I don't see that offered on the floor models but those of course are usually belt drive and run at a much slower RPM.
Is the 10,000 RPM going to try to walk all over the bench?
How about the dust shute? Is that designed well.
I'd like to, and could, spend more for a large floor model but that would defeat my recent enlargement of the workshop. Also, I have access to a larger machine should I need to run longer stock.
Any help here would be appreciated as I did not see any reviews of this machine.

Salty

[Salty]

A lot of silence here I guess.
Lots of views but no responses.
I will be getting the G0612, probably after the first of the year.
Then I'll let ya know.

[toolguy1000]

have you checked your local HD? the rdgid 6 1/8" jointer is being clearanced in some stores, at prices below $200. it's a great tool and if you can get it for the cost of a benchtop, why not?

[Bill in Buena Park]

Salty,
I have no experience with the Grizzly model, but it is reminiscent of similar models owned by others here, like the SM-150B I got from Sunhill. Should be a good unit - if you get it, post a review on it.

[dbhost]

I too have a Sunhill SM-150B, and am very pleased with its performance. However finding one new is going to be a challenge as it appears Sunhill stopped selling them this year...

From what I can tell, there are FAR fewer bench top jointer options today than there were two years ago. Which is a pity...

I would suggest calling Sunhill Machinery at 1-800-929-4321 and asking them about the SM-150B... They may have a few still knocking around a warehouse somewhere...

If I had a choice of what I see on the market now, I would pick the Grizzly.. I am not real impressed with the build quality of the JT160

[LCHIEN]

I've posted several times in the past my comments on the JT160 - do a search for JT-160

Here's the last comment i posted:
I had that jointer before they went to the Shopmaster designation JT-160, I think it was the 22-037 or 22-070 or something like that.
Anyway, it was a nice little jointer, it did a fairly nice job of planing and jointing, I could not fault the finish of the cuts. but its big shortcoming was the short bed, I could not make a long (> 6 ft) piece of wood straight.

Mass comes with long, cast iron beds which can't sag or flex any over their long length so the mass goes up rapidly with longer beds. And the mass is really important when running long heavy timbers over the bed... again, a short bed jointer won't typically be seeing any long, heavy timbers.

[Pappy]

Have you been watching craigslist? The older Craftsman, Delta and Rockwell units show up here from time to time.

Local example, a bit high but better machinery than what is being offered today. http://austin.craigslist.org/tls/1473472551.html

In your area. The second link looks like a good deal.

http://cleveland.craigslist.org/tls/1478842398.html

http://youngstown.craigslist.org/tls/1510328860.html

[tseavoy]

I have the Grizzly benchtop. Got it on sale for $185 + tax and shipping. It's heavy, but not too heavy to lift. It sits on a small table and doesn't walk around at all. I didn't bolt it down. It works for what I do. The fence mechanism in my opinion is a little klugy but it works OK. I don't need to adjust it very often anyway.
I looked for older jointers on CL but didn't find any worth traveling to see. A replacement motor can cost almost as much as a new Grizzly.
An advantage of the lighter benchtop jointers is that they can be shipped UPS. Living where I do a freight truck semi can't get down my road, so I have to arrange to meet it on the main road.

Tom on Marrowstone

[tseavoy]

I forgot to say that the dust collection works good. A bag comes with the jointer and pretty much all the chips are blown into the bag.

Tom

[Salty]

Thanks all for the replies and info. Good to know that on the dust collection Tom.
Merry Christmas all.

Salty