I managed to assemble this sturdy table-top unit (despite the substandard documentation.) Next, I ran a warped (it was cupped) piece of 14 in. x 5 and 1/2 in. x 7/16 in. aspen through the jointer operation 4 or 5 times at the 1/32 in setting.
The planer has a scale and pointer that indicates the distance between the planer table and the cutter head. I ran it through 4 or 5 times and now have a nice and flat 14 in. x 5 and 1/2 in. x ¼ in. piece.
For the jointer, send the work through using one of the two push blocks (included with the machine) in your left hand and a push stick in your right hand. Jet does not say this but my basic woodworking book said this is the best way (unless the piece is very thin to begin with.) I would not use just my hands except on a VERY thick work piece.
The fence seems strong and accurate and can be angled up to 45 degrees.
Jet tells you to move the wood through in the direction of the grain. It also states that the use of a 2 ½ in vacuum or 4 in. dust collector will greatly improve the results. Adaptors are included and the 2 and ½ in. exactly fit my 6.5 hp Shop Vac which picked up about 90 percent of the waste/shavings from the two operations.
My initial ratings are:
-Documentation---** (barely adequate)
-Packaging------**** (thick Styrofoam)
-Quality---------***** (so far)
-Value----------***** 2 in 1 table top ($329 free ship)
-Durability-------***** unknown so far
-Ease of Use-----*****
-Warranty-------**** (3 years but defective parts must be sent back pre-paid ship for replacement)
-Customer Support unknown for now, however:
I will soon find out the quality of support as one of the two thick 1/8 in. plastic casings was cracked, probably by UPS tossing it around on the way from Knoxville TN to Northern Pennsylvania. Fortunately the machine did not seem to suffer any other damage.
There were no Pan Head Machine Screws as the documentation stated but all screws and nuts need to be tightened with one of the 4 included allen wrenches and/or the included two-sided metric wrench. See the January 31 2009 review of the 10 inch model for more about assembly.
The cutter-head knives settings did not need to be adjusted (you use the included knife setting gauge to determine if it is set to the proper height)
I am off to the local sawmill for some rough lumber and. after a quick comparison between an on-line store's pre-planed and pre-jointed board-foot of ash ($11) and a rough one ($2) means this Jet should pay for itself in a short period of time even though I am just a DIYer. If it can handle rough lumber than I will be more than satisfied with this purchase. I will try and update this review after a few weeks. Jet JJP-8BT 8-Inch Bench Top Jointer/Planer
If you are a hobbyist with a limited budget as well as limited floor space, this machine should do the trick for you. If you are one of the minority with unlimited funds and space, you probably will want to look for a machine with more horsepower. The following is a breakdown of my experience with this little number.
First of all, I went with the 8 inch instead of the 10 inch because both seem to have the same motor. 2 inches might not seem like much, but the difference can be quite substantial when you are putting resistance to a motor. Jointers and planers have a relationship to each other. So, to me, it didn't really matter that I was losing a few inches in planing width since I would not be able to flatten a wider board on the jointer anyway.
The box arrived in good condition. There was no damage to the machine. I did have a torn bag of locknuts and washers. Some of these parts were probably littering the factory as I was missing a couple. Fortunately, I keep a supply of such items handy so was not a show stopper. I did spend a little bit of time looking for panhead screws that do not exist. There must have been a change since the instruction printing because hex bolts, not panheads, hold the blade guard to the machine.
I did have a notched blade and I can tell you that jet will be about the only company that carries them. They advertise the part in metric not fractional sizes. Because I was impatient, I ordered a set of Freud 1/8th blade thickness blades. The ones Jet carries are about 1/16th thick and seem rather flimsy to me. Some of this is probably due to the horse of the planer and there is less strain on a machine if the blades are thin. As it is, I probably will not take more than a 1/32 cut at a time due to the thickness of the blade. This of course leads to changing the blades and setting them.
Do yourself a favor if you order. Right when you get the box, open it, get your serial number and model number info and call Jet right off the bat. Ask them to email you a diagram for setting the outfeed table. These are not included in the instructions (though they should be). The outfeed table is adjustable and you can set it coplanar to the infeed table. It takes 5 minutes and will save you a nightmare in blade adjustments. Some of the bad reviews are pretty much related to poor performance based on the table not being coplanar. If you see poor cuts, this can be remedied. The box comes with a "jig" for setting the blades. The jig is just a rectangular, hollow, metal box that you use to set over the blade and the outfeed table to align the knives even with the table. Springs are located under the knives and they put pressure on them to elevate them. The box pushes the knives back down to a level spot so you can tighten them down. It is very important that both knives are completely level and at the same height to the table and with each other. If both tables are coplanar, this is not extremely difficult. You just have to keep moving the box from one side to the other and tighten the outer nuts slowly so that the blade doesn't tip and become uneven. If both tables are not coplanar, you may have a two day nightmare (speaking first hand) before the lightbulb comes on. On a good note, the difficulties taught me much about the machine and I feel quite comfortable with all the operations.
To summarize - The machine is decent, it will do what it is supposed to do. The manual is not so decent, but it is workable. Jet customer support is very good. You will get a human being who knows the machine and they can answer your questions and give you the help you need. If you want to stick with Jet blades, contact the customer service department to order. Trying to find them online is a red herring experience.
Hope this helps those that are considering or possibly those that already have the machine and are experiencing some issues. - Jet - Planer - Jointers - Wood'
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