Does anyone have any experience with the Rigid 6″ Jointer? How does it compare to the Delta?
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Replies
Roy,
I have not used the Ridgid but I do own a Delta. The Delta does a great job for me NOW!! I say now because I tried to skip right through the set up and I spent a couple of weeks complaining about the tool when it was my fault for being in a hurry. Whatever machine you finally buy spend the time to set it up properly and accurately. It is great to hold a piece of lumber that has been properly jointed and plained and has corners so sharp that you can cut yourself on them. A jointer is one of those tools that once you own one you will wonder how you got along without it
You might want to take a look at the Grizzly jointer also. I have heard a lot of good comments about them.
Lou J
I own several Grizzly tools. I have a 10" contractors saw (Z-series), a 13" planer, shaper and had a 16" planer. Grizzly's quality is not top shelf. It's a very good second shelf, but my next investment will not be a Grizzly.
Edited 11/1/2004 5:30 pm ET by RoyJCouvillion
wouldn't be able to give you a perfect comparison, roy, but i bought the ridgid jointer several months ago and it runs like a champ. it includes onboard storage for jointer grips, sports great dust collection and runs only $349 at home depot!!! unfortunately, my initial jointer blades were chipped, but one call to the folks at ridgid and i received new replacement blades for FREE.
good luck
I've dealt with Ridgid before with my 12 in miter saw. Fantastic cust. service.
Since posting my question, I've dragged out my Fine Woodworking 2004 Tool Guide and bought the 2005 issue.
Both rate the Ridgid well. I also noticed the Ridgid was listed as $449 in the '04 issue, and now is listed as $399. I have $200 of gift cards for Home Depot, and I feel the pull of the jointer every time I pass by it.
I'm also looking at the Yorkcraft YC-6J. It's essentially a Delta clone at $299.
Roy - Delta makes two 6" jointers. The JT-360 for ~ $350, and the 37-275 for ~ $550. The JT360 has a 3/4hp motor, a flimsy steel fence support, and open stand. Mechanically the JT360 has no advantages over the Ridgid. That doesn't mean it doesn't work well, but now's the time to scrutinize. The Ridgid has the same fence design as the Grizzly, Jet, GI, Sunhill, Bridgewood, Wootek, PM, and others....it's a massive cast iron piece in comparison to the JT360's.
The 37-275 is a more significant machine than the JT360. As stated, Yorkcraft makes a good clone of it for ~ $350. Plus it has built in wheels. The downside is mail order. Another consideration with both of these models is that they rack and pinion fence adjustment. It works well, but pokes out the back a ways, taking up more space.
I was able to see the Ridgid at Home Depot. It looks like a nice machine except for the somewhat feeble base.
Since we don't have a local display for Delta machines, I don't have a good feel for what the Yorkcraft is like. I suppose that, since mail order doesn't bother me, the Yorkcraft would be a better machine for the money. Is that your impression?
Now you're putting the pressure on! Define "better"! (LOL). There's pros and cons to each. There are happy owners of both, and very few complaints of both, so I wouldn't be so bold as to state that one is clearly superior to the other. Neither has a major weakness that should take it out of the running. Whichever one has the advantages that appeal most to you is probably the best choice.
Also, I've heard Wilke Machinery (YC) is wonderful to deal with, but s/h can get steep depending on where you are. I've heard hit and miss stories of Home Depot's support. Just a couple of other factors to consider.
Edited 12/12/2004 7:45 am ET by scotty
I recently purchased a jointer- I "thought" I was going to buy a Bridgewood (8") but then the shipping was going to be almost $300. That put the total price to $1250- I could get a DJ-20 for $1350 delivered to my door, which was what I did (longer bed, parallelogram design both attracted me). Bottom line- the Bridgewoods are great machines and I think the Yorkcraft are great values but you have to factor in the shipping costs into the price to compare apples to apples.
Jeff
I have a DJ 20 as well, so I can tell you this 'watch out'. On mine and on the other 2 at my local distributor, the blade guard will return home so hard that it knocks the fence out of square every time I face joint something wider than about 2". The fence is very difficult to set square, everytime you go to tighten the handle the fence moves. Good luck.
Peter & all,
I bought the Yorkcraft YC-6J 6", which is exactly the same as the Delta X5 6" jointer, so I'm told. Same manufacturer, engineering, design, but with two differences - the Yorkcraft has a mobile base, and it has a stick handle infeed table adjuster instead of a handwheel. Both have the relocated on/off switch resting atop a post located behind the infeed table. Very handy.
Since I only live a couple of hours from Wilke Machinery, the distributor, I chose to drive up and get it myself - $18 tax vs. $90 shipping.
It came with no directions for the mobile base assembly (luckily I figured it out), and the manual still had the on/off switch in the old location. But that was an easy correction.
I have to say, I'm really impressed. The machine is remarkably quiet, both when jointing and idling. And it was a snap to adjust the fence and the infeed table. It would be nice if the infeed adjuster were a handwheel instead of a rod, but for $349 I'm not gonna be too picky.
That's my experience - I'd have loved to get the 8" version, but it's almost twice the cost at $649, and I still have some other tools to buy. That said, if you've been looking longingly at the Delta 8" jointers at anywhere between $1300 and $1600, the Yorkcraft YC-8J looks too good to be true.
Hope this helps,
Mitch
Thanks. I, too, have been wondering if I should just take the dive and get the 8".
The Yorkcraft looks like quite a deal. I'll have to compare it to the Delta 8"
P.S. - The blade guard on all of these units has a fairly simple tensioner - if it's hitting the fence too hard, hold the bottom portion where the guard rod pops in with one hand while lifting the guard off with the other - then just rotate that bottom pice, which is spring loaded, a revolution or two, until you get to a tension level that's still safe but doesn't whack the fence out of square each time.
Mitch
Hello Mitch. I wish it were that simple but it is not. I don't know if the DJ 20 is different from others that do adjust this way or maybe I just can not figure it out [getting old]. I will keep trying though.
Hi Peter,
Sorry to hear that. Have you contacted Delta? There's gotta be a fix for that. I imagine Delta wouldn't be too happy knowing that folks on the Fine Woodworking forums were complaining about a Delta jointer fence that went out of square practically every time the blade guard smashed into it - not good for PR, eh?
I'd be interested to hear what they have to say about it.
Good luck,
Mitch
Thanks for the discussion regarding the blade guard. I just got off the phone with a pal of mine. We were going to take a short trip to the Delta outlet and pick up at least one machine. Now I'm having reservations.
Well, I just had the opportunity to check out my guard on my new DJ-20. Two observations with respect to this thread:
1) the guard came so that it did hit the fence fairly hard... but even so it had absolutely no effect on the fence setting, did not "knock it out of square" or make it budge in any direction.
2) setting the guard tension was a simple turn of a hex screw on the top of the post which forms the swivel point- took about 30 sec to get a reasonable tension.
so for those who are worried about this "feature" I would say it is a non-issue.
another point on the fence- setting it to 90 degrees was also a breeze. that also only took a couple of minutes and so far (very limited use/time) it has not moved. (I use an accurate machinist square to measure it)
Jeff
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