Shopsmith Forums

Doug,

I'll go with Tim and Paul. The SS jointer is a little short for really long pieces, but how many of them are you going to actually joint? If you have a twisted board wider than 4" it is a problem, but again, how many and how often are you going to run into the problem? Keeping in mind that one of the stock answers is to cut the board into narrower strips to release board tension.

I have the 1-1/8 hp and use the saw and jointer in combination. As explained in a few other posts, I have gone through over 1500 board feet of white oak with that combination, and no problems. Even a couple of 9 hour days in there, running continuously except for meals and emptying the DC bag.

Personally, the absolute last standalone tool I would look at would be a jointer. The SS combo just works too well to break it up. And the Variable speed is great for heavily burled wood.

You should be able to get a used one for a good price.

Hawk

PS Customer service isn't that bad either:D

The age old question how wide is wide enough. If you have a 4 inch jointer and want to joint a 6 inch board you have problem. If you have an 6 inch jointer and want to joint a board 8 inch wide you have a problem. If you have an 18 inch jointer and want to joint a 20 inch board you have problem.

I have solved all of this two ways. If I have a board wider than 4 inches that needs jointed (which is a really a rarity) I either cut the board in half, or using wedges pass it through my 13" planer.

As for the lenght of bed the same thing happens if the bed is 4 feet and you want to joint something 10 feet you will probably need infeed outfeed extensions. If have a bed 6 feet long and what to joint something 18 feet you will probably need extensions.

Again most of my work can be jointed on the jointer and space for storage is small enough I have room to move in my shop.

If I had unlimited money, unlimited room I would probably had a jointer that looked like an aircraft carrier, huge sliding table saw, 25" bandsaw, numerous drill presses and lathes big enough to turn half the world.

But I don't so I have a Shopsmith tools and you know what I have never ran into a project I couldn't do on the Shopsmith because of some tool limitation.

Ed in Tampa wrote:If I had unlimited money, unlimited room I would probably had a jointer that looked like an aircraft carrier, huge sliding table saw, 25" bandsaw, numerous drill presses and lathes big enough to turn half the world.

I always thought a 12" jointer was enough, but since the largest Sitka Spruce fell in Oregon and I heard they are selling the wood I might want to joint one of the pieces. Since you could drive an SVU through the tree you might need an aircraft carrier sized jointer.

As for large Bandsaws I just saw one for sale for $1,500 that would not fit in an RV garage. It must have been 20 feet high and the upper wheel was at least 6 ft in diameter.

Mind you, a jointer is not a planer. Its role is in the first instance to square the *edge* of the workpiece- which will rarely be more than 4".

A jointer is also useful in flattening cupped or twisted stock- but any piece so bad that you can't do it in a couple of passes over a 4" probably should be ripped anyway.

I suppose the real issue is to what extent you need a jointer if you have a really good sawblade- most of today's top-end blades will leave a glue-ready finish.

And don't forget, if you have a router table w/fence and straight cutting bit, you can use that to joint the edges of your wood too.

Some of the last posts would be funny and true if the Shopsmith jointer was inexpensive. It's not. Put the Shopsmith jointer together with a dedicated powerstand and you'll spend over $700. You can buy the Delta37-275X 6" jointer for less than $600 and it's twice the machine the Shopsmith is.
So like I said earlier it all depends on your particular use. When I was jointing 7' long 8/4 maple for my dining room table you can bet I wished I owned the Delta. Edging boards that long for an invisible glue joint takes precision.
If you're satisfied using it mounted on your Shopsmith, then that's fine for what it is though it's still a bit pricey. If you're looking to use it as a stand alone tool then there are many better options, and for less money.

After getting home with 50 bf of 5/4 rough poplar today, I got to thinking about the original question - Paraphrased - Is a Shopsmith 4" jointer good enough or big enough, accurate enough? Answer: Yes!, and mine is machine mounted.

I'm making plantation shutters. Many 1/2" thick X 3" louvers, a few 1" X 5" rails and a few 1 1/8" X 1 1/8" 57" long stiles. The lumber I got today came in boards,all crosscut to 6 ft long. Two are 16" wide and others 7" wide. I plan to use all Shopsmith equipment (planer excepted) to whip these into shape. As I rip the wider boards, there will undoubtedly be some warp, twist and cup. The first question: "When will I start jointing the blanks I will use"? Answer: When they get small enough!

One of my goals is to produce square, flat 1 1/4" X 3" X 22" blanks from which to re-saw 1/2" louvers. Will I start out jointing these 16" wide boards? No way! Can I edge joint 6 foot long boards on the SS jointer? You bet your britches! Can I do this while they are 16" wide? Maybe, if I have to, but they will most likely be narrower.

The 5" wide rails offer the biggest challenge. How will I face joint these? By first jointing out any twist or cup or warp. Then using very small bites - about 1/32", I'll joint 4 " of a face, then reversing the board, joint off the 1/32" remaining on the inch of the face. When the face is reasonably flat, I'll take it to the planer. Actually I have flattened 5 or 6 inch faces this way in the past successfully using only the SS 4" jointer. These pieces are suitable for the thickness planer. When the desired thickness is almost reached, I will flip it and plane the jointed face.

This would be faster and more efficient with a larger jointer, but smaller will work, with just a little innovation. At the price of a bigger, stand alone machine, not to mention the space requirement - I'm happy to stick with the Shopsmith.

Thanks everyone, for the jointer discussion, and listing all the pros and cons.

I am now officially looking for a used SS jointer...

Hi All,

When I was at the Owners Weekend in July I saw a slick extended-outfeed jig on Nick's 4" jointer.

It turns out there was a Shopsmith Video on it that I must have missed.... check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxAd-t2VBV0

nuhobby wrote:Hi All,

When I was at the Owners Weekend in July I saw a slick extended-outfeed jig on Nick's 4" jointer.

It turns out there was a Shopsmith Video on it that I must have missed.... check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxAd-t2VBV0

Thank you, Chris for this post and the pointer to Nick's uTube presentation. I too missed that before. I agree with you - the extension seems to work quite well and would definitely eliminate one of the minor shortcomings of the small jointer.

I seldom have a problem with the jointer as it is. That is why I consider it a minor shortcoming.

If I was a professional, or was trying to produce work that would be best done by a professional, I might feel different. For now, the Shopsmith jointer "does it all".

If I ever get around to that huge pedestal table I might have to get a different jointer.l