Jet 10 inch Planer/Jointer

Up front: I have no personal experience with the Jet 10″ planer/jointer. On the other hand, 69 customer reviews on Amazon border on the horrible with many one star ratings. Further, it uses knives instead of spiral cutters. While knives are effective, newer models of many planer and jointer brands are tending to spiral cutters. Generally, each insert provides 4 cutting edges. Spiral cutters are also quieter and less prone to snipe. That said, the inserts are also more expensive initially and to replace when compared to models using knives.

Finally, I am unaware of any brand or model of jointer/planer that has received excellent reviews for both functions. Often space and/or pocketbooks make combo machines look especially attractive. However, at least in the case of the Jet 10″ planer/jointer, caveat emptor.

I have a similar, but frankly better tool. It’s a Felder 12 inch, so it’s not like apples and oranges. That said, in just looking at the picture, I can tell you I doubt the machine is worth it. There is a lot of force going into planing, much less jointing a very wide board. This machine is likely half the price of a Grizzly, and much less than a Rikon for a reason. And in this case, a lot of it I think has to do with the base. This one will twist when you run a wide board through it.

And I looked at the specs again. It weights 83 pounds. Avoid avoid avoid. By way of comparison the Grizzly weighs about 350 (and mine, to compare again, although it’s a 12 inch machine, and in a different class, weighs almost 1300 pounds). You need that kind of mass and weight just to keep it stable. There are some boards of wood that weigh more than the machine.

I agree with Daryl and Mike. Stay away, cheap tools are usually just cheaply made tools.

Mike, FWW did a review of the Grizzly and Rikon machines, as well as a 500 pound Jet, in 2012, issue 225 and they got basically good writeups. No way does the one Jim mentioned if it’s the cheapo Amazon showed compare to these in any way. And you can get a Felder, Hammer or MiniMax with no fear of anything but a great tool.

Martin also makes one, but I can’t even imagine the price of a company that sells $30,000 tablesaws. It seems the only thing Martin is missing is the name Astin in front of it. But I bet it’s an amazing machine.

The weight and mass are important, not just for vibration, but the infeed and outfeed tables have to be lifted, so the machine has to stay stable on a now higher center of gravity.