Hafo P-200H vs Carbatec JN-200C (CTJ-350) vs Laguna 8" Wedgebed

**Alkahestic** · 22nd March 2017, 02:40 PM

I'm driving myself slightly crazy and would love to hear some opinions on these jointers. Machinery House are having a sale though and the P-200H is $1089, pretty darn cheap.

My main concerns are with setup - I'd prefer not to have to spend an entire weekend (or more) fiddling with a new machine to get it to perform well. Once tuned I expect flat surfaces and reliable 90 degree corners without having to stop and retune on every other piece of timber. I won't really be using the rebate or bevel features. The parallelogram adjustment feature of the JN-200C is intriguing but is this really a great benefit? I do intend to replace the cutter heads with a Shelix sooner rather than later, so cut quality is not so much of an immediate concern. The Laguna obviously comes with a helical head so I won't be tossing that out (not that

yet). Even with a helix head and new bearings, the P-200H will come in $1000 cheaper than the Laguna... I'm a weekend warrior, I don't need commercial duty cycle machines but I do want an accurate one, or one that can be made accurate with a few shims, straightedge, sweat, swearing, and a few hours.

I have considered combo machines, but it seems like anything less than $3k has issues with fences or bed alignment. Solvable... but I'd rather do woodworking than machinery adjusting. I've got a CT-330X 13" thicknesser that does a really good job with minimal fuss, which is why I've been eyeing a standalone jointer.

Up to this point I've been using handtools for jointing and squaring. As the projects are getting bigger and requiring more precision, I want to spend my time on joinery and design, not so much squaring up 25m of stock.

**bueller** · 22nd March 2017, 03:41 PM

I seem to recall hearing the quality control on the Hafco jointers leaves a bit to be desired. Do a search and I'm sure you'll find something, I'm sure i've heard people say they had problems with tables not being coplanar.

**jimfish** · 22nd March 2017, 06:35 PM

I have the Hafco and am quite disappointed in it. Fence has a twist in it and this may be operator error but I'm unable to get the tables co planer. I never took it back as I live in Tassie and got it in Melb. Kicking myself for being a tightwad and not getting a better quality machine.

**Tahlee** · 23rd March 2017, 06:06 AM

Originally Posted by jimfish

I have the Hafco and am quite disappointed in it. Fence has a twist in it and this may be operator error but I'm unable to get the tables co planer. I never took it back as I live in Tassie and got it in Melb. Kicking myself for being a tightwad and not getting a better quality machine.

Sometimes it it is not the fence that has warped it is just that there is a slope on one of the tables
I had this problem and after an hour or two with a dial indicator I was able to get the tables both coplanar and level

Rob

**jimfish** · 23rd March 2017, 06:31 AM

Originally Posted by Tahlee

Sometimes it it is not the fence that has warped it is just that there is a slope on one of the tables
I had this problem and after an hour or two with a dial indicator I was able to get the tables both coplanar and level

Rob

In this instance it's definitely the fence. I have got around it by packing and screwing a melamine board to the fence.
Are you talking about the hafco as I can't find any adjustment screws to adjust the tables.

**Alkahestic** · 24th March 2017, 11:43 AM

Thanks for the responses guys. I've watched a few of the Grizzly videos on setting up wedgebed (dovetail) style jointers and parallelogram jointers - shimming the wedgebeds isn't too terrible but I really don't feel like returning stuff because tables haven't been cast properly or parts are broken out of the box. So I will cross the P-200H off the list. The wedgebed Laguna is looking real tempting. Unfortunately I've also taken notice of the Jet 12" combo and the Woodman 12" (looks to be the same machine) and they look really nice too. Just need to find their manuals and see how the beds and fence are adjusted.

**Tahlee** · 24th March 2017, 08:54 PM

Originally Posted by jimfish

In this instance it's definitely the fence. I have got around it by packing and screwing a melamine board to the fence.
Are you talking about the hafco as I can't find any adjustment screws to adjust the tables.

No not a Hafco ...

**Alkahestic** · 31st March 2017, 03:15 PM

Well I think I'm going to get the JN-X200C, the spiral head Carbatec 8" longbed.

I've been driving myself a little crazy looking at everything under the sun including combo machines... but really I think my main usage for the jointer will be milling 125-200mm boards. Wider boards and laminations can go on a sled in my 13" thicknesser or the old fashioned way - by hand. Am I wrong in thinking that at this price point (and not a $6,000 Hammer, which was also being considered, until I came to my senses) I can expect a single purpose machine to be easier to setup and maintain? The parallelogram adjustment on the JN-X200C seems really easy to use compared to shimming a dovetail/wedgebed/combo and the fence is a big chunk of cast iron compared to the aluminium on the combo machines.

Thread: Hafo P-200H vs Carbatec JN-200C (CTJ-350) vs Laguna 8" Wedgebed

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