Review - Hare & Forbes (HAFCO) P150 Jointer

**silentC** · 16th December 2003, 10:56 PM

This machine is an entry level 6" jointer with a 1100mm table. It has a 750 watt motor and two cutters. I purchased it from Hare & Forbes Sydney last week. I can recommend the service and the delivery was prompt. Purchase price was $429.

The machine comes flat packed and weighs 85 kilograms. You will need someone to help you lift it off unless the driver is in a good mood.

The jointer and fence mechanism come preassembled but you will need to assemble the sheetmetal stand and attach the jointer to it. You will also need to attach the fence mechanism and fix the fence to it. Allow about 2 hours for this part.

The instructions are typically poor. I relied upon the exploded view of the stand to assemble it. It is not difficult but which bolt to use where is often left to your imagination. There is also no indication of in which order to assemble the parts of the stand. Make sure you attach the top of the dust chute to the bracket at the top of the stand before attaching the bottom to the left-hand cover plate as it is not possible to do it the other way around.

The fence had some sharp spots along the bottom edge which I removed before attaching it to the mechanism. The positive stops at 90 deg. and 45 deg. are rudimentary and not factory set so you will need to set these. They consist of a couple of bolts tapped into the fence mechanism casting. You screw these in or out to set the stop and lock them off with the lock nut provided. I would still be inclined to check the fence with a square before using it after a change in the fence angle.

Once the jointer has been fitted to the stand, the drive pulley needs to be aligned with the cutter pulley. The instructions suggest using a straight edge but the space between the pulley face and the hole in the chassis is not wide enough to get anything decent down there. I sighted across the cutter pulley to the top and bottom edges of the drive pulley and slid the motor across to adjust it. There is also adjustment in the cutter pulley if required.

The blades are installed and adjusted from the factory. Mine seem to be accurate enough. I had to slightly adjust the outfeed table after a test cut.

The fence is cast iron and quite solid. The whole machine has a low centre of gravity and feels quite stable. It has large rubber feet at each corner of the stand. It's is actually quite difficult to move it around on your own. I am 6' 2" tall and I find it comfortable enough to use, despite the stand being lower than you would find on a higher end machine.

On the downside, the table winder handles are plastic and a little flimsy, the on/off switch is a bit cumbersome to use and the blade had a few nicks in it. The lock lever for the fence angle setting mechanism collides with a protruding bolt on the back of the fence mechanism which makes it a bit difficult to operate. You have to slide it through the bolt a little on each half revolution. There is potential there to skin a knuckle on it if you're in a hurry.

All in all not a bad little unit for the price. Has a good solid feel and tackles light to medium weight use easily. I hope this may be of some use to anyone considering purchasing a low end jointer.

**rodm** · 17th December 2003, 12:09 AM

Thanks for taking the time to post this. I find it valuable to read what others think of their purchases especially when it is objective.

cheers,

**bigAl** · 17th December 2003, 12:16 AM

I'm with Rod, many thanks. I was planning to but the Jet entry level model that's a more than twice the price but it seems looking at the Hare & Forbes will be worth my time.

Many thanks,

Al.

**silentC** · 17th December 2003, 08:03 AM

No problem at all. Just noticed a typo which I have fixed. The table is 1100mm long, not 1010mm. It's already short enough, don't want to deprive it of another 4"

Cheers,
Darren

**barnsey** · 22nd December 2003, 11:07 AM

My thanks too Darren

I have purchased a couple of pieces of equipment from H&F and found them all to be good value for the money. Your review has put it on my list for the furry faced one(no not SWMBO!!!).

Have a great Xmas and a healthy happy new year

Jamie

**paulver** · 5th January 2004, 10:23 AM

Darren,

Great that I found your post.

I recently took delivery of the unit too and spent an hour on the weekend trying to make sense of the cryptic instructions for assembly. Your feedback will definitely help here.

I trial assembled some of the stand parts without screws to work it out, but like you was confused by which screw / bolt / nut was appropriate for which part.

I decided to give up then, and consult this forum and also Hare and Forbes staff...

Picking your brain about one area if I can. The package comes with four 25mm bolts for assembling the stand (beside the multitude of shorter ones). The diagram shows one being used to mount the motor. I guessed that all four would be for that purpose, yet another part of the diagram shows one of these 25mm bolts being used at the bottom of the stand also. (Can't remember what little doodad it referenced) Do you remember what you did by any chance?

Thanks.

Paul

**silentC** · 5th January 2004, 11:09 AM

Paul,

I'll have a look at mine to refresh my memory when I go home for lunch.

One thing I noticed was that some of the parts had changed a bit from when the original drawing was done. I didn't worry too much about it in the end. The four 25mm bolts hold the motor and I figured that was the important part. The rest seem to fall into place if you look at where they are to go. The small coach bolts made sense anywhere that there was a slot or a square hole to engage the head and I used the slot heads in the places where there was only a round hole.

When I got to the end, I had to move a couple because I'd run out of slot heads and there were a couple of square holes left, so I just swapped a couple over.

I've just spent the weekend cleaning up some old rough sawn hardwood and it does a good job.

**silentC** · 5th January 2004, 12:55 PM

Paul,

In the diagram on page 16 it shows parts 4, 5 & 6 being used to fasten the rubber feet to the bottom of the stand. In fact the stand is now supplied with rubber feet that are moudled around an integral bolt, so the separate bolts are no longer required and aren't supplied anymore. I think that is what you are referring to. That's one of the things that has changed since the instructions were printed.

Cheers,
Darren

**paulver** · 5th January 2004, 01:04 PM

Great.

Thanks for the assistance.

Regards.

Paul.

**Ozzie-Boof** · 21st August 2005, 02:08 PM

I ended up purchasing the P150A from Hare and Forbes last week and being a bit of a novice spent about 3 hours yesterday and 2 hours this morning putting it together.

Just wondering if anyone can tell me where to get tungsten baldes for this model ?

Thanks
Ozzie

**DanP** · 21st August 2005, 03:12 PM

SC,

Can you post a pic of how your fence attaches to the jointer. I want a cast iron one for the ML392 and I want to know if one of these will fit.

Dan

**silentC** · 22nd August 2005, 09:27 AM

Will do it tonight...

**DanP** · 5th September 2005, 06:13 PM

Originally Posted by silentC

Will do it tonight...

Tap...Tap...Tap...Tap...Tap...Tap...Tap...Tap...Tap...Tap...Tap...Tap...

Visualise impatient toe tapping....

Dan

**silentC** · 6th September 2005, 09:10 AM

Bugger, sorry Dan. Memory like a sieve.

Have set a reminder on my phone to do it tonight. In the meantime, from memory, it attachs to the back of the chassis. There's a big heavy plate with four bolt holes and some matching tapped holes in the chassis. The plate is vertical if you get what I mean, so it bolts onto the back of the unit and the fence mechanism sticks out the back about 200-300mm.

**silentC** · 8th September 2005, 09:54 AM

Alright, so I was wrong - only two bolts....

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