200mm Jointer + 400mm Thicknessor or 300mm Combo?

**hilton** · 4th April 2012, 06:07 AM

Hello guys

Here in South Africa we don't have access to a large variety of cool Woodworking tools so I need some advice please.

For the same money I can get either;
1. a Chinese 200mm Jointer (looks pretty well made) plus a Jet 400mm Thicknesser.
or
2. a Jet 310mm Combo Planer/Thicknesser. (for about $600 more I can get the Helical Head version - new is $4300)

Specifics to consider;

Space in my workshop isn't really an issue (about 32 square meters excluding a finishing room).
I already own a 300mm desktop/bench planer (Ryobi) and whilst it's ok it's not that great (no dust control).
Timber here rarely comes in bigger widths than 300mm.
I intend to get an 18" bandsaw for re-sawing and a Jet 22-44 drum sander.
I'm just an amateur not a pro.

So the big question, which option do I choose?

Thanks for looking.

**hilton** · 5th April 2012, 09:12 PM

Ok pretend I'm not South African....

**FenceFurniture** · 5th April 2012, 09:24 PM

Well that's different then!

Kidding, kidding. I only didn't reply yesterday because I'm not a very experienced wwer, but I have read a stack, and that research tells me that the JPS 310HH is the go, as long as you don't mind changing between modes. The multiple benefits of the HH are just too good to ignore, and to get HH in two separate machines is going to get a bit exxy.

Many people are happy with their Chinese jointers, others can't wait to get rid of them because of fence issues, flatness issues, parallelism etc. AFAIK, the Jet is Taiwanese manufacture, and the Chinese version of spiral head is apparently different to the Byrd. John Saxton has a thread somewhere on how delirious he is with his JPS 310HH, and a search should turn it up (or go to John's page and look for threads he started).

**hilton** · 5th April 2012, 11:56 PM

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

I have read a stack, and that research tells me that the JPS 310HH is the go, as long as you don't mind changing between modes. The multiple benefits of the HH are just too good to ignore.

Thanks for this. I'd rather stick with a brand name for the long haul and I need to research the HH in more detail as it sounds like a better deal.

John Saxton has a thread somewhere on how delirious he is with his JPS 310HH, and a search should turn it up (or go to John's page and look for threads he started).

Easier said than done

The search engine is badly poked, it can't even find threads with the word "Jet".

I'll troll through this section to find that thread of John's.

Thanks.

**FenceFurniture** · 6th April 2012, 12:40 AM

Member Search........John Saxton......go to his page......statistics......find threads

**FenceFurniture** · 6th April 2012, 12:52 AM

If that doesn't work Hilton, send John a Private Message - he lives in Perth so should be well used South Africans

**hilton** · 7th April 2012, 01:00 AM

Thanks mate!

Looks like I need to save for the HH version.

Thread: 200mm Jointer + 400mm Thicknessor or 300mm Combo?

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