Thread: Looking at a new jointer .....

I don't know why it is a 15A plug as it is only 2HP, but it is.
Coincidentally I was looking at this same model and comparing it to the Carbatec 200mm unit.
Here's what I noticed.

• The carbatec unit is a parallelogram adjustment on the tables, this will be a longer lasting arrangement than the slide adjustment of the Hafco and easily adjusted by moving a cam to true up the tables. Apparently the Hafco units will experience droop in the infeed tables in time due to the large amount of cantilever incorporated in the design, this must be corrected by shimming, which is fiddly.
• The Carbatec is available with a spiral cutter head which is meant to be quieter, cut difficult timbers such as fiddleback better and last much longer, (apparently up to 40X as long due to the 4 indexable edges available). The spiral cutterhead adds around $500 to the price.
• I read a review in a woodworking magazine, (the name of which escapes me unfortunately), where several jointers were compared, the Hafco did not receive glowing praise, criticisms were the rough overall finish and the fence adjustments, plus mention was made of the noise produced by the machine.
• The same review really was quite glowing in their praise of the carbatec, placing it in the same league as $3-4000 machines and extolling the virtues of the spiral cutter.
• I have only viewed the Carbatec but I was impressed with the overall design and finish of the unit.
• The Hafco is the cheapest of the 200mm jointers on the market, being around $1000 while the Carbatec comes in at $1400-$1900 depending on what cutterhead you choose.
• The owner of the Carbatec branch I visited did make these points. 1/ He would choose an 8" straight knife model over a 6" spiral cutter. 2/ He would choose an 8" Hafco over a 6" Carbatec model. 3/ The top option was the 8" Carbatec. I appreciated his honesty in not trying to flog the Carbatec at any cost.
• It seems to me that Hafco make the cheapest machine in any category, whether this is good or bad I do not know. I have one of their BS 912 horizontal metal cutting bandsaws, and it has done a power of work and never failed me.

I didn't check if the Carbatec had a 15A plug. I would certainly have a good look at them, I was impressed by what I saw.
What did I buy???
Actually neither, I bought a 500MM Danckaert second hand.

Thanks Karl. A most impressive and thorough response. Lots of useful detail, some of which was new to me so that was really good.

The Hafco was on special until the 4 August which brought the cost down to not much over $800 which made it damn attractive. Despite my negative feelings about Carba-Tec I did consider their offering very seriously even though it was substantially more.

Finally I decided to go with the 6" Hafco. The reasons are many, some of which you have most eloquently outlined, but there were others.

The cost of putting in a 15 amp line would have whacked the price of the Hafco up to over $1300 delivered, putting it in the same range as the CT, which is probably/possibly a better machine.

Warranty played a big factor. I have had experience with both companies in this regard.

Hare and Forbes (Hafco) sold me a defective 14" Band Saw. They were fantastic in rectifying the problem. They sent a technician from Sydney to Moss Vale quickly. When he worked out it could not be fixed, a replacement was delivered in a couple of days on a (crane) truck, They could not stop apologising for the inconvenience and gave me four free blades for the inconvenience.

It was a text book example of how to turn a negative situation into a positive customer experience.

On the other hand, I won't make comment about my Carba-Tec warranty experiences except to say they have not been impressive.

However the clincher came when I asked Carba-Tec about the warranty. Five years - that's better than the Hafco's two. But, and its a big but, according to the guy at Carba-Tec, if the machine has a problem, it is up to the purchaser to return it to Carba-Tec themselves. It weighs about 230 kg and the freight from Moss Vale to them would cost a significant amount as a crane would need to be used to pick it up. However, they said that if I paid someone to do the work, they would provide any parts free. I was told even if you live in Sydney, it was up to the purchaser to get the machine back to them (at the purchasers cost.) As an aside, with the new ACCC Australia wide consumer laws, I am not sure that is legal, but that's a side issue.

Now compare that with Hare and Forbes who send a repairman. I know which warranty I would choose. Effectively the warranty conditions put the Carba-Tec out of contention.

The cost between the 6" Hafc and the 8" Hafco (delivered and powered up) was about $800 and when I looked at how much timber I have that would be used on the 8" which could not be handled on the 6" it was not that much. I probably have as much over 8" as I have between 6" and 8". My local timber yard (The Woodage) is also very helpful, so the decision was made on rational economic grounds rather than "an 8" would be nice to own."

I hear what you say, we all need to be rational as to our real needs and it sounds like you have done that. It has been my experience that a great many weaknesses and wear issues are directly related to the user - be respectful of a machine and it will look after you.
Really good to hear how good Hare and Forbes warranty is, you don't often hear stories like this anymore.
Enjoy your new machine.