Thread: New Rikon jointer/thicknesser combo coming

Mark, I have nothing to offer on set-up tips, being a newbie myself. However this machine is on my list and I'm interested to hear your feedback once you get it set up. Cheers.

Originally Posted by garagegrump

Mark, I have nothing to offer on set-up tips, being a newbie myself. However this machine is on my list and I'm interested to hear your feedback once you get it set up. Cheers.

Hey mate!

I've had it about 5 weeks now, very happy with it! Unfortunately however, I noticed today that the retail price has jumped up to $5000. It was $4300 when i bought mine and I got it for $4150. I've heard everyone is putting their prices up at the moment, just very lucky timing for me.

The machine - honestly it hardly took any set up, I pretty much just had to fit the fence and clean all the shipping oil off it, that's about it. Otherwise it's as I expected: worked well out of the box. I haven't made the effort to check the jointer beds for alignment yet, been lazy. But I've used it a bit and everything comes out straight, so there's no pressing need.

I'm still very impressed with the helical head. I'd used one before at my local club, but it's the first I've owned. Honestly, my dust collector makes more noise than the jointer, running 150mm ironbark through it. I'm usually pretty good with wearing hearing protection, even at the table saw, but I don't bother with this jointer.

The Cons are:
- The fence. It's fine really, does the job and when locked in is sturdy enough, despite the design not inspiring much confidence. Setting it is just not great, it took me a while to set it to 90deg and be happy with it - as you square it up, then tighten the locking handles, and it moves a smidge. So it took a bit of pre-empting the movement and setting it to 89deg sort of thing so it ended up at 90. But it hasn't moved since and I don't see myself taking it off 90deg very often at all. Note as well, that the comparable machines all have the same fence.
- Jointer table size. You know this when you buy it - but the jointer beds are not exactly large. They're great for small to medium size projects which is most of what I'll be doing, but I dread making a dining table. Not impossible however, and like I said I knew this when I was shopping around. The pro is that it saves space compared to a long bed jointer.
- Thicknesser width. Again, a known at purchase, but only 12" wide

Pros:
- It performs really well, within the given dimensional constraints.
- Converting it from jointer to thicknesser mode and back is dead easy, honestly takes about 30 seconds and is not a factor at all.
- The Rikon compared to other brands has an extended outfield table on the thicknesser as standard, which is great. I'd certainly miss having that extra support. It also has an analog counter on the thicknesser wheel as standard. I initially wasn't convinced about this as I didn't think it would be accurate. But it's better than I expected! it's calibrated spot on with the tape on the side, and both are within 0.2mm from final dimension, on the generous side. I haven't tried to calibrate them as yet, if that's possible. You can retro fit either of these things to other brands though, and you do pay an extra for them with the Rikon.

Funnily, while I already figured these machines (ie Jet, Rikon, Woodfast, Woodman... whoever else) are pretty much identical machines, it really does seem IDENTICAL to my mates' Jet machine in many ways. To the little detail in the dust shroud, every bolt and fitting look the same. The main things that are actually different, are the finish on the jointer tables (just seems like a different machined finish) and the feed rate is apparently different (ie different size pulley).

Tip - I'd certainly look at getting the 'Mobility Kit' that's available for it (actually, another option I don't think other brands offer). I don't have one yet, hard to get. So I have it on an adjustable mobile base from.... Timbecon I think. The mobile base does the job, but it sticks out quite a bit, where the mobility kit actually looks quite tidy. As soon as I can find one in stock I'll buy it.

Hope that helps, fire away with any questions.

Cheers,

Mark

Rikon Jointer:Thicknesser.jpgRikon cutter head.jpg

Couple of pics of the machine on the day of arrival. In the second picture you can kinda see the finish on the thicknesser bed - it's like a grainy type machined finish, as compared to the shinier machined finish next to it on the extension table. I'm not sure how else to describe it. It' not an issue anyway, just different to any other machines I've seen before.

I have the 310mm model and I am happy with the purchase. Mine is about a year old and I have put approx 300-400 l/m through it.
A couple of things that I noticed.
The foam covered outfeed roller in thickness mode has ripped, presumably being caught ona knot but has not affected the machine.
Ensure you use something like Boeshield to protect the surfaces and assist in the machine running smoothly in thickness mode
Grease the ram with a high quality grease, the red grease that came with the machine is sub standard and became hard in a short time.
Consider getting a Wixey or alternative to accurately adjust for thicknessing.
Its a given but you need a dust extractor hooked up
Cheers Tony