Carba-Tec 8" Jointer - Quality ???

Folks,

I think I need to upgrade the size of my jointer - I have a 6" long-bed Powermatic, but I think I need 8" capacity.

I have tended to prefer Jet or Powermatic equipment, as I think the quality is very good - bearings etc seem to be a little higher quality.

I've done some searching in the forum about the Carba-tec 8" jointer, as it seems to be about $400 less cost. I haven't spoken to any of the retailers yet to see what price I will actually pay, but that's the difference on the web-site prices.

What's the feeling on the overall quality of the Carba-tec unit? What is the bearings and bed slides, etc like? And ability to align fence and table etc?

And does anyone have a comment vs the Jet unit?

Thanks for any comments.

Regards,

...gidday CT,
You have hit the nail on the head with your preference. Stick to Jet or Powermatic.
I have been doing a bit of research as I am wanting to upgrade some machinery, thicky, joiner and drill press.
All my searching has led me to Jet and/or powermatic.The old saying REALLY does ring true...ya git what ya pay for.

PS... A 15" gold thicky will be sliding down my chimney very soon, xmas come early ;)
Cheers

Hi CT

I cannot compare with other brands, but I have had the Carba-Tec 8" jointer for about 3 years. This has worked faultlessly in all that time. It is a solid machine and the fittings all appear decent. Jointers are pretty basic machines, and there is not a lot to go wrong.

Regards from Perth

Derek

With what you save on the Carbatech purchase price, you could retrofit a shelix head.

Good thread because I am thinking the same! The Carbatec 8 inch on special at $1600 is excellent value. I am a Jet fan but a $400 saving is nothing to be sneezed at!

I am torn between going one of them and stick it out with my "handyman" cheapy thicknesser Carbatec model or go the Combo machine route....

I know the fences are pretty crap on the Woodfast and Jet combo models but they give you more than enough jointing and thicknesser width to play with, the space saving and amount of use I will put it through for me the combo models are very attractive.

IanW has a Woodfast Combo and to be honest it did a good job sorting some boards out for me.

I will be interested to hear other peoples opinions!

I'm with Derek on this one. I'm very happy with my 8" carba tec spiral head. I honestly don't see the need to spend more on a jointer. Mine has been without problem

Hi Milo

I looked carefully at the Woodfast combo before purchasing the Carba-tec 8" stand-alone jointer.

I already had a Delta 12 1/2" thicknesser, but I was very keep on space saving, and the Woodfast was solidly in my sights. It had recently been released at that stage.

On close inspection it proved to be a poor relation to the Jet (which was $1K more). I disliked the aluminium fence, and disliked the design of the switch over - it seemed clumsy compared with the Jet. In the end the 8" Carbatec made a better buy (It was then $1100).

Regards from Perth

Derek

Yup i'll give another thumbs up for the carbi-tec 8" jointer. I have 1 at home & its a good sturdy unit.

I did a review on my carba-tec 8" jointer a while back here. I am pretty happy with mine. The only things I thought was a bit off was the bolts to level the beds needs a kind of pin wrench, the ends of the bed towards the cutter are aluminum and the fence is a little fiddly to adjust.

No regrets except wish I had the spiral head version.

I have no plans to upgrade mine to a spiral head. I consider this unnecessary. The jointer works very well with the straight HSS cutters. It is also not as noisy as my Delta thicknesser. Now I would rather have a thicknesser with spiral blades as (a) this machine is bloody loud, and (b) one moves from the jointer to the thicknesser, so it is the latter machine that benefits from a smoother finish. I end with hand planes anyway.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Hi
I also have an 8" Carba Tec jointer which im extremely happy with. Had it now for 2 - 3 years.
Brian