Jointer

[D6c]

There is an old Oliver 16" jointer for sale not too far away and I'm thinking of going to look at it.  It's a #166-CD in case anyone is familiar with it.

It's a large machine but I was thinking it would be useful to flatten dry lumber so that I can run it through the planer and end up with nice flat material.....mostly walnut & oak but also ERC.  Of course it will be good to straighten edges too.

Is this too large of a machine?  Anyone else using something similar?

[TKehl]

Oliver's are nice. 

With a jointer, it's all about the length of the table and the width of the head.  Big and heavy is your friend as long as you are able to move it in place and have the room.  You can always move the fence forward if you don't need the whole head, but you can't stretch a head wider.  ;D

Couldn't tell you off hand if a 166 is babbit or roller bearings.  Both can be very usable though.

I just bought a 24" Crescent last month, but have to go through it before it's usable.   :  Babbit bearing originally, but converted to roller bearings at some point.  ;)

[YellowHammer]

A 16" may be too small!   We have a 20" SCMI and it has become a real money maker for our business.  We have faced many thousands of bdft with it and a flat board will sell for more money than a bowed one. It will turn a low value, warped or twisted live edge slab into a cast iron flat, money slab.  

[muggs]

I have an Oliver 166 20 inch. With a Billstrum power feed on it. I never thought about it being too large.   Muggs :D