Is this a good used 12" Jointer?

[Brad_bb]

farmfromkansas, so what do you do if your board is 12" or 13"?

[WDH]

You can remove the guard and joint the board so that it is flat on the part of the board that goes over the cutterhead.  A part of the face will not be jointed, the part that was wider than the cutterhead, it and will be the same thickness as you started with.  Then, you take a 1/4" thick piece of plywood and using double sided tape attach it to the jointed face.  As long as the other part of the board that did not go over the cutterhead does not stand proud of the plywood, you can run the board thru the planer with the plywood side down on the bed and flatten the top of the board.  Then flip the board and remove the plywood and plane that face.  You can flatten a board that is about 4" wider than the cutterhead with this method, maybe even a bit wider. 

[Don P]

Another way that I've used with my 15" planer and should work with your beam planer is to set a heavy flat, straight timber on the bed and then put the warped board on that. Hot glue shims to center up the twist and any bows and then plane the top flat. Don't go crazy with the glue, just enough to hold the shims and board in place. Use a chisel to pop the board free, flip it over and plane as normal. Not quick but if well shimmed it will face a board.

[Brad_bb]

Hmm, If you're going to all the trouble to have a jointer, I would hate to have to do those work arounds.  Maybe a 16" is the way to go?

[woodworker9]

Hmm, If you're going to all the trouble to have a jointer, I would hate to have to do those work arounds.  Maybe a 16" is the way to go?

I very quickly outgrew my 12" jointer.  I was using the rabbeting ledge and hand planing wide timbers, but finally moved to a 24" jointer when it became available at auction.  Wider is always better if you have a use, and have the space.

[caveman]

I made a sled to flatten slabs that were wider than my jointer.  I shim the slabs and run them through.  It is easier with two people but one can attain reasonably flat slabs/boards alone.

[WDH]

I also have a couple of sleds.  They do work.  A sawmill also serves well to flatten a face prior to planing, like when you are preparing thicker slabs.

[Larry]

A 16" jointer would work well if your making a lot of cabinets. The raised panels often run up to 14" wide but almost never more than 15".

WDH's idea of putting the board on top of a 1/4" piece of plywood is excellent. Something I've never heard of, but should work excellent. I was thinking this morning if I put a lip on the leading edge of the plywood I wouldn't have to use two sided tape.

[Brad_bb]

Typically the widest 5/4 boards I cut are 14 inches.  So a 16 in jointer would cover 97% of boards.  For slabs I have my sawmill beam planer.

[shinnlinger]

I have two helical head jointers in my shop.  One is a JET 12" combo unit that flips into a 12" planer pretty quickly.  The other is a 6" powermatic with an aftermarket  Byrd cutterhead.  The knives interchange and I see no difference in the placement between them or my powermatic 20" planer with a factory helical head.

[Brad_bb]

It's been over a year and I didn't get one yet, but soon.  

Question:  I may have asked before, can't remember....  Is there any advantage to using a 3ph machine versus a 230V single phase (assuming a planer or jointer with same motor strength)?  

Shop is set up for a number of 220V outlets.  I'd need a rotary phase converter to get 3ph.  I've set up for a single phase 220V for an electric motor woodmizer mill and beam planer- J rated fuse.

[TKehl]

If you have 3 phase it is slightly better.  I think the motors last longer with fewer issues.

That said, electric motor issues are minimal.  It's not worth setting up a RPC just to get a 3 phase motor in place.

I'd stick with single phase if you have a choice.  If you buy a machine with 3 phase, it's pretty reasonable to get a 1 phase and and 3 phase out VFD for 3 HP and do that intead of an RPC.

[btulloh]

3 phase is inherently better for motors, but for the jointer you'll probably be running a 2,3 or 5 hp motor and I would go with the convenience of single phase.  If you happen to find a good 12" or larger jointer with a 3ph motor then go with the phase converter.  

[btulloh]

x2 on the VFD for a smaller 3ph motor.

[Nebraska]

I've always wondered  if you could use a separate generator  to add a third phase if   one only needed it on an intermittent basis. Probably not practical just crossed my mind.

[zimraphail]

I have my grandfaters 12.5 inch belsaw thickness planer!  This machine has a 5 hp single phase motor on it and in my opinion plenty of power!

[Don P]

I've always wondered  if you could use a separate generator  to add a third phase if   one only needed it on an intermittent basis. Probably not practical just crossed my mind.

Not really if I'm understanding you right. There are 3ph generators but it would be more expensive to set up and to run than a converter.

[Jemclimber]

I think Nebraska is asking if a generator could be used to generate the third leg in a 3 phase environment. The answer I believe is no, not without some other electronics.  Single phase (which is single pole and 2 pole if using 240v, but still called single phase) has the 2 poles exactly opposite each during their on/off pulses 60 times a second (60Hz). Three phase power has these on/off pulses arranged in 120 degree offset vs. 180 degree offset. I think you'd need a way to synchronize the 3 legs to make it work, and I'm not an electrical engineer that can explain it better or figure out how to make it work.

[Al_Smith]

Usually on 240 volts the run caps can be 7.5-9 MF /HP depending on the line voltage which could vary from 215 to as high as 250 volts .If the manufactured voltage  is low,add more capacitance .higher remove some .What you are doing is  balancing the inductive  lag on the dummy winding .
The voltages don't have to perfect .Maybe 210 - 215  on 240 volt line .
My converter in my shop is 496  line and 490 dummy but that's  going through two single phase transformers hooked up boost  before it gets to the converter  ,pretty darn close if I do say so .
Besides being able to not change to a single phase motor you keep the three phase which operates cheaper plus has more starting torque and as a bonus you now  have the ability to operate other three phase machinery .
Another thing .A three phase motor can almost instantly be reversed .A single phase needs to stop completely to be reversed .

[YellowHammer]

A three phase motor is less expensive if you already have three phase power.  If not and you need to set up a phase converter, it's less expensive to go with single phase for a one time application. 

A single phase motor is more expensive than a three phase motor, but in smaller hp ratings, unless you already have three phase, I would stick with the single phase.  

I ran a 12" jointer with a 3hp single phase motor and it was underpowered when facing wide stock.  

[Al_Smith]

The good ole boy who  showed me the "voodoo " of converters decades ago at one time made a living electrifying oil wells .North west Ohio had the hottest oil  fields in north America until the Oklahoma field came in  but it was high sulfur oil .By the late 40's they had got down to "strippers " low production wells .Problems arouse with the old stationary  gasoline engines made in the 1890's and it was more economical to use electric motors.
He bought the three phase motors for a dollar a HP and the various capacitors from military surplus for next to nothing .WW2 was over and there was tonnage of components available ,cheap .
Rather than use rotaries he built static starters where you get about 60 percent of the HP from a 3 phase motors .No big deal because you're only paying for 6 HP . 
He did alright at that but he's gone now and very few of those wells are producing .The oil is still down there just like money in the bank if they ever need it .