Ridgid 6 1/8 Jointer

[Charlgush@aol.com]

Dear Guys & Dolls,
Thinking of getting Ridgid 6 1/8 inch jointer. It'll be my first. Would get an 8 inch,
but don't have the room. Anybody who has one I would really appreciate the feedback !

Chuck from Philly

Charlgush

[John Gregory]

I have had mine for 3 years now with no complaints. Of course I would like a bigger one, with a longer bed in a bigger shop
I even changed the blades with out any problems.

[Rafael]

I like mine. no big complaints. I just wish it would sit a few inches higher. I am 5' 10" and the jointer is a little low for comfort. BUt I believe they are all like that.

[toolguy1000]

GOT MINE AT THE LOCAL HD MARKED "MISSING PARTS". COST $150 DOWN FROM $399. ALL IT WAS MISSING WAS THE PLASTIC KEY TO ACTIVATE THE ON/OFF SWITCH. I WOULD ECHO RAFAEL'S COMMENT ABOUT HEIGHT. I'M 6'3" AND YA GOTTA BEND OVER TO USE IT. NOTHING BETTER FOR RABETTING, THOUGH.

[frank shic]

another vote for the ridgid jointer! the only negative is the blade guard which is designed to work with stock that is =>3/4" otherwise it tends to slide UNDER the slot although you get used to bumping it out of the way with the grout float. do yourself a favor and make sure that you get some kind of mobile base before you flip this monster over so that you can move it when it's not in use. a dust collector or cyclone cuts down on the chips when face jointing. don't be surprised if it takes you a couple of tries to master face jointing - check the grain when all else fails! BTW start reading up on how to change the jointer blades.

[Charlgush@aol.com]

Dear Guys,
I think you kind of cinched it for me !! I'm
6'1", I've already started dreaming up an add on base & mobile. If there was such a club, you would definitely be admitted into " The Gentlemen
of Tools".

Charlgush

Chuck from Philly

[imported_MSchenker]

I'd be very interested in hear from people on this machine as well. I need a jointer in my shop, and the Ridgid 6" looks like a good choice.

My biggest worry about a jointer is blade-changing. Some machine are better than others with this. How's the Ridgid?

[John Gregory]

I put off changing blades for a long time after I really needed to change them. It wasn't has hard as I thought it would be, Just follow instructions to the letter and you will be fine. You do need to pay attention to detail and check for accuracy. But that is true will all of woodworking.

[imported_MSchenker]

Except for a few times in other people's shops, I have never used a jointer. But I do think it's time to add one.

I think there are a few different blade systems. There are jack screws, tersa cutterheads, springs, and at the top of the heap are spiral/helical cutterheads. There may be other variations I am forgetting here.

I know the Ridgid does not have spiral or tersa cutterheads. What does it use, and how does the Ridgid blade-changing system compare with other jointers?

[spacebluesonoma]

I love my ridgid jointer. I concurr with the blade guard issue. Also apparently i am an idiot but I am not very good at setting knives.

[imported_MSchenker]

Has anyone here upgraded their Ridgid jointer to have a spiral or helical cutterhead?

I know Sunhill Machinery makes an upgrade knife head for the Ridgid but I don't know how good it is.

Here's the link:
http://www.sunhillmachinery.com/Spiral%20Cutter%20Conversion.htm

[Rafael]

I'm curious if the better cutter head means you dont have to sand as much, otherwise it may be a waste of money. I've heard that the other heads dont need sharpening as much.
I still prefer to hand plane before finishing. No power jointer or planer can match that look.

[imported_MSchenker]

Rafael,
My reason for upgrading is for easier and faster knife changes. Also, because the finish is supposed to be better with spiral heads.

I'd still be very interested to hear what others say about upgrading the Ridgid jointer.

The Sunhill Machinery head is $145. That would bring the total cost of the Ridgid jointer up to about $550. Still a lot less than many other jointers!

[I-9]

I've had a Ridgid jointer for over 2 yrs. now and the surface of a jointed board couldn't be any slicker IMHO. I have never mastered the job of setting the knives. If you'are like me and had never heard of "jack screws" the manual wont make it any clearer. My Ridgid planer does essentially the same job but the knives can be changed in 10min. or less and never need adjusting. At my age I'll probably never get it just right.

[Rafael]

I-9,
You need to see a hand planed board if you want to see smoother. The difference is noticeable.
If you're ever around los angeles I'll show you.
Also, if you hand plane edges you can do glue ups with minimal clamping pressure, the edges will attract each other.

[I-9]

I would very much like to learn to use a handplane but I came to woodworking very late in life and the learning curve is steeper than I thought it would be. Can you recommend a good plane for a beginner? I was stationed at Travis and March Field for about 7yr. from 59-67. Been to L.A. many times......worked in Van Nuys at the Chevrolet plant. It was a temperature controlled building 105 deg. outside 105 deg. inside.

[Rafael]

I would try to find a ww group in your area and have someone there show you how to tune a plane.
The cheaper planes do not work right out of the box.
The more expensive ones do.
I recently bought a $30 groz plane, spent a couple of hours sharpening and tuning it up and it works great. You should do this to truly understand how a plane works, and why it needs to be done. If you are ever in L.A. I would be happy to show you how to do it.
Where do you live?

[I-9]

I live in West Tx. and we have only one tool store besides HD and Lowes. We have one used tool dealer and a few pawn shops and I've gotten a few bargains in these places. Thanks for your offer to help. I have a woodworking friend and sometime later this year we're going to get a bunch of guys together and maybe form a club.

[Pete in NY]

Thanks for this forum, everyone!
I have a problem which I state at the bottom of this post.
I bought a Ridgid JP-610 jointer, my first jointer, with the 10% Veteran's Day discount ($314.10 net before sales tax) after looking at the Delta equivalent at Lowe's. The Delta didn't seem to be as ruggedly built *and* I noticed it was made in China whereas the Ridgid jointer was made in Taiwan. That tipped the decision in favor of Home depot's unit!
I also bought, by phone, a TS-Aligner, Jr.
<http://www.ts-aligner.com/newindex.htm> gauging system because I wanted to know that the jointer was set correctly as well as I wanted to check out my table saw, drill press, belt sander and bandsaw as accurately as possible.
The Ridgid jointer was a bit of a struggle to assemble and erect but it's up and running. The knives and beds checked out dead nuts on! Nothing was even a half-thousandth off.
I have a problem though with dust and chip collection. I have a big Fein shop vac but no other dust collection setup. Even with the shop vac connected the jointer still spits out dust and shavings like there's no tomorrow. I wonder if I did something wrong when I assembled the unit. There are so many shavings flying back over the infeed bed that I have to wait for a couple of minutes, with the unit and the vac running, between passes of even a 3" wide board. Do other jointers spit out that much stuff - that is not send it to the collection system? Does anyone have any recommendations?

[woodslayer]

Pete

Welcome to the forum. You definitely have something obstructing the chip chute, even without a vacuum connected the majority of the sawdust will end up in a pile on the floor at the bottom of the chute just by utilizing gravity alone. I just have a Craftsman shopvac connected to mine and it captures almost all of the sawdust leaving only minimal residue to clean up. I would double check your setup, because your Fein should handle the task.

Woodslayer

[Pete in NY]

Thank you Woodslayer!
I haven't had a chance to check it yet but I will tomorrow morning at the latest.
Pete

[Pete in NY]

Woodslayer, you're a genius and I'm the world's greatest dummy!
The chute was plugged up with the chewin's off the first board I ran over the blades - a 2" thick by four foot long piece of *old* white pine. It being the first piece I think, in my eagerness to try the tool, that I didn't have the vac hooked up when I ran it that first time *and* I was probably taking too much of a bite. Now it's working beautifully - and I'm only taking about 0.008" off with each pass. A Big Thanks to you!
Next?
*grin*
Pete

[bench dog]

I'm 6'2" and find that it is a little lower than some of the others, but you can shim up a mobile base to fit your comfort level. I think it might be an inch or so shorter too but it's fine for most 6 to 7 foot boards.

[Andrew M.]

Originally posted by spacebluesonoma:
I love my ridgid jointer. I concurr with the blade guard issue. Also apparently i am an idiot but I am not very good at setting knives. Any fix for that guard space, which I dislike? I was thinking of adding some wood to reduce the space. I otherwise think it is a very good jointer.

[rockrbob]

Has anyone found a suitable mobile base for their ridgid jointer? My shop layout requires me to move the jointer when not in use. Any suggestions or successes?

Jim

[Charlie Plemons]

Originally posted by rockrbob:
Has anyone found a suitable mobile base for their ridgid jointer? My shop layout requires me to move the jointer when not in use. Any suggestions or successes?

Jim

[Charlie Plemons]

If I can figure out how to attach a picture, I'll show the the mobile base I use on my Ridgid jointer as described in Wood Magazine a few years back. If you are interested, I will find the issue, but a search of Wood's archives may bring it up.

[Charlie Plemons]

Can anyone tell me if and or how a picture can be attached to a post.
Thanks

[hewood]

Originally posted by Charlie Plemons:
Can anyone tell me if and or how a picture can be attached to a post.
Thanks Hi Charlie - Your pic needs to posted on a host server like Photobucket.com (free).
Then you copy the pic address and paste in the dialogue box "IMAGE" below under the Instant UBB Codes. Pretty simple actually.

[Charlie Plemons]

Tahnks for the help. If this works, here is a picture of mobile tool base for the Ridgid jointer I use. It is from a design in Wood Magazine


http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c201/cwpbsp/toolbase.jpg

[VASandy]

Wow, Charlie!!! That's very nice. Can you provide information on which edition of the Mag the plans would be in?

I love my jointer, although I haven't yet had to change the blades. I guess I've passed all of perhaps 12 board feet of 2x4 through it in the process of making some wine glass racks. I've been very happy with the results so far. Here's the racks I made (yet to be final sanded and painted):

http://www.damageclan.com/v1x3n/Rack1.jpg
Hope the picture isn't too big!

As this is my first ever project done by myself, I'm rather pleased with it. It's just made from a couple 2x4's (there was some waste as I was coming up with the process). It's a great project for a beginner, and was something that utilized just about everything in the shop. For added strength, I'll be putting on a board over the top between the two stringers. It'll be held on the wall with screws through the back stringer into studs.

[Charlie Plemons]

The mobile tool base plans are in issue 100, Nov. 1997. I think I saw them repeated in the latest Wood Mag. compilation of projects that is on the newstand now. I may be wrong as I just glanced thru it.