Stunningly beautiful. But let's face it, many times beauty is only skin deep.
I am constantly amazed that Amazon can ship three, four, or even five hundred pound packages across the continent and have it in my garage two days after I placed the order. And with Amazon prime, they do it for free.
This jointer arrived in two separate packages. They are both heavy but the jointer top is exceedingly heavy. It simply is impossible for one man to lift it by himself. I am 6'4" tall, 220 pounds and I have worked in the construction industry my entire life. I am amazingly fit and yet there is no way in the world I could lift this unit and assemble it by myself. So my advice to you is to be sure you have some assistance in lifting the top onto the stand. Once in place, there are only three bolts that connect the two units so it is a very easy assembly. Other than that, there are very minor other assembly issues which must be addressed. They are all very simple and quite intuitive.
Maybe I got lucky but the fit and finish on this jointer is far superior to the fit and finish on my 15 HH planer. Honestly with my Powermatic planer, I was a little disappointed at the moderately rough finish of the planing table surface. That is not the case with this jointer. It has been ground and polished to a high sheen. It is the way high end woodworking equipment should be manufactued but rarely is anymore.
Honestly, I haven't run a single board through this unit yet but I know, through prior experience with that Shelix helical head on my planer, that I will love the results of the same head on this jointer.
I will certainly update once I've completed assembly and run a couple hundred board feet of lumber through it. But I couldn't wait to post my initial reaction. The fit and finish is as good as I have ever seen from any manufacturer. The highly Polished jointer tables are amazing. And I already know that that shelix cutterhead is like nothing else on the market.
So back to the shop I go, prepared to work well into the night fine tuning this incredible piece of machinery.
Update to follow.
UPDATE:
I finally had time to address the "set-up" of this planer and I am stunned. Even after shipping across the globe, the beds are dead flat. Both the Infeed and Outfeed tables are perfect. I have measured with a high quality straight edge and couldn't find even the tiniest bit of daylight underneath. I used high end feeler gauges, going progressively smaller and I couldn't fit any of them under the straight edge anywhere. I am pleasantly amazed. These tables are very long and incredibly heavy. I have never seen a jointer that came out of the shipping containers in such perfect condition before.
The ONLY adjustment I needed to make was a very minor adjustment to the fence stop for its 90 degree preset stop. That took all of about two minutes.
Sooooo................having set aside a couple of hours for final set up, I used the time to play with this incredible machine. After cleaning the unit thoroughly, I applied three coats of Johnson's paste wax to the entire machine, to every surface. I live in a residential area and I'm sensitive to the noise I produce with my shop so I usually relegate my waxing to early mornings. It produces very little noise and it keeps all my machinery in top condition and protects all the surfaces, ESPECIALLY all the cast iron tables. My table saw is well over 30 years old yet it STILL looks virtually new.
Finally I ran various pieces of material through the jointer. As expected, the Shelix head is amazing. It is incredibly quiet, although not as quiet as my planer but that is attributable to the cutter head being more exposed on the jointer than on the planer. The finish is flawless and requires very little effort to push the stock across the beds and cutters.
I purposefully selected some pieces of Maple which had fairly pronounced cupping and/or bows. After running them through this jointer, they were rifle shot straight.............which is what a jointer is for after all. The effort to obtain that however is minimal with this unit and very little subsequent finish sanding will be required.
Definitely Five Stars are warranted. This will be the last jointer of my career. I have found "Jointer-Nirvana". I am SO glad I went with the 8" model instead of the 6". It has ample power for deep cuts in very hard stock.
An amazing unit. Very, very pleased.
| Brand | Powermatic |
|---|---|
| Material | Alloy Steel, Cast Iron |
| Color | Yellow |
| Product Dimensions | 46"L x 25"W x 73"H |
| Style | Jointer with Helical Cutterhead |
| Power Source | Corded Electric |
| Cutting Depth | 0.13 Inches |
| Included Components | Jointer, Stand, Switch Arm, Dust Chute, Drive Belt, Door, Push Blocks (x2), Handwheel, Cutterhead Guard, Hardware, Tools |
| Cutting Width | 8 Inches |
| Amperage | 20 Amps |
| Maximum Rotational Speed | 7000 RPM |
| Manufacturer | Powermatic |
| Part Number | 1610086K |
| Item Weight | 489 pounds |
| Country of Origin | Taiwan |
| Item model number | 60HH |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Voltage | 230 Volts |
| Horsepower | 2 |
| Item Package Quantity | 1 |
| Sound Level | 92 dB |
| Batteries Included? | No |
| Batteries Required? | No |
| Warranty Description | 5 Year |
