Watched this again and decided to buy one (still $399) from the Tool Haus in Galdwin , MI. Less than 45 minutes from out of the box to jointing boards. Everything came out of the box perfect and coplanar was spot on. I spend about 15 minutes getting the fence 90 degrees which it is now - exactly. I couldn't be happier. If I had one wish, but not a deal breaker, is the aluminum fence to cast iron and this would be the perfect jointer. Thanks again for the video it put this into jointer perspective and fits my needs perfectly. By buying the Rikon instead of the Wen I get local support and a 5 year warranty. Highly recommend this and again thanks for sharing your experience.
Nice job on the review. I like your calm, non theatrical voice. I have a Wahuda 6' jointer. I looks almost exactly like yours. Mine came with 4 sided carbide cutters and an iron top surface for $399. It also cuts very nicely. Thanks for your wonderful presentation.
Thanks for the long-term review! Hard to find these for anything. Can't really tell much from "unboxing" videos at all and there are a TON of those. I think I am going to head to Rockler and pick one of these up because the recent rash of negative experiences with the Craftsman and its motor blowing out have me scared to go with that one.
Thank you. This was very useful and timely. I just picked up 20 bf of maple for another project and although the boards are decent, using a jointer would be nice. I hopefully will pick one up in the morning. Glad to hear good reviews on Rikon and their customer service too.
I appreciate the review. I just bought the 8" model and will be unboxing it this weekend. Would love a review on that awesome table saw you have there.
@@works4me I saw the JSS in the background. I have one. Have you made a crosscut sled for it yet? How do you "sneak up" on blade height? I see you are in GA, so am I in Warner Robins.
Hi @Jeff Stanley, Yes I did make a very nice crosscut sled for my saw. I just posted a photo of that on my TH-cam community page so you can see it. I also plan on creating a crosscut sled video in the future. So, yeah, the weak point of the JSS is the lack of fine adjustment on the blade height. I go higher than what I need and then give it a super small flick counter clockwise to drop it a little. I live in Florida but love to camp in GA!
Amazon has the 8” for $550 and I’m so close to grabbing one. I’ve found a used 6” Laguana for $700. Yes the Laguana is better. But that person might have put bricks through it. Rikon would be new. Lesser of a machine. But new.
I have a JSS like you. I am fairly satisfied with it except for the blade height adjustment which is bad. Do you have issues with that and if not, what method do you use?
Maybe I missed it, but I don't think I ff thru anything like I do in most vids! How often do you use the jointer and have you turned the blades yet or had to replace them? Thanks for the update review! Those are more beneficial to me than an unboxing! lol.
Just estimating, I would say I've used it 20+ hrs total. Usually 1-2hrs per larger projects. Only rotated one blade so far. I use it a lot for preparing my turnings on the lathe but they are much smaller pieces of exotic hard woods. The 20+ hrs doesn't include this.
I have the same jointer, but having problems with the boards wedging on me. I put my pressure on the outfeed side and still have the issue. I need to make some adjustments on the blade height and hopefully this will help. thanks for the review.
You want to put pressure on the INFEED side until the end of the board. Only time you don't want to is when in the video I show you how to take the front portion of board down. Keep at. You will get better every board you joint.
The WEN uses 2 straight HSS blades and an aluminum feed tables while the Rikon uses 12 carbide spiral blades that are easy to rotate and cast iron tables. I believe they both come from the same factory in Taiwan.
Hello! I just recently purchased the Wen version of this planer (more or less identical), including with the extruded aluminum fence. I've squared up the fence numerous times, but every time I run a board for right angle edge, it doesn't come out square and measures more around 89* than 90. I've noticed the hardware for the fence has some wiggle, and I think pressing my board against the fence is causing flex to push the fence out of square. Have you noticed this same behavior, and/or have any recommendations of how to work with it technique wise?
Mine is out a hair on the last portion of the fence as stated in the video but it's not the hardware but the fence. Try not to press so hard on the fence. Practice with cheap wood until you get a good technique pushing through the jointer. I use a bit of wax on the bed also to help it glide a bit easier. When edge jointing you are really just using the fence to balance the uneven edge. So just try to keep it as vertical to 90 as you can and use the fence to smoothly keep it moving on that plane. You got to some how get that fence to 90 though. If this doesn't help then contact Wen directly and see if they have a solution and if not try to beef up your existing hardware if possible.
So at around 3 minutes I show you how far it was 90 degrees for along the fence. Only the last 3 or so inches were not exact. I can move mine in and out and it doesn't affect it being 90 degrees.
Same reason they don't have the same amount of hotdog buns as the package of hotdogs:-) Kidding aside. I don't think you will go through a 10 pack of blades in the lifetime of the unit as long as you don't like jointing boards with nails. Thanks for watching my channel.
I bought this in oct 2019 and stupidly fought with it ever since trying get it to mill a board flat, then discovered yesterday the cutter head was out of whack (professional term). So called Rikon and the guy told me there’s some fudge room, so I tried the best I could to get it level, set the out feed bed up and then the in feed, squared the fence and ran a board through and 🤬! So now I’m looking to buy something else and feel like throwing this one in the garbage
Sorry to hear this Robert. Rikon has really good customer support and your jointer has a 5 year warranty. Sounds like you got one of the few defects. First thing to do is to call Rikon back and escalate the situation. No need to buy a new one when there is clearly a problem with yours.
Watched this again and decided to buy one (still $399) from the Tool Haus in Galdwin , MI. Less than 45 minutes from out of the box to jointing boards. Everything came out of the box perfect and coplanar was spot on. I spend about 15 minutes getting the fence 90 degrees which it is now - exactly. I couldn't be happier. If I had one wish, but not a deal breaker, is the aluminum fence to cast iron and this would be the perfect jointer. Thanks again for the video it put this into jointer perspective and fits my needs perfectly. By buying the Rikon instead of the Wen I get local support and a 5 year warranty. Highly recommend this and again thanks for sharing your experience.
I'm with you on a fence made of cast iron. Glad the video helped you. Thanks for watching my channel.
Nice video. Thanks! It's crazy how much the price has gone up on both the jointer and the blade replacements in less than a year!
Thanks. Yes prices on everything unfortunately have gone up. Thanks for watching my channel.
I learned a number of things watching this video- very helpful. Thanks for taking the time to make this.
Glad it was helpful! You are welcome and thank you for watching my channel.
Nice job on the review. I like your calm, non theatrical voice. I have a Wahuda 6' jointer. I looks almost exactly like yours. Mine came with 4 sided carbide cutters and an iron top surface for $399. It also cuts very nicely. Thanks for your wonderful presentation.
You are welcome and thanks for watching!
Excellent review. Just the kind of thing I was looking for. Haven’t pulled the trigger yet but this video helps. Thanks!
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching my channel.
Thanks for the long-term review! Hard to find these for anything. Can't really tell much from "unboxing" videos at all and there are a TON of those. I think I am going to head to Rockler and pick one of these up because the recent rash of negative experiences with the Craftsman and its motor blowing out have me scared to go with that one.
You're welcome. Thanks for watching the video.
Thank you. This was very useful and timely. I just picked up 20 bf of maple for another project and although the boards are decent, using a jointer would be nice. I hopefully will pick one up in the morning. Glad to hear good reviews on Rikon and their customer service too.
You are welcome. Thank you for watching my channel.
I appreciate the review. I just bought the 8" model and will be unboxing it this weekend. Would love a review on that awesome table saw you have there.
I plan on making a future video on the Sawstop. I sold them for 6 years so I had to have one. I replaced my old trusty Rigid jobsite saw.
@@works4me I saw the JSS in the background. I have one. Have you made a crosscut sled for it yet? How do you "sneak up" on blade height? I see you are in GA, so am I in Warner Robins.
Hi @Jeff Stanley, Yes I did make a very nice crosscut sled for my saw. I just posted a photo of that on my TH-cam community page so you can see it. I also plan on creating a crosscut sled video in the future. So, yeah, the weak point of the JSS is the lack of fine adjustment on the blade height. I go higher than what I need and then give it a super small flick counter clockwise to drop it a little. I live in Florida but love to camp in GA!
Thank you VERY much for the video! You provided some very useful and practical demonstrations.
You are welcome and thanks for watching my channel and the comment.
Amazon has the 8” for $550 and I’m so close to grabbing one. I’ve found a used 6” Laguana for $700. Yes the Laguana is better. But that person might have put bricks through it. Rikon would be new. Lesser of a machine. But new.
I just ordered mine on Amazon for the sale price. Arrives tomorrow.
I would love to have that 8". I think that's a fair price for what you get. Let me know how you like it if you purchase it. Thanks for watching.
I have a JSS like you. I am fairly satisfied with it except for the blade height adjustment which is bad. Do you have issues with that and if not, what method do you use?
Blade height works well on my machine. I usually only set it to 1/16" and leave it. Never had a problem.
Maybe I missed it, but I don't think I ff thru anything like I do in most vids! How often do you use the jointer and have you turned the blades yet or had to replace them? Thanks for the update review! Those are more beneficial to me than an unboxing! lol.
Just estimating, I would say I've used it 20+ hrs total. Usually 1-2hrs per larger projects. Only rotated one blade so far. I use it a lot for preparing my turnings on the lathe but they are much smaller pieces of exotic hard woods. The 20+ hrs doesn't include this.
Excellent detailed relaxed presentation. Thank you.
Your welcome, and thank you for watching my channel.
I have the same jointer, but having problems with the boards wedging on me. I put my pressure on the outfeed side and still have the issue. I need to make some adjustments on the blade height and hopefully this will help. thanks for the review.
You want to put pressure on the INFEED side until the end of the board. Only time you don't want to is when in the video I show you how to take the front portion of board down. Keep at. You will get better every board you joint.
What Rikon Dust collector do you use? Nice video. Thanks!
Hi Vic an thanks for watching my channel. Here is a link to my video on my dust collector. th-cam.com/video/85vnQlntFtg/w-d-xo.html
The WEN is the same thing and you can buy the 8" at Home Depot for $425
The WEN uses 2 straight HSS blades and an aluminum feed tables while the Rikon uses 12 carbide spiral blades that are easy to rotate and cast iron tables. I believe they both come from the same factory in Taiwan.
Great video
Thank you. Thanks for watching.
Thank you. Very helpful.
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching my channel.
Hello! I just recently purchased the Wen version of this planer (more or less identical), including with the extruded aluminum fence. I've squared up the fence numerous times, but every time I run a board for right angle edge, it doesn't come out square and measures more around 89* than 90. I've noticed the hardware for the fence has some wiggle, and I think pressing my board against the fence is causing flex to push the fence out of square. Have you noticed this same behavior, and/or have any recommendations of how to work with it technique wise?
Less identical I would say
Mine is out a hair on the last portion of the fence as stated in the video but it's not the hardware but the fence. Try not to press so hard on the fence. Practice with cheap wood until you get a good technique pushing through the jointer. I use a bit of wax on the bed also to help it glide a bit easier. When edge jointing you are really just using the fence to balance the uneven edge. So just try to keep it as vertical to 90 as you can and use the fence to smoothly keep it moving on that plane. You got to some how get that fence to 90 though. If this doesn't help then contact Wen directly and see if they have a solution and if not try to beef up your existing hardware if possible.
Nice review. Did you have a problem with the fence not being parallel and having to adjust it to be 90 degrees anytime you move it?
So at around 3 minutes I show you how far it was 90 degrees for along the fence. Only the last 3 or so inches were not exact. I can move mine in and out and it doesn't affect it being 90 degrees.
Nice review. Thank you. Why doesn't Rikon make blade packs in sets of twelve? :-)
Same reason they don't have the same amount of hotdog buns as the package of hotdogs:-) Kidding aside. I don't think you will go through a 10 pack of blades in the lifetime of the unit as long as you don't like jointing boards with nails. Thanks for watching my channel.
Good review. I think I'll get one. Rockler and Amazon list it as $499 rather than $399.
Thanks Bill. Let me know how you like it once you've had some time with it. Thanks for watching my video.
I bought this in oct 2019 and stupidly fought with it ever since trying get it to mill a board flat, then discovered yesterday the cutter head was out of whack (professional term). So called Rikon and the guy told me there’s some fudge room, so I tried the best I could to get it level, set the out feed bed up and then the in feed, squared the fence and ran a board through and 🤬! So now I’m looking to buy something else and feel like throwing this one in the garbage
Sorry to hear this Robert. Rikon has really good customer support and your jointer has a 5 year warranty. Sounds like you got one of the few defects. First thing to do is to call Rikon back and escalate the situation. No need to buy a new one when there is clearly a problem with yours.
@@works4me thanks for letting me know about the warranty, but I already bought the jet bench top and it is so much better.