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Rikon 20-800H 8" Helical-Style Bench Top Jointer

13K views 14 replies 8 participants last post by  blint  
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Discussion starter · #3 ·
Thanks Rich. Agree with your points across the board. I had looked at several other jointers starting at $1,500 but I'm on a tight budget and given what I'll be making (small boxes, etc) this should suffice. I.e., I won't be running lumber longer than perhaps six feet across it. If it doesn't work out then back to Rockler it goes and I'll have to get creative and come up with another grand. Hopefully it won't come down to that though.

Thanks for taking your time to share your input, greatly appreciated!

Best,

Lyman
 
Discussion starter · #10 ·
For your needs, and given that there s a return option, I d say go for it.

- Rich
Thanks again, Richard. We'll see how it pans out. Should be in next week.

Best,
Lyman
 
Discussion starter · #11 ·
I have the Wahuda 8" bench top joiner. It looks identical to the Rikon in form. For what it's worth, I'm very happy with it, yes, it's not as stable as a full sized unit, but I have it mounted on a flip top table with my Dewalt 735 on the other side…small shop, what can I say. It's done everything I've asked of it, and the bed extensions work very well. I've run hardwood to about 6 feet in length with no additional support. Using small infeed and outfeed stands, I've put 8 foot pieces through with good results. I wish I had a huge shop and a full sized Powermatic joiner, but I don't….and I do ok without it!

- RyanGi
Thanks Ryan. Wish I could afford a full size Jointer as well but it is what it is, right? Being happy with it is what matters, bottom line!

Lyman
 
Discussion starter · #12 ·
I ll chime in as I have the 8" Wahuda and while I haven t used it all that much I really like it. Most of my stuff isn t large. The 10" one wasn t out when I got mine or I probably would have gotten that. Many of the videos of the Wahua were about squaring it up and tuning it and such so I was concerned about the amount of effort I was going to have to put in but when I got it out of the box and assembled the fence, everything was dead on square.

I suspect the Rikon and the CueTech are probably from the same factory as the CueTech has the same 2 sided carbide blades.

- sepeck
Thanks for the input, Steve, greatly appreciated!

Lyman
 
Discussion starter · #13 ·
I have found that technique is an important part of my 8" Wahuda. I learned that a light touch was best. And I second RyanGi, it is identical to my 8" wahuda.

Just so you know the wahuda ($549) has free shipping and a spiral cutterhead with 4 sided carbide tips. And if you are not in that state no taxes. So that would be 549 total. I had one tip chip the first week and they responded well and replaced it.

- OldBull
OldBull,

Thanks. I'm going to look into the Wahuda based on what you and others have said. Thanks for the input!

Lyman