Best Jointer Planer Combo (2021) – Reviews & Buying Guide

1. JET JJP-12 12-Inch Jointer Planer Combo - Best Overall Pick

If you're looking for one of the best jointer planer combos on the market today, look no further than the Jet JJP-12 Jointer Planer. Its 12-inch table allows you to square the edges of wide boards without worrying about stability as it guides along the extra-large fence. When you're satisfied with the sides, the bed of the planer is also 12 inches, making it possible to cut thickness to precision.

Where many jointers offer a wedge-style adjuster on the jointer table, the Jet JJP-12 Jointer Planer Combo comes with a parallelogram design that keeps all elements parallel and synced so that you can adjust both tables in tandem with each other. And, the system switches quickly from jointer to planer by swapping out the dust collection shroud and tilting the hinged jointer tables up 90 degrees.

The downside to this robust system is the lackluster cutting knives. The Jet JJP-12 Jointer Planer Combo machine offers only three high-speed knife cutter heads, which aren't as efficient as the helical cutter offered on their upgraded model, the 708476. Sharpening may be needed more than you'd like and swapping them out is much more of a chore for less committed woodworkers.

2. Jet JJP-8BT 8-Inch Jointer Planer Combo - Best for the Money

For those who don’t have the budget or space for the Grizzly Jointer Planer Combo, JET JJP-8BT is our best jointer planer combo for the money. Jet makes an eight-inch planer jointer unit which is much more compact, lightweight and is even portable. This benchtop combo machine is designed to be taken where you need it, even to the point of having a cord wrap for the power cord built in.

Jet is another industrial tool manufacturer who has entered the consumer marketplace. This is made obvious by this jointer planer combo unit, which is clearly designed for use in home workshops and by finish carpenters who need something they can take on a jobsite. Running off of 115 volts AC, it can easily work in any home or off of a generator.

The 13 amp motor in this JET JJP-8BT jointer planer provides plenty of power for its eight inch wide blades. While not as wide as the Grizzly jointer planer combo machine, there are few projects where planning boards wider than eight inches would be necessary. The two knives are attached to a cutter head that is moving at 9,000 RPM, slightly faster than the Grizzly jointer planer combo unit. This helps provide am extremely smooth finish, especially when a slow feed rate is used, as the scallops from the cuts are smaller.

This JET JJP-8BT Jointer Planer Combo has been designed to be ergonomic to use, with oversized knobs for the controls. While the infeed table is cast and machined, the outfeed table (which is not as critical) is sheet metal, helping to reduce weight. As with the Grizzly jointer planer combo machine, the fence is cast and machined aluminum, adjustable from 0 degrees to 45 degrees.

3. RIKON Power Tools 25-210H Jointer Planer Combo

If you're looking for a terrific new jointer planer combo for your home workshop and want something with features and affordability between the two Jet jointer planer models discussed previously, the RIKON Power Tools 25-210H may be just the system that is right for you. Like the Jet series, the Rikon jointer planer combo offers a helical cutterhead with 4 rows of carbide inserts, giving a smooth finish to every surface.

The Rikon Power Tools jointer planer combo operates with a powerful 220 Volt, three horsepower motor capable of 3400 Revolutions per minute motor, which some users feel isn't powerful enough for the helical cutter head. The jointer bed is 12.5 inches wide, with a 12-inch bed for the planer, allowing you to work on large pieces of your favorite lumber. Unfortunately, customers relay reports of a cheaply constructed fence may make joining your lumber more challenging.

The Rikon Power Tools jointer planer combo has one of the highest feed rates of any planer on the market today. It feeds at a rate of 23 feet per minute, meaning you'll be able to cut boards to thickness faster than most other planers, which saves you time on any project. And, Rikon Power Tools 25-20H jointer planer combo included three rubber-coated outfeed rollers to keep your material stable and unmarred as you feed it through, preventing annoying sniping at the tips.

Unfortunately, customers also complain that the jointer tables don't stay properly calibrated, which frustrates dedicated woodworkers by requiring constant realignment as they work.

4. JET 708476 Model JJP-12HH 12-Inch Jointer Planer Combo - Premium Choice

The Jet 708476 jointer planer combo is an upgrade from the standard JET JJP-12 reviewed above, with the only significant difference being the inclusion of efficient helical cutter heads replacing the three high-speed cutter knives. The Helical cutterhead makes a huge difference in the overall price and the quality of the jointing, giving everything a more polished finish.

Helical cutter heads make less noise, are easier to adjust, and easier to swap than the high-speed knives standard on most jointers. Their unique design, consisting of replaceable carbide inserts, extends their longevity and makes quick adjustments much more straightforward. When a helical head goes dull, all you need to do is turn the indexable carbide tip 90 degrees to restore your jointer to working order. Helical cutter heads also leave a smoother finish on jointed boards.

The 708476 jointer planer combo carries over all the features from the original JJP-12, including the extra-large fence, 12-inch planer bed, and parallelogram table adjustment. But the unique cutter head does increase the price significantly. Like the JJP-12, this model switches from jointer to planer by swapping out the dust chute and tilting the jointer table 90 degrees, making it fast and straightforward for even a novice.

5. Rikon 25-010 10-Inch Jointer Planer Combo

The first thing you'll notice about the Rikon 25-010 jointer planer combo is that it's small enough — and light enough — to fit comfortably in anyone's workshop without needing the help of another friend to get it in position. Though this jointer planer is light enough to move by yourself, it's very stable, with the weight of the motor perfectly balanced over four sturdy legs. But that doesn't make it cheap or flimsy as it still has terrific features for hobbyist woodworkers.

Unlike the Rikon 25-210H, this jointer planer combo uses three high-speed cutter heads to deliver up to 14,400 cuts per minute at 4,800 RPM. You can't, however, swap out the cutter heads with better helical cutters, which means you won't get as smooth a finish as you might like. But, Rikon designed this jointer planer for home woodworking rather than semi-professionals.

To switch from jointer to planer, flip the levers to remove the outfeed table and then remove the jointer fence. Note, customers report issues in adjusting and removing the fence. And, removing and replacing the standard cutter heads can be a painful process of checking and realignment.

For the money and convenience, the Rikon 25-010 jointer planer combo augments the woodshop of any novice or intermediate woodworker. It's 10-inch jointer table, and 12-inch planer bed isn't going to handle large boards, but they're perfectly adequate for a hobbyist trying to save space.

6. Grizzly G0634XP 12-Inch Jointer Planer Combo

Grizzly is an industrial tool manufacturer, which makes quality power tools for use in professional workshops. However, their prices are considerably more reasonable than most, making these professional-grade tools reachable for the home workshop. Grizzly tools will last virtually forever in a home workshop, making them a good deal by any measure.

Grizzly’s G0634XP , 12 inch combination jointer planer is the best unit on the market, and has been recognized as such by Fine Woodworking magazine. The 12-inch blades are wide enough to work all but the widest boards, making the tool extremely versatile. Conversion from jointer to planer on this unit is extremely easy, requiring merely raising the outfeed table and flipping over the dust collector. This makes it one of the fastest conversions on the market.

This jointer planer unit comes with a 5 HP motor, which runs off of single-phase 220 volt. So if your shop is not equipped with 220 volt outlets, you might have to run a line; but it’s worth the effort. The Grizzly G0634XP jointer planer can provide 1/8” depth of cut in joiner mode and 1/8"” depth of cut in planer mode. The automatic feed for the planer runs at 22 feet per minute, making for fast, yet still smooth cuts. Rubber feed rollers, rather than steel, prevent marring of the workpiece. The finely serrated cast iron tables provide a smooth, even surface and the aluminum fence for the jointer is rock steady.

Grizzly jointer planer is a very versatile tool, with a fence that can adjust from 0 to 45 degrees, allowing you to put a chamfer on the edge of a board or miter the edge of a board for making a corner. V-belt power transmission ensures smooth operation and a 4” dust port helps with quick, efficient dust collection.

Final Verdict: Our Overall Winner

JET JJP-12 Jointer Planer Combo

In our jointer planer combo reviews, we’ve provided a range of products for your consideration. The best jointer planer combo for us is the Jet JJP-12 Jointer Planer. Its ease of use and ability to switch between jointer and planer quickly will allow woodworkers to yield fantastic results on their projects. It also provides stability and parallelogram design and large 12-inch table for added support.

Let’s Talk Jointers and Planers

There are two characteristics that make doing this extremely well possible. First of all, it has a split table, allowing the front portion of the table (the part before the cutter head) to be raised and lowered in comparison to the cutter. The rear portion of the table is fixed and is at exactly the height of the knives on the cutter head. What this does, is provide even support to the board, throughout its length, while cutting.

Secondly, it has a fence, allowing the workpiece to be held exactly perpendicular to the cutting head. This is critical for that tabletop, as one of the things which causes those gaps is when the edge of the board is not perpendicular to its surface. The other problem that can cause is for the tabletop to end up slightly cupped.

This brings us to another important part of what these tools are used for: squaring up rough-cut lumber. While most lumber we buy today is S4S (sanded four sides), some fine hardwoods are only S2S; and, of course, if you have your own sawmill or are buying direct from a sawmill, you will need the capability of squaring up your boards.

This squaring capability does something else important for you, it also provides the means of making twisted lumber usable. Unless you are going to do this with a handheld jointer plane, this is the only power tool with this capability. It can be done with boards of any length, although it is easier to do so with short boards, than with long ones.

Jointers can be used for the flat side of the board too; but you can’t set an exact thickness and expect to achieve it. If all you need is to make a board thinner, that’s fine; but if you are joining several together, such as in our tabletop, you’re not going to get the boards the same thickness.

Using it, the boards to be joined together to make a tabletop of the side of a carcass will all be cut to the same thickness, reducing the amount of work that has to be done on them after laminating the pieces together. Assuming there are no errors in the laminating process, both the top and bottom of the laminated piece should be smooth, needing only to have excess glue scraped off and to be sanded before assembly and finishing.

This cutting process also guarantees the ability of the planer to make the surfaces of the workpiece perfectly parallel, should that be necessary to the project. At times, this is important to ensure that pieces fit together properly. With this tool, ensuring parallel surfaces is easy, no matter how thin or thick the board.

Finally, although it is not common, they have the ability to have the knives on the cutting head replace with molding knives, allowing them to be used for milling architectural moldings. The trick here is finding knives to install in the planer, allowing it to be sued in this way. However, there are some custom shops which will grind a set of knives to order. This is very useful for people who are trying to match the moldings on older buildings for restoration work.

You can also grind your own knives out of tool steel, if you have a bench grinder and the means of tempering them after grinding. They have to be tempered, or they won’t last and your molding will be inconsistent. But tempering metal isn’t really all that hard to do.

How the Same Tool Can Do Both

What makes the jointer planer unique is that it can do the jobs of both tools. It is able to do this because both use essentially the same sort of cutting head. The former cuts the bottom side of the board, running it across the top of the cutting head and the latter cuts the top side of the board, running it under the bottom of the cutting head.

This means that the combo has two beds, the jointer bed and the planer bed, each made essentially how it would be made for stand-alone tools. The jointer bed is wider than that found on most stand-alone jointers, because the cutting head needs to be wide enough to serve the planer as well.

To switch from one mode to the other, all that has to be done is to move the dust collector from below the jointer bed to above it, for planer mode. That’s it; it’s ready to be used as a planer.

While moving the dust collection hood back and forth can be a bit of a hassle, if you’re going back and forth between both operations, compared to other multi-tool combinations, it’s actually quite easy, reducing the amount of time to an absolute minimum.

Choosing the Joiner Planer Combo