X5 in da house!

[rburkett1]

Jointer, that is...

Well, look what the Easter Bunny brought. I say that because, as some of you may remember, I had a pretty popular item back around then ( http://www.woodworking.com/dcforum/d...umID8&archive= ) and thankfully, I sold enough of those little baskets to provide a substantial infusion into what was my jointer fund. So after some consideration, I ordered the Delta X5 6" jointer from Amazon.com. Although it took a month to be delivered, it came this past Friday.

Here's what you get "off the truck" -

http://www.basecamp-1.com/ronsworld/woodwork/x51.jpg

And here's what you see when you open things up. The packaging was good, even with plywood pieces in the corners for further protection.

http://www.basecamp-1.com/ronsworld/woodwork/x52.jpg

Here's the jointer head unpacked but still covered with a generous layer of cosmoline and wax paper. I used mineral spirits and an old rag followed by a final wipe down with paper towels to get it clean.

http://www.basecamp-1.com/ronsworld/woodwork/x53.jpg

Assembly was pretty straightforward and the instructions were easy to understand, all parts were easily indentifiable and all the wrenches needed were included with the package. I had to spread the set-up out over a couple of days, but I think it only took 3 or 4 hours. If you were experienced with jointers, maybe less as this is my first one. Here's the final set-up -

http://www.basecamp-1.com/ronsworld/woodwork/x54.jpg

Of course, what matters most is how good it works. I grabbed a couple of boards about 24" long out of my scrap pile, laid them side by side as if to edge join them. There was about a 1/64th~1/32nd gap in the joint. I ran each one over the jointer once (set to cut about a 64th) and, well... the pictures below tell the rest of the story -

http://www.basecamp-1.com/ronsworld/...k/x5joint3.jpg

Now dats what I'm talkin' 'bout!

This is a before and after close-up of a section of the boards along the joint, the top piece is aspen and the bottom poplar. I chose woods of different colors so I could see where the joint was easily. (These boards are not clamped up.)

This is the first cut on the machine and was done at the factory settings, but as near as I can tell (after some checking with squares and straight edges) they appear to be dead on. I think at least I'll try it like it is for a while and see how things go.

Thanks again to all who offered and continue to offer advise on choice and use of the machines we use in our pursuit. Your experience is appreciated by us who still have so much to learn.

Ron

http://basecamp-1.com/ronsworld/woodwork/projects.htm

The more complex the mind, the more the need for the simplicity of play. - James T. Kirk

[deathwish2]

Excellent!

I've got the 'pre'-X5 6" and love it myself, the fence is nicely designed, and I've found it to b very stable even with ong boards passing over the bed.

[ww_wanna_be]

SWEEEEET!!

But a six foot jointer?

Great cuts,
jd

[rburkett1]

Oopsies... Uh.. I mean, Uh Yeah... yeah. uh, it's for jointing uh sheetgoods!.... yeah, uh that's it... sheetgoods!

Good eye, I fixed it with an edit.

Ron

http://basecamp-1.com/ronsworld/woodwork/projects.htm

The more complex the mind, the more the need for the simplicity of play. - James T. Kirk

[WoodMangler]

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Yup! [/font]

[strong][big]It's kinda like cheating aint it... muhuhahaha![/strong][/big] }>

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[rburkett1]

Thanks, Marc.

Yeah, it'll be nice now not to have to "make due" with stock that is good enough/almost square and straight.

Ron

http://basecamp-1.com/ronsworld/woodwork/projects.htm

The more complex the mind, the more the need for the simplicity of play. - James T. Kirk

[pkbarnett]

I bought an X5 Jointer off Amazon.com. It took less than two weeks to arrive, even though Amazon projected four weeks+.

The local Woodcraft store would order it and have it delivered to their store. I had to pick it up and get it home. For the same price -- free shipping -- Amazon delivered it to my door. Last year I ordered a table saw from Woodcraft that took more than a month to arrive at their store. Since I had just had shoulder surgery, I could not wrestle a 600 pound package. It cost me $200 to have a local moving company bring it to my house. The delivery driver from Amazon commented that he was glad that he did not have to deliver the saw. Loose translation, I could have saved the local moving charges by ordering the saw from Amazon as well.

Your pictures are great. Pretty much my experience. It goes together really well.