Wahuda Tools Jointer - 8-inch Benchtop Wood Jointer, Spiral Cutterhead Portable Jointer, Cast Iron Tables w/Pull Out Extensions, 4-Sided Carbide Tips & 10amp Motor, Woodworking Tools (50180CC-WHD)

Well first off, I am NO PROFESSIONAL WOODWORKER. It is a hobby and my wife has a consignment booth where she sells some stuff I make.... I was EXTREMELY RELUCTANT to purchase this unit after the reviews I saw. About it being plastic fence ( NOT.... it is ALUMINUM ) and this that the other thing..... if your breaking handles, yes they are plastic, you are tightening toooooo much. Yes the tables WERE NOT ALIGNED WORTH A CRAP and I spent quite some time adjusting, readjusting and more adjusting and more fine tuning.... I now have a TOTAL KICKASS JOINTER THAT EATS WOOD FOR A SNACK ! Seriously, I had on loaner PORTER CABLE 2 blade unit, it was AWESOME an it worked fine....... LOUD AS HECK TOO !!! I absolutely had to wear my ear muffs.... this unit is baby snoring compared to the PC ! I ran OAK 6" wide through it and was NOT AS LOUD as the PC just running with NO WOOD CUTTING !!! YES, as you can see by this post this is a no holds comment... I have nothing to loose or gain, just wanted a REAL PERSON to put it in REAL TERMS about this unit ! I am SORRY AS HELL I DIDNT GET THE 8" now that I see how well this unit performs. YES, metal handles for the fence adjustment would be nicer..... just dont torque them too much. I love that the table can be adjusted and the unit is SOLID BUILT ! I absolutely love how quite it is cutting..... it is almost SCARY QUIET... make sure you aren't taking too much off the stock ! To address the WEDGE cutting fence side to front side..... make sure your OUTFEED TABLE is true to the cutter blades. ONLY adjust 1/4 turn each time as I found that the table really moves when you loosen the big screws. Once that is done, DO THE SAME ON THE INFEED TABLE !!!!! I adjusted the outfeed over an over, to find out the infeed was NOT true to the blades.... guess what, if you feed too heavy on the entrance, you will be cutting wedges !!! Test by multiple passes on a scrap 6" board at least 12-18 inches long. DO NOT ROTATE, only flip end to end keeping the SAME EDGE to the fence...... after many passes...... measure the fence side and other side of stock... if your not far off, you did good ! IT IS NOT A THICKNESS PLANER, if you want that, BUY ONE. IN CLOSING....... this machine is AWESOME ! Packaging was FABULOUS.... SETUP WAS EASY..... WORKS GREAT. So So So sorry I didn't get the 8" model for WIDER cuts now that I see how well this unit performs........ buy it, adjust it, and LOVE IT !!!! And again, this was not a paid or solicited review... this just is ME...... chow !

I have been wildly pleased with this at the $600 I paid. Excellent results with boards under 40" and up to 10" wide. This is not the jointer for you if you wish to joint a ton of 6' boards. The results diminish with the length of boards over 40"ish. You MUST set it up correctly, just like any other jointer. You will get poor results if you do not. There may or may not be extensive setup time. It took many hours to get mine right. Once I got it right, it's been going strong for over a year now without ever needing adjustment. The plastic tightening handles are a bad idea. Don't over-tighten or you will strip them over time. I replaced mine with a nut and then just use a wrench. The fence supports are a great cheap fix to a common benchtop jointer problem. I do not love the aluminum surface finish on the fence. It isn't super smooth, and it requires frequent waxing to remove friction. The work supports are NOT reference surface. Do not think you are magically getting a large jointer for a cheap price. They are not part of the bed. They support the work. A Spiral Cutter is not a helical head, and this is not a huge motor. Slow and steady wins the race. Smaller depth passes are your friend. I've done 10" Maple and 8" Teak with no issues, but you can feel the motor working hard to get there. If I had to guess I would say it is a similar sized motor to most bench top planers. At around $600-$650 this jointer is in the sweet spot. If it starts sailing way past that it becomes a different discussion. The tradeoff is the width of the bed. You will never get a full sized 10" jointer for this price, and you will never get it in 110/120v. So if you don't have 220v, and you need a wide jointer, then these bench tops are your only option.

EDIT 2: Well I gotta say, Wahuda support came through. Doug over there sent me an entire new machine which just arrived and it seems to work great! He included a postage-paid return label and the first one is going back. It was a frustrating month trying to get that first one to work but you know, stuff happens and I gotta hand it to them, they stuck with me till the problem was fixed. Recommend! EDIT 1: Wahuda support got back to me. It looks as though the issue is a dip in the tables that's causing the problem. They're sending a replacement. Will update further once that happens. Hopefully that will fix the problem. I really wanted to like this jointer. I'll get to the dealbreaker first: the infeed and outfeed tables are a nightmare to try and level. Maybe someone with greater skill than I can pull it off but I've been trying for a month and I just can't get it to work right. I finally gave up...3 days past the return window. I emailed Wahuda support and not only haven't gotten a reply, I didn't even get an acknowledgment that my email got there. (My email outbox says it did.) I've watched scads of setup vids, operational tips, etc. I am absolutely, definitively doing everything right. There's a lot to like about it, the cutter is awesome, it's pretty quiet, the fence is square but if you can't make a jointer do what it's supposed to do then none of that matters—hence the one star. Also, if you're jointing long-ish boards like I do for my guitar necks, the table's too short and the extensions don't really help much. Live and learn. This is going on Craigslist and I'm going to spend the money for a more pro machine.

Good quality materials but it is so difficult to align the both tables