# Delta 6" Jointer Facelift



## comp56 (Mar 30, 2017)

well figured I had some spare time in the shop, picked up this 6" Delta Jointer for $100, torn it down and everything checked out prefect. A little time and paint goes a long way, I slapped new set of blades in while I was at it....


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## Nickp (Dec 4, 2012)

WOW...not only did you get a better deal than I but you beat me to the facelift...

Nice job...hope mine comes out as well...I'm still in disassembly mode...


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

That looks brand new Tony. Years ago I bought the cheapest 6" Delta jointer they made or should say that they sold since I'm sure it was outsourced. It was doing a terrible job, kept making wedges. I checked it over to see if I could find a reason and noticed that the cutters were curved. I pulled the blade out of one and it was straight when removed but the faces of each cutter pocket were machined with a curve. How they managed that I haven't been able to figure out. When the blades were tightened down it bowed them so that the centers were lower than the outer corners. I think that was the last time I bought a Delta tool. That was after buying a Unisaw and finding out the cabinet was off level and a drill press that had unacceptable run out.


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## 163481 (Jul 8, 2015)

Cherryville Chuck said:


> Years ago I bought the cheapest 6" Delta jointer they made...


I always lusted after Delta tools while watching 20 years of Norm on TV. But then I began to hear of shoddy quality and workmanship. Next I read that Delta had been sold to Black & Decker. That was enough to squelch my lust, given that I had been cussing the cheap B&D jigsaw I had in my toolbox. The only Delta tool I've ever had (still have it) is an entry level miter box that I picked up many years ago "reconditioned" from Harbor Freight. I spent many hours tuning it up, adjusting the fence, miter stops, etc. It works OK but I have to stay after it.


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## 163481 (Jul 8, 2015)

Hmmm. My curiosity about who owns whom in the woodworking tool industry turned up B&D's sale of Delta to a Taiwanese company six years ago. I was unaware of that. Maybe I'll have to give Delta another look. Has anyone heard if the quality has gotten any better?


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

I was thinking about a point earlier in the thread about the limits of 6 inch jointers. Seems to me the main use for wider is planing wide pieces for use as panels. But an 8 or even a 12 inch planer will still require you to do a glue up for, say, a 22 inch wide door. Unless you're doing a passel of doors all the time, I think that's a little hard to justify (unless you have money to burn-some do). So hand planing after a careful job of planer use to even up the face still sounds like a good deal. Yes, it would be nice to be able to glue up, then joint and plane a wide panel, but nice doesn't always fit in my budget.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Wow good score ! 
That's one tool I want to add someday . Yes , after the you know what :|


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## coxhaus (Jul 18, 2011)

I have one of those Delta jointers which works well for me. I like it as it has a good sized bed for such a little jointer. It fits well in my small shop. I don't have room for an 8 inch jointer. Yours sure looks prettier than mine. Nice job on the restore. And what a great price.

Did you happen to change the bearings in the jointer? I wondered how hard it would be.


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## hawkeye10 (Jul 28, 2015)

Toney you did a great job of cleaning that jointer up. It looks new. I hope you did an equally good job of installing the blades. Slapping them in isn't the best way. There are several videos on You Tube showing how to set jointer knives. This is how I do mine.


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## comp56 (Mar 30, 2017)

thanks hawkeye10, I may have used the term "slapped them in" loosey....but I did in fact install them properly with an appropriate height above the out feed table. That magical height may differ for some people but I have set it so to avoid bowing and snipe


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## gmercer_48083 (Jul 18, 2012)

Tony, What a beautiful job you did! How did you get the bed and fence so polished? WOW!


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## richjh (Jan 14, 2013)

I have that same jointer that I purchased new back in the early 90's. One thing to check if you haven't already is the start capacitor on the motor. The original will start to leak due to age and eventually fail where the motor will buzz but won't start. Mine failed and I replaced it with new one purchased from Sear's parts for around $5. Otherwise, It's a stellar unit and you got a great jointer at a fantastic price.

I am considering putting a helical cutter on mine but they cost more than I paid for the original jointer so I have not done so, yet.


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## chessnut2 (Sep 15, 2011)

DesertRatTom said:


> IYes, it would be nice to be able to glue up, then joint and plane a wide panel, but nice doesn't always fit in my budget.


Yes. The question I always TRY to make myself answer is "Will I really use it enough to be worth all this money?". Sometimes I'm not successful in talking myself out of it, though.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

After I tried the short bed 6" I knew that I was going to be better off with bigger and longer since I do some fairly big projects at times and I work a lot with rough lumber. I saved up and got a long bed 8" and have never regretted it. And I can't remember a time that I needed more than 8" wide. But it all depends on the type of projects you do. If you predominantly make small boxes and picture frames a 6" is more than adequate.


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## comp56 (Mar 30, 2017)

@gmercer_48083 I use what they call a sponge polishing disc to do the cast bed, this is flat so you can use a disc grinder and run flat on surface. It has just enough abrasives to clean the cast without putting marks or gouges in or on it and if done properly no swirl marks plus it polishes it as well, once top is cleaned/polished I use a second one and apply paste wax while polishing ....probably the best method out there. It's like scotchbrite on steroids I've cleaned many different cast surfaces with this method and it gives the same results every time....


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## gmercer_48083 (Jul 18, 2012)

*Sponge Disk*

Tony, Where are the sponge disks sold? I would like to try it.


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## coxhaus (Jul 18, 2011)

Me too. I have been using a 1/4 sheet sander with a scotch bright pad. I think a angle grinder would be much faster.


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