Powermatic 6-Inch Jointer, Helical Cutterhead, 1 HP, 115/230V 1Ph (Model 54HH)

This is the first real jointer that I have had and I did a lot of research before deciding on the powermatic. there are several brands out there and they are all very comparable but the two things I liked about the powermatic were the combination of the long bed and the helical cutter head. I came packaged well and the assembly was easy. it was only .002" out of level right out of the box. I have been using is for a few months now and am very satisfied with the overall operation. It is very quiet, and the adjustments are very easy to make. the only negative thing I have found and it is very minor. the heilcal cutter does leave very small scallop marks on the edge. Straight blade jointers do not leave these marks. I do a lot of edge glueing and this is not an issue at all, but if your needing a very smooth edge to finish you will have to do a little edge sanding. Usually one or two passes with 120 will remove any marks. overall this is a gread machine and i would purchase another one if needed.

The jointer arrived on a truck with a lift gate and a driver that put it into my garage using a pallet jack. Assembly was not difficult but did require another person to help me lift the tool onto the stand. Function of the tool is excellent and it leaves a very smooth finish on the wood. The actual working width is a bit less than 6". The only adjustment I had to make was squaring the fence when I installed it. The beds appeared to be perfectly adjusted right from the factory.I also purchased the Powermatic mobile base. Since the stand has a curved front I didn't think any of the third party bases would fit. The tool doesn't fit that great into the Powermatic base, but it does work. The base is good quality, just not sized as well as it might be. I'm not sure how to rate the portability of this tool because it's supposed to be stationary but the base lets me move it around my garage.

Fairly easy to set up and calibrate, nice precision controls for setting cutting depth and angle. Very heavy duty. Helical cutterhead comes with several spare carbide inserts and special tools. Glass-smooth, laser straight cuts.

Extremely good fit and finish. Not ideal for processing lumber but ideal for fine finish work. I have access to bigger machines so this is purely for fine jointing operations. Takes about an hour to assemble and fine tune. Tables set perfect from factory. Helical head leaves glass smooth cut. Overall wonderful machine for what I intend to use it for. Sale price was a nice bonus.Few gripes to explain the 4stars. First this could easily be a 6.5inch plus jointer if they made the head 9/16+ longer.. As it stand its only good for about 5 15/16 max. Second the fence is NOT hyper flat. Exhibits typical square on one end not quite square on the other. Also the fence is tricky to setup where it doesnt drag and remains square. If you elevate the fence off table as I like to do then when the fence sliding lever is released it teeters. Just needed a tad more weight on the sliding portion which I may add to it since it strangely has unused threads tapped out in multiple places on it.

Phenomenal jointer. High quality, perfect operation. Sturdy as they come. Will last a lifetime. 66” long deck handles 8’ boards with ease. Assembly is a little cumbersome, but took about 1 hour.Shipping experience was terrible. Product was listed in stock when I ordered it but a day later was listed as backordered with an estimated ship date that kept changing. Sold by Amazon, but sub-brokered by Empire Rigging and Supply, but fulfilled by JPW (???) and delivered by Central Freight. One day the freight company arrived without warning but couldn’t get it off the truck because they had no lift gate or pallet jack (it weighs 330 lbs). My wife was home and they told her they would be back “next week” but left no contact information. After several emails through Amazon, I was able to get the freight company’s number. I sat on hold for 40 minutes with them, but scheduled the delivery for Wednesday so I could be home from work. They didn’t arrive by 4 PM as scheduled and no one called ahead as promised. I called the freight company again (and was on hold another 30 minutes). They told me no one was gone when they arrived on TUESDAY!!! It was scheduled for WEDNESDAY!!! The driver didn’t call ahead again (as promised). I scheduled it again (on hold for 40 minutes) for Friday. Stayed home all day, and at 5:00 PM the tracking showed the driver “broke off”. Monday they had “technical difficulties” and the calls would never go through. Tuesday I was on hold for 1 hour and finally scheduled delivery for Wednesday. This time the driver called ahead and it arrived at 10 AM.You will love the machine, but good luck with shipping.