RIKON Power Tools 20-600H 6" Benchtop Jointer with Helical Cutter head

This is my first jointer. I do have a Bauer thickness planer from Harbor Freight however. The Rikon jointer leaves a glass like finish that really surprised me. I thought the planer left a really smooth finish but the jointer leaves it so smooth. I have a small space between the fence and table that sometimes leaves a hair-thin sliver from being jointed, It's a little annoying but I just flip it around and run it the opposite way and it's fixed. I should note, it's a lot quieter than I expected, but with a dust collector attached it will get quite a bit louder. I've never had a helical head tool but looking at the cutters on the Rikon, I was initially surprised to see how far apart the cutting squares are located but I guess it works. All in all I'm very happy. Great quality, easy to use, set up and feels well made and accurate.

Picked up woodworking as a COVID-19 lockdown hobby, first jointer I've used/owned. Was super easy to setup and use right out of the box, was able to adjust with a square in only a few minutes with little to no experience using a jointer. Probably not what a pro would want, but excellent quality for the price. Nearly perfect joints even with my very mediocre skill and first time making cutting boards as Xmas gifts. Would absolutely buy again, but probably will never need to to since it's very heavy and solidly built.

I'm very happy with the jointer. The fence adjustment is not all it could be, but adequate. From the time I opened the box until I made the first cut was well less than an hour. First cuts, both edge and face, were smooth. The motor did not strain on the face cut at 1/32".It is too soon to make a final judgement, but if it continues as it is, I will be very satisfied.I couldn't rate tech support because I haven't used them.

This is my first product review. I gave away my old Rockwell/Delta jointer because I needed to free up the space with a portable machine in my small shop. I couldn't be happier with this Rikon 6" jointer. Yes, as a few reviewers noted, the fence required adjustment (and will probably need to be re-adjusted over time), and the infeed and outfield tables needed adjustment to be co-planer and level. But all of this was easily accomplished, as the instructions are clearly written. In my experience after nearly 40 years as an ameteur woodworker, almost every tool requires adjustment out of the box, including hand planes, bandsaws, etc. The bottom line is after I spent a couple hours assembling the machine and doing all the adjustments, it works like a charm -- my cuts are square and the finish of the cuts is very smooth. Also, the chip collection works well when connected to a 4" dust collector. Yes, it won't handle long boards, but it would be unreasonable to think a 30" bed would. For my needs, and considering the price, it's just what I needed.

I am pleased with the performance of this jointer. I’ve had it for almost a week and I’ve subjected it to some pretty long stretches of use with no issues. (Full disclosure: the Wood I’ve ran through it has been yellow pine and poplar) Not sure yet if some of the harder woods will wear the blades or motor down faster. It does take some time to set the fence to a perfect 90 degrees. I used an electronic angle finder, but patience will pay off. The knobs are spring loaded with a spline so you can adjust them to a different position as you tighten them. As far as getting boards that are less than 6 inches straight it has done a phenomenal job. I’ve even ran boards longer than 4 ft through this machine the past week and it has straightened them very nicely. After jointing and a trip through my planer, I was very happy with the results. I am working in a very small area (10x10 shed with 30 amp service) so this was the best option for me. I did a lot of research and decided on this jointer, and I haven’t been regretful about my purchase.

This was a pretty quick and easy set up. I’ve seen in other reviews that the tables needed to be adjusted but mine were fine out of the box. Only needed to attach the fence and set it to a 90 degree angle. I would definitely recommend this jointer.

I will admit that I am a novice woodworker. I purchased this product over a year and a half ago. At the time I thought it would help my glue ups. I quickly learned I got better results with a hand plane and sort of gave up on this product for anything but very small things where the lack of accuracy didn’t show as much. I recently tried to adjust the jointer in and out feed tables in a hope to improve accuracy only to find that neither table is flat. I am not sure that it is even cost effective to try and fix it. A $500 dollar lesson.

Easy to set up. And the cut is amazing!! The wood comes off this machine like you sanded it with 180 grit!! Very happy with my purchase.