JET 13-Inch Planer/Molder, Straight Knife Cutterhead, 1-1/2 HP, 115/230V 1Ph (Model JPM-13CS)

I wanted to add a planer to my small garage shop, but I had limited space for it. I decided I didn't want a bench top planer so I looked for something in between those and the heavier duty (15" and up) models. For context I make custom doors and windows for historical/older homes. I havent used it to do any molding and have strictly used it to plane down rough stock after jointing two edges. It has performed perfectly after adjusting both internal infeed and outfeed rollers according to the manual. A little tip; go ahead and make the setup blocks and keep them for future adjustments. Also adjust the external support rollers (which are sold separately, but I highly recommend) with a good straight edge, and check them periodically. If either roller pair is off it will exaggerate snipe. Doing these setup steps properly will ensure that you get nice results. I suggest the external rollers because the table (not the cutter head) is moved up and down with each pass. If you plan to use one of your shop feed rollers you will need to continuously adjust it for every adjustment made at the planer.4" dust collection is a must with this machine, although the airflow makes it operate at higher decibels. After now using it for almost a year I can say with confidence that it is a strong performer. I haven't even sharpened the knives and it produces an excellent finish, very little chatter or waves. I still send everything through the Jet 16-32 drum sander after it comes out of the planer, but I can use fine paper to get the desired finish. There is a spiral cutter head available for this unit, but I don't really see the need unless you work with figured/pattern woods. I really like the integrated locking casters for mobility, a must for a small shop. Its mobile, but its very solid/stable when working with long and heavy pieces.This is not going to outperform the 220V 15-20 inch planers on the market, but it will beat the pants off all the bench top models. Overall it fits nicely into a small niche between the two extremes. I can't comment on the molder functionality, but it is a nice feature to have for the future. Jet and Grizzly molder knives will fit this machine based on the limited research I did before I purchased mine.

The unit has a severe feed problem requiring me to push material through the machine. I checked the alignment of the rollers which were set to factory specs. I readjusted the in feed and out feed rollers to provide more pressure. That improved performance but not entirely.

I do like this planer but have not had a lot of time to get down dirty with it. What little time I have had with it I do have some complaints and why I don't give it 5 stars.First it is very difficult to see how much I am taking off of a board when first starting to make a cut. My old Ridgid had a gauge when you stuck the board in you could see how deep of a cut you were making on a board. the only other issue I have seen is I get chunks ripped out of thin lumber I am trying to plane. I plane mainly for resawn lumber and this is an issue with me. I am going to try to use carpet tape and a support board to see if it prevents this. It could also be the blade just causes a vacuum on the board or I need to run at the lower speed for molding. Will try these when I get to my next project.The good it the planer is much quitter than my Ridgid. I like that it came all assembled except for the table extensions and handle. It has much more power than my old planer and the dust collection seems to be better too. The wheels on the base make it easy to move and clean around. I do wish it had supports on top for placing planed boards to pass through again. i have a small shop and have no place to set these boards as I prepare to run them through for another cut. I will probably build some kind of stand on top for this.

Its alright if you are planing wood that is not very wide, other than that it doesn't feed well and you have to push it the whole time. I have tried taking less, adjusting rollers, etc.

I ordered this machine for two reasons. 1. To plane boards and 2. to make molding. I run a small cabinet shop and thought it would be nice to have the second ability. The planer performs its function as a planer poorly at best. There is very evident snipe on both ends of the boards that pass through. Being that this was the primary function of this machine in my shop it was very disappointing. After more than a dozen adjustments per the manufactures manual, through experimentation, and the recomendation (singular) of Jet tech support it could not be adjusted out. After further inspection it was found that the planer's table actualy had 1/32nd to a 1/16th of an inch movement vertically on the infeed end and outfeed end. I figure that is the reason for the snipe on every pass. The other major disappointment of this purchase is Jet technical support. Don't bother calling them for help. I asked about the snipe problem and they answered "yeah, all of these machines do that". When they were told about the movement in the table they had no response and had to go find an engineer to find an answer. I had no response in 3 days, and had to call them back to try to get an answer. But there was no answer except that the guy who knew about this was away from his desk and they would need to call me back. This was 2 days ago. Maybe I received a machine that was built on Friday right before quiting time? I would not recommend buying this machine to anyone at this point. If you want a planer, buy a planer. If you want a molder, buy a molder. But don't buy this planer/molder.