A little set back

I received my Jet 10” jointer-planer combination machine a couple days ago. It survived shipping very well. There are no damaged parts, no missing parts and the shipping container was in good shape. In the box, the machine was encased entirely in Styrofoam and packed very tightly with no room for jostling. On first impression, the machine is much more solid than I expected. The jointer tables are not flexible and are attached solidly to the machine. The jointer fence isn’t as hefty as I would like, but it does seem solid, straight and not flexible. We’ll see how it performs. I’ve got lots of stuff going on, so I haven’t been able to set up everything at the same time.


So here’s the set back. While assembling the stand for the machine, I was tightening a nut when my wrench slipped and with my weight behind it, I crammed my finger against the edge of the stand. Several hours, a trip to the ER, lots of Tylenol and four stitches later, I’m feeling like a doofus. As much as I’d love to blame Jet, it was my own dumb fault. The irony is that after shopping around and finding the machine at $130 off the normal price, I had to spend $100 on a copayment at the ER. Nice.

Using only my left hand, I managed to finish assembling the stand and the mobile base. With help from a neighbor, I’ll be moving it down to my basement later and starting the process of setting up the tables and knives. I’ll keep writing it up as I go. With my left hand.