Powermatic 12-Inch Parallelogram Jointer, Straight Knife, 3 HP, 230V 1Ph (Model 1285)

Powermatic, turning gold into silver
POWERMATIC PERFORMS ALCHEMY WITH THEIR JOINTER. They turn gold into silver.I purchased my 12 Powermatic from a vendor other than Amazon. I’ve owned it for about three months, and to say I have buyer’s remorse does not even begin to state the case.My background: I have had a professional woodworking shop for over forty years, and my hobby, when not woodworking, has been buying old woodworking machines and rebuilding them from the ground up.Below is only my opinion.About the Powermatic 1285 12” Jointer:1. TRAGIC ENGINEERING FLAW: If you move the fence all the way to the back of the table, the bottom fence edge can drop between the back edge of the table and the base fence assembly support. It’s a pain to get the fence out of that crevice. I can’t believe they couldn’t put one of their infamous Rub Goldberg devices to act as a stop to prevent this.2. THE TABLETOP IS SQUISHY: I have never experienced this before. The metal top scratches if you just seem to burp. We are very careful with what we do. In fact, all we use in our shop are hardwoods. We have one deep scratch, and we have no idea what could have caused it along with similar small ones. In other reviews, I’ve read about the same issue with their shaper tabletops. Their new machines with that “special recipe” coating were probably added to address this issue, but unfortunately, for more money. Assuming it does address the soft Taiwanese metal used for so many of their machines3. THE HEIGHT GAUGE: ROFL! It’s a joke. It’s a piece of stamped metal adhered to the side of the infeed table. Ergonomically difficult to read, if not next to impossible. The taller you are the more you will hate the height gauge. Powermatic needs to design a height gauge that reads from the top of the table, not the side.4. RUBE GOLDBERG: So much of the machine seems to be an afterthought, the height gauge as mentioned above. The handles, though heavy-duty to their credit, are very basic. Simply bent metal round rod with a plastic knob for the fence and square metal stock bars, though chromed plated with a plastic nob for the raising mechanism on both the infeed and outfeed tables. Not much quality detailing for a machine of such a weighty price.5. THE PRICE: Obscene, IMO. I think Powermatic is under the illusion that their gold paint is actually gold plate because most of their machines are barely worth half the price they are now charging.6. THE PAINT JOB: HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! You had better order a can or two of their gold spray paint. You’ll need it. Powermatic’s spray paint has gotten better; it almost matches the gold color. It’s still not a 100% match, but it is not bad.7. SUPPORT: This is the one good thing about JPW. Their support is excellent because, baby, you will probably need it sooner than later after you buy a new machine, again just my opinion.8. RECOMMENDATION: Purchase one of the better European jointers or find an old cast iron jointer, rebuild it, and put a spiral cutterhead in it. It’s unlikely to cost you any more than what you’d pay for this Powermatic 12-inch jointer, and you’ll have a superior machine. This is what I wish I would have done but I didn’t want to spend the time to do a rebuild, and now I’m paying the price for that short sightedness.