Photo Index - Jos Poitras & Sons Ltd. - Model 4600 8" jointer

Machinery Photo Index

Manufactured/Badged by:
Jos Poitras & Sons Ltd.
Islet, QC, Canada

Machine Specifications
Machine Class:	Wood Working Machinery
Machine Type:	Jointer
Machine Size:	8"
Submitted By:	Jeff Joslin

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	Model 4600 8" jointer
Date of Manufacturer:	1985
Serial Number:	JT.12.85.119 (View SN Registry Entry)
Last Updated	3/26/2019 10:52:42 PM

Comments:

This is the end result of several weeks of active searching and two failed deals. The Poitras jointer is very popular in Eastern Ontario, Quebec, and New England. They are not excessively heavy but are simple, intelligently designed, and well made. They are fairly hard to get because their owners are reluctant to part with them. I found this jointer advertised on an online Ottawa for-sale site that I had never seen before; I stumbled across it while Googling for Poitras jointers. Some of the rest of the acquisition story is in this posting to the oldwwmachines list:
http://www.owwm.org/viewtopic.php?p=73522

My new Poitras is from shortly before they were bought out by General. Compare it to an earlier version:
http://www.owwm.com/PhotoIndex/detail.asp?id=2411

My late-model jointer does not have the cast door, and the Poitras logo is stuck on rather than cast into the door and guard. The construction quality is still there, though, and my example has been very lightly used. The tables are pristine, with the original Blanchard-grinding swirl marks still covering the tables, even near the cutterhead.

The knives are rather dull, but it came with another set. I guess I will be trying my luck at knife changing again. After bad experiences changing the knives in my old jointer, my palms sweat just thinking about it.

Update: knife changing was anti-climactic. Those jack screws really do make it easier! On a related note, a local dealer has a slightly older version of my jointer, also in excellent condition, for $1750. It has a 3-phase 550VAC motor, which would require additional expenditure for me. I feel much better about the non-bottom-feeding $1000 that I paid for mine.

Update: I called General to ask what they could tell from the Serial Number. "JT" presumably identifies the 8"jointer (they were expecting "C"), "1285" means that it was made in December 1985, and 119 is the sequence number during that month. I also asked about the Serial Number of an older Poitras model 2800-B shaper, and its system is different: the first two numbers in the serial number give the year of manufacture.

Photo 1:

Comments: A bit of cosmetic paint damage is the only wear and tear.
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Photo 2:

Comments: Jointer fence mechanism, with scale on the left rod.
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Photo 3:

Comments: Cutterhead: knife, gib with two jack screws, then three gib screws.
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