I have had this machine for a few weeks now and absolutely love it. I have a small side woodworking business and this was a much needed upgrade. The delivery was right on time, when the shipping company promised. The delivery guy was able to deliver to my residence no problem and was very professional and kind. I wasn't sure if I was going to have to move the boxes myself, I have heard various situations. The delivery guy was kind enough to hand truck both boxes into my garage. All parts were in the boxes including tools and nothing was damaged. By myself, it only took about 30 minutes to set up and dial in the fence for square (that was set pretty good from the factory so didn't take but a few minutes). I lifted the top myself, it wasn't too bad, but if you can have an extra hand I would recommend it. I was in the middle of a few jobs, so I greatly appreciated not having to spend hours setting it up. This was the primary reason I purchased a Powermatic. I have heard other brands can take hours to set up. I really wanted to get a helix head, but just wasn't in my budget. However, the straight knives are very impressive and cut smooth as silk. I laminate a lot of milled 6/4 stock for table/desk tops and this machine seriously increased the quality of my pieces and decreased glue-up/sanding time by 30-40%. At this time, I really have no complaints for the machine. The only complaint I have is for the rolling base I purchased. It was the one Amazon packaged with this machine so I assumed it would handle it well. It's not horrible, but would be nice to have a much stronger rolling base. When the machine is locked down when working, it can sway a little. This doesn't effect my work, just a little annoying. I think this machine can last me a long time, but I'm planning to upgrade to a helix head later on. It's actually cheaper to buy this and upgrade the head, than to buy one with the helix head.

For better or for worse I've entered a stage in my woodworking where benchtop and portable tools just aren't sufficient. I retired my Bosch 4000 and replaced it with a 3HP Unisaw. My benchtop Dewalt planer now sits beside a Powermatic 15". This however is the first jointer I've ever owned. So far I'm delighted.
One caveat: I've only run about 30 linear feet of soft maple and white oak through it, so my experience with it is somewhat limited. I'll amend my review as necessary if I find any faults that I think might be of interest to a potential buyer.

The delivery: I received a call from the carrier a few days in advance and selected a delivery date and time ( a 4 hour window). The carrier was right on time and the two boxes were intact and appeared undamaged. The base was heavy but easily managed- I'd put it at about 40-45 lbs. The cast iron bed, on the other hand, was probably in the 250lb range and large but easily managed with a handcart. Otherwise it's a two-man job.

I'll respond to some of the negative points made in previous reviews:
The paint- flawless. No chips or scratches anywhere. Minimal overspray on some inconspicuous areas like the undercarriage of the cast iron bed.
The (mis)alignment of screw holes mentioned in several reviews- no problem whatsoever. Everything went together as intended with no struggle or modifications needed.
I did not find the need to adjust my belt tension, so I can't speak to that.
My fence was dead flat, although it did need a nominal adjustment to bring it into square. Fortunately this is remarkably easy to accomplish.

A couple of bonuses that I might point out as well:
The bed is considerably longer than other jointers in this class.
The instructions are clear, concise and exceedingly well-written and illustrated.
All tools for assembly are included: two open-end wrenches, a screwdriver, and a pair of hex wrenches. Also a nice pair of grippy push blocks.
It comes prewired for 115 (with plug) but can be converted to 220 which I plan to do as soon as my electrician brother-in-law gets around to it.

It DOES NOT come with a mobile base. I purchased the HTC2000 Universal Mobile base on Amazon's recommendation and it seems to be a quality product as well.
Assembly took under an hour; knives were true and after a minor adjustment fence was true as tested with my beloved Incra Guaranteed 90 square. I ran a slightly twisted plank of soft maple through taking 1/32 passes and in a few minutes it was perfectly flat, perfectly square and had knife-sharp edges. Again, the Incra Guaranteed 90 confirmed my findings and it simply cannot tell a lie as it's... guaranteed.

One last- the blade guard on mine is black. If you're partial to the ketchup-and-mustard color scheme in the photo consider yourself forewarned.

In the future I'd consider adding a Byrd Shelix helical cutterhead for smoother finishing, but even without I'm duly impressed by this machine's performance. Fit, finish - it's all there. I consider this machine an excellent value.

This is my first jointer. I was very nervous about setting it up, tuning it, and even using it! Let me share my experience

(1. Shipping. It showed up when amazon said it would. It came on a large pallet which was fork lifted into my garage. It was shipped in excellent condition without any issues. Two big boxes. The paint was fine (an issue I was worried about from other reviews)

(2. Assembly. First of all, I'm horrible at putting things together (which might seem odd as I'm buying a jointer) but nevertheless it's true. The instructions were very simple and the assembly is totally painless. There are literally like 5 steps. The only hard part it lifting the cast-iron unit on the stand. You really need two people for this, but it's not hard just heavy. Getting a pulley setup was cake as the factor distance worked fine.

(3. 'tuning,' This was a huge fear of mine. Adjusting the fence was the most challenging part of the process. I read the instructions about 10 times before I touched the machine and that helped a lot. It has a 90 degree stop which is pretty effective, but mine did need to be adjusted. It took me about an hour to figure it out, but now I could easily adjust it in 2 minutes. The directions are very good, but you have to carefully read them. Second thing you have to do is check to make sure the blades are appropriately positioned. To my delight, when I put a straight edge over the outfeed table and the blade and pulled on the pulley the top of the blade carried the straight edge just a hair like it's supposed to. It was spot on from the factor. Now some people get a little nuts here and do some crazy precision. Good for them. For me, this was perfect and I'm happy. Adjusting the infeed table actually took me a few minutes to figure out, but it's actually very simple. I just didn't get it at first.

(4. Usage. I've ran a lot of red oak through this thing. I have no reference to compare except the wood you get at the box store which is surfaced and I can tell you this beats that by a long way. It's very easy to use. It's quite. It does exactly what it's supposed to without any issues that bother me at all.

Overall impression: It was hard for me to make this purchase because I was so worried about the possible pitfalls. Now that it's together and working well, i'm very pleased with it. 6 inch is more than enough for me as i'm not in wood working for production (just fun) and I need to keep my space conservation in mind.

I'll start with the caveats. This is a 6 inch jointer. You'll reach it's limitations rather quickly but I knew that going in. I also have never changed the knives in this machine but I don't intend to. My plan is to buy a segmented cutterhead for it once the first set of knives become dull. All that out of the way...

This is a fantastic machine. For starters the powermatic fit and finish were great. Adjustments are smooth, the paint job perfect, and no rough edges or burrs to snag clothing or cut your hands. Assembly was easy with two people but I can see it being a really pain doing it by oneself. I was amazed that this thing was almost ready to go out of the box. The only adjustment required was squaring up the fence. The beds were in great alignment with the blade and co-planer from the start.

I've run about 100 LF of cherry, pine, and maple over it between April and Sept. I checked it again and alignment of the tables was still dead on. I will also say it works much better with dust collection. I ran it without a DC for a couple of months and having to stop and vacuum up the chips after 3 or 4 boards was a real time-sink. Power seems adequate for a 6-inch jointer and it runs fine on 110V power even with the DC running on the same circuit. I've not had it bog down on wide stock yet but the only full-width stuff I've run through it has been pine. One major selling point for me was the extra-long beds. These are the longest beds I've seen on a 6-inch jointer and they easily let you handle 10ft long boards without putting up auxiliary support stands. Finally, my shop space is limited and this unit is light enough to push around by yourself while it's width makes it easy to put out of the way along a wall.

Bottom line if you're space is limited or you need a jointer that will run on 110V this is a great option. Powermatic machines cost a premium but if you can step up to this over a Jet or Grizzly I recommend doing so.

Just purchased the 6" Powermatic 54a replacing my Delta Delux 6" model I have had for years.
I didn't realize that Jet and Powermatic were the same company until I placed the order.
No matter, the weight and quality are noticeably better with the Powermatic model compared with the Jet.
When assembling a few things left out in the directions are worth noting.
If you want to change it to 220 volts do it while the base is separated. This way you can easily get at the wiring on the motor.
I found the wires were not secured tight, the connectors were taped on but the twist connectors were pulled off easily, even with the all the electrical tape wrapped around all the connections.
While you have access to the motor loosen the motor mounts while you can get at them and slide the motor up. Later when you put the belt on you won't have to fight gravity to get the motor raised. Otherwise you have to stand on your head to loosen the motor bolts to put the belt on. The unit seems to be well designed and built very stoutly. I noticed the inboard table can't go all the way up to the zero on the indicator. The Knob that cinches the front table interferes with the upward movement of the table. Looks like it can be adjusted but I have not gotten to this yet.
Seems to me that there should have been a zero adjustment for the inboard table. You will need someone to help you put the cast iron table on the stand. It must weigh about 200 pounds, a real hernia maker! I am halfway into assembly and will post more as I go along. I like to take my time and enjoy the building process, make everything work as it should so you don't have to mess with it when you just want to make something.