Craftsman Jointer question

[Stephen Henderson]

Hello,

I recently bought a used Craftsman "Professional" 6 1/8" jointer. It is in great shape, with the exception of the blades, which are all nicked badly. I bought new blades, and one of the Jointer Pal jigs.

I read the manual, but the blade changing section left me more confused than when I started.

I'm hoping someone here has one of these, or is at least familiar with the cutter head on this and might be able to answer a question for me:

The cutter has three blades. Behind (in front of?) each of the slots that hold the blades, there are a pair of screws recessed in the cutter head. I assumed that these retain the blade assembly, but upon loosening them, the blades were still stuck tightly in place.

Inside the slots, here are four threaded bolts that run perpendicular to the slot and to the blades. It looks like there are some nuts on these that can probably be loosened with a small box wrench. Are these nuts what need to be loosened to remove the blade? If so, what are the two other allen screws for?

I'd appreciate any information anyone can give me. I'm not feeling very bright here.

Thank you!

Stephen
Boise, ID

[Brendan Plavis]

Do not get me wrong, as I have not worked with this tool before, but my educated guess is this:

I imagine that both hold the cutter head in place. They most likely act as a safety system for eachother. Imagine the cutter head getting loose, and the amount of damage it could do...

If I understand you correctly, two anchor it into the cylinder verticlely, and then a set anchor it in horizontally?

Again, I havent used a jointer in my life, but, that is just my reasoning. I could be mistaken though...

PS: Might I ask how much you got it for? Craftsman Professional tools are some of the more expensive(in the 'go to the store and buy' class) tools, but, I have certainly seen people get some good deals.....

-Brendan

[Stephen Henderson]

Hi Brendan,

Thanks for the quick response. I've been looking for a good deal on a decent used jointer for six months or so. My buddy lives in South Carolina, and there are amazingly good deals there all the time, like a two year old powermatic for three hundred bucks!

Here in Idaho, maybe we are less likely to buy our tools on a whim, or maybe we keep them forever, or who knows, but i finally managed to find a winner.

This jointer is probably seven or eight years old and is in excellent condition. Someone even put a sturdy homemade mobile base on it. The only other problem was that the rear panel was missing, so I called up sears and had a new rear panel delivered in less than a week, for about fifteen bucks (INCLUDING shipping). I was really impressed with their support

I paid $250 for this machine. The new one is $550, although if I were going to spend that much, I'd get a jet. I did see a Jet special on their closed stand jointer recently... seems to be it was $499. If I'd seen that special a month ago, I'd have probably bought it, but as long as I can get these blades replaced, I'll be really happy with my purchase.

I'll go home and stare at this thing again tonight. My guess is that you are correct. I'd hate to be anywhere near the machine if it spit out a blade at full power!

Thanks again.

Stephen

[Brendan Plavis]

hehe... yea.. my guess is that might hurt just a little...

And remember... what you take off be sure to put back on...

Darn good price though...

[Don Jarvie]

Do you have the manual? If not go to Hammerwall.com and look it up by the model number.

Be aware you only get 5 shots a day at Hammerwall so pick carefully. Also, depending on how old it is Sears Parts Direct sometimes has the manual list for free.

The bolts hold the blade and gibs in the slot. Loosen the bolts and they should come out. The set screws in the cutterhead (I think) are an additional way to hold the blades and gibs.

Keep in mind you need both tightened before you fire up the machine.

[Ken Casser]

I don't know if my jointer is a "professional" model, but it is 6". Of course, yours could be different, but mine works this way. Each blade is held in place with a wedge shaped piece of metal, 6" long, which is held in the cutterhead with two socket-head bolts. As the bolts are tightened, the wedge snugs up the blade to the cutterhead. Below the back of the blade are two flathead allen bolts which are used to adjust the height of each blade. So, when installing new blades, you use those flathead allen bolts to get the blade square to the table and a hair higher than the outfeed table, then you tighten down the sockethead bolts in the wedges. These are the only bolts that mine has if I remember correctly. I don't have any removable nuts that I recall. Two words of caution - blades are very sharp. New ones especially. I've managed to slice myself pretty well by not being very careful when installing them. Second, removing the old blades can be challenging. My jointer was also used, and I don't think the blades had ever been sharpened or removed - they were very difficult to get out of the cutterhead. Be careful not to strip the heads of the sockethead bolts or the allen bolts. You can get new ones, but they're pricey. I shot a lot of Liquid Wrench on them and let them soak before they would loosen up. If your socketheads come out easily, then you need to remove the wedge. The blade will slide out with the wedge, but both pieces could be stuck pretty good. Try turning the allen bolts counter clockwise (being careful not to strip the heads) which might push the blade/wedge out of the cutterhead slot. If that doesn't work, you might need to use some persuasion in removing the wedge. Again, be careful of the edge of that blade. It'll surprise you and you won't be happy. You might wear gloves or something just in case. Good luck...hope that helps.

[Dan Schocke]

Stephen,

The two allen screws under the blade are known as "jack screws". They are primarily used to set the height of the blade relative to the outfeed table of the jointer. They also serve as a good reference when you're changing the blades (they hold the setting of previous blade height, and give you a good starting point for adjusting the new set of blades).

To remove the blades you'll need to loosen the lock screws (the 4 "nuts" you referred to earlier should be the heads of these lock screws) that hold a wedge against the blade. They should loosen enough that the wedge and blade come out easily.

--Dan

[Brent Ring]

Stephen,

The two allen screws under the blade are known as "jack screws". They are primarily used to set the height of the blade relative to the outfeed table of the jointer. They also serve as a good reference when you're changing the blades (they hold the setting of previous blade height, and give you a good starting point for adjusting the new set of blades).

To remove the blades you'll need to loosen the lock screws (the 4 "nuts" you referred to earlier should be the heads of these lock screws) that hold a wedge against the blade. They should loosen enough that the wedge and blade come out easily.

--Dan

+1 on Dan's comments. My Jet changes knives the same way.

[Keith Weber]

As others have mentioned, the Set Screws (bolts) loosen the knife, and the Jack Screws are used to adjust the height of the knife at those points along its length. There's a good YouTube video on setting jointer knives with different styles of cutter heads. Enjoy!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...7014177&hl=en#

Keith

[Stephen Henderson]

You guys are the best!

Loosed the gib bolts as you described, and the thing came right out. Unfortunately, I'd already goofed up the set/levelling screws, but with the magnetic Jointer Pal thing, it didn't seem to matter.

It took me about 10 minutes to get the first blade perfect, about three with the second, and about 1 minute for the third.

Thanks for the very helpful advice. It is much appreciated.

Stephen
Boise, ID