Aux fence for jointer

[Jim Dunn]

Is anyone using an aux fence for extending the height of a jointer fence?

Seem to me finger boards on the fence would be a good idea

Don't know if I'm missing something in my thinking or not but my idea is to increase the height of the fence for more conveince. This would give the advantage of having a clamping surface and a more stable working area for positioning boards that are quite wide.

Jim (kindling expert)

[Jim Becker]

I've never felt the need for a taller fence, even with wide boards, but can see the advantage if you occasionally edge wide, heavy panels for some reason. The fence on my MM FS350 is taller than my previous jointer, however, and it does provide better support for edging work. That said, I also found an interesting attachment available from Aigner (through Martin) that is a flip-down, low profile fence that is designed to provide better finger clearance when face jointing stock...kinda the same idea as the UniFence available on Delta table saws.

Bottom line...there is no reason not to employ a taller fence on your jointer if it helps you stablize certain types of work pieces. It's easy to make as long as you are willing to drill your fence to be able to securely fasten your auxilliary fence to the machine. Do remember to account for the height offset between the infeed and outfeed sides.

[Jim Dunn]

Thanks Jim

[Jim DeLaney]

Is anyone using an aux fence for extending the height of a jointer fence?

Seem to me finger boards on the fence would be a good idea

Don't know if I'm missing something in my thinking or not but my idea is to increase the height of the fence for more conveince. This would give the advantage of having a clamping surface and a more stable working area for positioning boards that are quite wide.

Jim (kindling expert)

Yeah, I have one on mine. My jointer is an old one - like the old Deltas, with the end mounted fence. The stock fence is only about 3" high. When I had some 16" wide panels to edge joint, I added a 12" wide (high) auxiliary fence made of melamine covered mdf to it - just bolted it to the stock fence's face using carriage bolts. It worked quite well for that job, and afterward I just left it installed. That was maybe 7 or 8 years ago, and I've never seen a need to remove it.

As for featherboards - No, I've never even thought about using them on the jointer. Don't really see where they'd be of much help. Gravity and my push-blocks hold the stock down adequately...

YMMV

[Jim Dunn]

Jim D. The reason for the feather boards are for jointing the thin edge of the board i.e. the 1/2" edge on a board 1/2" X 12". Just thinking the feather boards would act like an extra hand on the out feed table.