Jointer Question

[Ed Snyder]

I have recently bought a jointer and have a question about the fence. All of the fence is above the table except a small section near the cutter head on the outfeed table. Is it normal for this section to ride on the table? I think it would cause wear over a period of time. Jointer is a Trademaster ( Gee-Tec) 8" from Taiwan

Thanks

Ed

[Lee Schierer]

On my jointer (old Rockewell Delta Homecraft) and many others the table travels up and down with the infeed table. The depth of cut is controlled by the infeed table. The out feed table should be adjusted so it is exactly even with the tips of the cutters.

If the fence is resting on the outfeed table, then you would not be able to take a deeper cut without putting pressure on the fence. Can you measure the height difference between the out feed table and the infeed table accurately. If you have 1/16" difference before the fence touches, you probably don't need to do anything. Normal trim off for jointing should be 1/32" or less.

Some jointers can be used for rabbeting, but I've never seen anyone that uses them for that.

[Ron Taylor]

I have an old 6" Craftsman jointer, circa '50's or so. It was given to me along with lots of other great power tools and hand tools by my late father-in-law in exchange for re-modeling his house. He was a master carpenter, but at that time was old and too feeble to work, so he sat in a rocking chair and coached me. It was my very first woodworking job of any sort. This was in the early 70's.

We were putting luan (sp?) paneling over drywall. This made the paneling offset higher than the door and window facing, so the trim had to be rabbetted on the paneling side to fit flush. Depending on how tight you cut the paneling, the rabbets may be as much as an inch or more wide. Because of my lack of expertise, they varied greatly. We did it on the jointer.

After doing a three bedroom house, I got pretty good at it. This is a great way to cover drywall without removing the drywall or having to mill oversized door and window facings.

[Kevin Post]

I would start by tuning the jointer to see if everything is set up as it should be on your jointer.

1) The outfeed table should be even with the blades in the cutterhead when rotated to their highest point. The cutterhead should just graze a straight edge laid on the outfeed table but would not cut anything.

2) The infeed and outfeed tables should be adjusted so that they are exactly parallel. Raise the infeed to match the height of the outfeed and lay a straight-edge across them to check. If the tables are not parallel, the jointer will not give you a straight cut.

Once the jointer is set up, the outfeed table height is not to be adjusted. You will raise and lower only the infeed table to control the depth of cut.

I think you may find that the outfeed table is sagging. In theory, if the lower edge of the fence is straight (it may not be), then it would make contact with the outfeed table across its entire length. Since you stated the fence only touches the outfeed table near the cutter, I am assuming the gap between the fence gets larger as you get further away from the cutterhead.

Since I am not familiar with this particular jointer, I can't tell you how you would adjust this. Usually there are gib screws that can be adjusted to correct this. If not, you would need to insert shims to raise the end of the table.

-Kevin

[Eric Apple - Central IN]

I believe that's how my jet is setup and the fence touches the infeed table. Yes if you move then fence a lot it would wear the surface. This does not interfere with adjusting the tables, as the fence itself is adjustable. If it got in the way, you could just move it. I'm not sure the fence moves up or down with the table, but it's never been in the way.

I would just check that you have full range adjustment to your in-feed table. If you do, then I wouldn't worry about it. Keeping the table waxed should prevent wear from occasionally moving the fence. Or just lift up a bit when you move the fence.

[Ed Snyder]

The fence is machined that there is a 3 inch section on the outfeed side which is lower than the rest of the fence . This part sits on the outfeed table and there is a jap along the rest of the fence. the jap varies as the infeed table is raised or lowered . I did not adjust the ooutfeed table yet. On a side note I was in a custom milling factory today and all of their equiptment is just after turn of the century and driven from a single line shaft.

Ed

[Eric Apple - Central IN]

That makes sense. Since the infeed table would never exceed the height of the outfeed table on a jointer, except possibly when adjusting the tables and resetting stops. I checked for wear on mine. There are lines accross the table where the fence touches. They look and feel just like my TS top where the UHMW pad on beis. fence rides.