Jet JJP-12HH Jointer Setup

[William Burgess]

I recently bought a floor model Jet JJP-12HH 12 inch Jointer/Planer with Helicial Head. I am having a heck of a time adjusting the infeed and outfeed tables to be coplanar & level with the helical head blades. Does anyone with this model or the straight blade model have any tips? Both the infeed and outfeed models can adjust seperatly and when you "lock" down the jointer it seems to move the tables. I thought I had it at one point only to find out the tables were coplanar but not level with the blade. I have spent the past 3 nights about 1-2 hours a night trying to get this thing setup and am just a little frustrated. This is my first jointer so any tips would be great. I am using a straight edge (veritas 50 inch alum) to try and setup this jointer. Thanks

William

[Gary Venable]

I have the Jet JJP-12HH, though I did not have the issues getting it set you seem to. I did take some time to make the tables co-planer, I also used the Veritas straight edge, started with one corner of the out feed table and moved on to the next. I know what you mean about the locked down changing the tables. Even now if I forget to lock down the top it will through off the jointing. I also found the Oneway Multigauge very valuable in getting the jointer setup. I also used this video from the Wood Whisper as a guide since the Jet was my first Jointer also. I did use the multi-gauge to set the blade just a hair higher that the out-feed table which has worked very well and has made for a lot of flat boards over the years.

It is a great tool and after a couple of years I went back to check all of the alignments and it was still dead on. Don't know if that helps or not, let me know if I can help.

-Gary

[Bas Pluim]

My JJP12 was very close to being perfect right out of the box, with only a minor correction needed on the outfeed table. Yes, you need to lock down the tables before making adjustments, or the measurements will be off. Don't worry, it's amazing how consistent you can get in how much force to apply to the lock handles. I check the alignment periodically, and I've found the machine holds the settings very well.

The first step is setting the height of the outfeed table. Lay the straightedge across both tables, and adjust the infeed table slightly (using the depth-of-cut handle) so it's a smidgen lower than the infeed. This will allow you to focus on the outfeed table first.

You want the carbide cutters to protrude ever so slightly (0.002" or so) above the outfeed table. The best way to test this is to use a straight piece of wood (or MDF), put it on the cutterhead and outfeed table, and rotate the cutterhead. The cutterhead should pick it up and move it a very short distance. It if doesn't move, the cutterhead is too low (=outfeed table too high). Adjust the outfeed until the cutterhead just grabs it.

Once the outfeed is good, raise the infeed table all the way by moving the depth-of cut-handle all the way to 0. Get out some feeler gauges. Put the straightedge across the infeed and outfeed tables (rotating the cutter head so it doesn't interfere) and check the where the gap is between the straightedge and the table. If the gap is on the outfeed side, the infeed table is too high, lower it using the adjustments. If the gap is on the infeed side, raise it. If there is no gap, congratulations, your infeed and outfeed are co-planar.

Some of this is trial-and-error. Once you've adjusted the infeed table, you want to go back and check everything again. It's possible everything is perfectly in alignment near the cutterhead, but you have some sag at the ends of the table, or things aren't equal front to back. Make very small adjustments and use feeler gauges to determine which side is high.

Also, it isn't terrible if your infeed table is a smidgen lower than the outfeed table, since you'll typically lower the infeed table to 1/16" to joint.

[Mel Fulks]

Seen a number of posts recommending out feed table be thousandth or two below knives .What is the origin of that?A better way is to test the way the way the machine cuts. Get two good flat properly faced and planed boards about 4 feet long and 5 or 6 inches wide. Joint an edge of both ,holding down on the out feed side. Put the two jointed edges together if there is an open crack at ends out feed table is too LOW.Raise the out feed the smallest amount you can and joint and test again. If the ends are open raise table again. It's one of those " taste the soup things" .I have to relate this to the sprung joint debate .The against it guys say boards perfectly straight are best for gluing, but my experience has been that most jointers have a bias toward slightly open ends because guys hate a jointer that climbs. "Hey, I needed to take off exactly 1/16 th and the machine messed up and took off a little less off the trailing end !!! ? " So whether I joint my boards straight or with a sprung joint....either way I have to adjust the out feed table.

[William Burgess]

Thanks for all the advice. I spent another couple hours tonight and I am pretty happy with how the wood is coming out. I don't have feeler gauges yet, but I am going to get a set tomorrow and mess around with it more over the weekend. I used mdf to setup the the outfeed table. It was a little high and I was getting some snipe, so I ended up lowering the table slightly and it all seemed to work out. When you set it up did you mess with the back two pins at the very back of the jointer?

[John Coloccia]

The trick, if you can call it that, is to get the table adjustments as close to the base as possible. I eventually got mine to stay put by:

1) lower all of the allen screws so everything was sitting flush
2) get the outfeed dead nuts flat with the knives. I use a OneWay dial indicator thingy for that.
3) use a long straight edge to get the infeed dead nuts with the outfeed.
4) be sure that all the while you're adjusting the locking mechanism so that when the latches are straight down, everything is TIGHT.

It is a royal pain in the butt. I'm good at it now so I can do it in my sleep, but the adjustment to get the tables co-planer are absolutely horrendous and very poorly planned out. You can't even really get to half the adjustment set screws without serious contortions. Honestly, I think the whole thing is rather poorly designed, though when it works it works VERY well. I have a serious love/hate relationship with mine though (straight knives, not helical head).