Jointer Struggles, Need Technique Advice

[Paul Richard]

Thanks for your feedback!

That is the exact method I use for face jointing, but for edge jointing there isn't enough material to do a hand over hand kind of approach. Well, at least I'm not sure how I would do that with a 3/4" thick board. What I was referring to was edge jointing and I realize it's not all that clear the way I explained it. Good to hear that bed size doesn't matter because I expect to do some 8' x 3/4" boards someday, after I figure out how to properly use the machine.

Good heads up on the straight edge. I got a bit spooked when I saw some for hundreds of dollars, but I found an aluminum one that is within my budget and likely all I'll need. I don't have a dial indicator either, so I'm going to order that at the same time.

[Tom M King]

I hand over hand for edge jointing too. I don't understand why that's a problem. The important part takes place right past the cutterhead. It shouldn't take a tremendous amount of pressure-just control. edited to add: I don't hand over hand with every pass-only the last important one. If I'm knocking the ends down to start with, I might only have one hand on the board, and position doesn't matter that much, so it does vary some. I've used a jointer almost daily for between 40 and 50 years, so most of the time I don't even think about it.

I have dial indicators for several purposes, but quit trying to use one for jointer setup decades ago-it takes too long for no better accuracy than you can get by feel with a strip of wood. The "best" straightedge I've used for initial jointer setup is a 78" level. If it will run a board straight, I don't even look at the tables.

[Jerry Miner]

Tables are 27" each, for a total of 55 3/4" bed size.
using a digital angle (Wixey) tool. They vary about 1/10 of a degree

Glad you are getting a straightedge. 1/10 of a degree in a 27" table is about 47/1000, which is not even CLOSE to the precision you want to get to.