Jointer infeed and outfeed tables do not line up

[Allen Bookout]

I have a Rigid 6" jointer and have discovered that the tables do not line up right. If I adjust the inboard (nearest the fence) of the infeed table to line up with the outfeed table the outboard (away from the fence) of the infeed table is lower than the outfeed table. If I line up the outboard infeed table with the outfeed table the inboard of the infeed table is higher than the outfeed table. I suppose that I would call it racked. There are no instructions in the manual on how to adjust the infeed table to solve this problem I worked with it for a while with no success. Is there any way to solve this problem short of having a machine shop remill the top of the infeed table?

I did some internet searches and found some articles about adjusting the jointer but none addressed this problem. Looked at some of the other brands on the web but could not find any help there either in the way of adjustments on their machines. I am thinking about ordering the video from woodcraft about tuning your jointer but I am not sure that it will address this problem either.

If you get out of the cheapie machines do the better ones allow for this type of adjustment or are they manufactured to higher standards so that everything is perfectly straight anyway? I might consider buying a better jointer as this one is really hard to get consistantly good results from as if one of the tables is square to the fence the other one is not and vise versa not to mention the proble with flat stock.

Thanks! Allen

[Dev Emch]

Oh Boy! Not fun!

Its hard to say what is wrong without taking out the micrometers and dial indicators. Correct me if I am wrong, but the 6 in rigid is a standard wedge bed design right? At any rate, this does not sound good.

First of all, we need to identify the offending table. Its either the infeed table or the outfeed table. The first thing you need to do is take a dial indicator or a OneWay multigage to the outfeed table and confirm that the lip is running parallel to the cutter head cylinder. Adjust this if possible.

Then raise the outfeed table and try to align the outfeed lip with the infeed lip. If your problem presists, you have issues. It means that the table is not parallel to both of the infeed wedge ways. Now you can shim the outfeed ways if needed to fix a problem but the infeed ways are the ways that get most of the use. So shimming infeed ways is not a good idea. Trying to shim the outfeed ways to fix this problem is also a bad idea as this will throw the outfeed lip out of parallel with the cutter head cylinder and cause your jointer to draft. Now if you can adjust the cutter head cylinder, you may have a solution by shimming the outfeed ways to repair this issue and then going back and re-adjusting the cutter head cylinder to run parllel to the shimmed outfeed table.

Knowing how these machines are made, you may be better off returning this beastie. A machine shop will cost lots of money and even if I give you a huge break myself, the machine work will cost more than the jointer is worth.

As to your other question, the answer is HECK YES! I own a 1949 oliver 166 and a 1961 porter 300 (20 in) jointer. The porter was designed by a real woodworker and it shows. Both the infeed ways and outfeed ways are precision machined, dovetail ways. The cutter head yoke is mounted in the rear of the machine on a pivot and held at the front with an adjusting bolt. I can dial up or down on the front bolt and change parallel of the cutter head cylinder with nothing more than a wrench.

The infeed table is mounted to the infeed wedge with pivot pin. This allows me to raise or lower the front edge of the infeed table. I do this to create either convex or concave cuts. There is also an adjustment bolt that allows me to raise or lower the front edge of the infeed table to adjust for infeed/outfeed parallel.

Lastly, the tables are mounted to the wedges with four bolts per table. These bolt connections allow me to use shim donuts to adjust for minor out of plane or out of parallel issues.

My porter is a 20 inch jointer and my oliver is a 24 inch jointer. Finding something in your size range, namely 6 or 8 inches, is hard to do. Most of these jointers are wedgebed jointers in which the table and wedge are cast as an integral part. I personally dont believe that this a good idea as the best place to shim a table is at the table to wedge bolt holes. But the delta DJ-15 and DJ-20 are parallelogram based jointers. These jointers allow for much more leeway in making these adjustments. If I were to purchase a 6 or 8 inch jointer, I would recommend the canadian made general (480 is it) or the delta DJs either a 6 or 8 inch model.

Hope this helps a bit...

[Mike Cutler]

Allen. I am not familiar with the Rigid. On my jointer, Jet 6" I would need to adjust the "Ways" to correct that.
If the machine is still under warranty, or it came from the 'borg, you may be able to return it.

[scott spencer]

Hi Allen - I'd be inclined to let Ridgid deal with it as Mike suggested...at the very least call Ridgid's tech support and ask for input. IIRC the Ridgid is similar in design to the Jet and Grizzly, so you might be able to shim the beds into alignment.

Good luck!

[lou sansone]

I agree with dev on this one. Send it back if you can or learn how to shim stuff that is out of wack. The porter 300 and the newman 60 both have the advantage of having seperate table tops that can be shimmed to correct for the sliding way misalignment if it happens. I can only say my newman is dead on and so shimming is not needed. The porter is a fantastic jointer as well. There have been a couple of MOAK jointers for sale recently and I have seen them in person. they are a lighter than the newman, but about the same weight as the porter from what I remember. In general the 16 to 24 inch jointers tend to weigh about 2000 to 2200 pounds.

best wishes

lou

[Allen Bookout]

Yes the Rigid is the standard wedge design and the only built in adjustments are the three set screws for each table to take out the slack. I will be able to take better readings today sometime but from I measured last night I am sure that the infeed table is the culprit. Will contact Rigid after my careful measurements are complete.

May be shimming would work but with the infeed table going up and down all of the time I do not know. It does not seem to be a real bad tool in other respects for small stuff.

Thanks! Allen