Jointer Help>>>>>

[Allen Bookout]

After dealing with my joiner problem I tend to agree with what Jim Dunn, Mark Singer and Rick Lizek have intimated. Even though the tables are level with one another it could still be a set up problem since the result is a tapered board. If the tables are in perfect alignment with each other it surely could be that the outfeed table is not adjusted properly with the blades. In fact that is the only thing that it could be it seems to me. Have you tried Rick Lizek's solution?

As a last resort you might want to check out the video that I mentioned earlier. Good information.

It is going to be interesting to see the outcome.

Allen

[Dan Forman]

I'm going to be following this thread, having made a few "wedges" myself. I have had the best luck with turning the board around and feeding in the opposite direction after the first pass,though with figured stuff it gets dicey. This happens in spite of various strategies in transferring pressure to outfeed table. As far as I can tell, tables are aligned properly, and outfeed is even with top of cutter. A reasonable flat piece doesn't present any problems.

Dan

[Alan Turner]

Fred,
Welcome to SMC. I think Rick is correct; that is, your outfeed table is set above the knives. When this happens, you will joint the fornt of the board, but never the rear, creating a wedge. Use a straightedge off of the rear table until the cutterhead just kisses the knives. Just barely. Just .001 or so. It is probably better for you to lower the outfeed table to well below the cutting arc, and then raise it to the point you need so there is no backlash which might result from getting to the right place from the top down. Of course, this adjustment is done with the jointer turned off, and unplugged is safer still.

Other than that, the notion of light pressure so that you do not deform the board you are trying to flatten is sound advise also.

Good luck, and let us know how it works out.

[Byron Trantham]

I'm going to be following this thread, having made a few "wedges" myself. I have had the best luck with turning the board around and feeding in the opposite direction after the first pass,though with figured stuff it gets dicey.Dan

Dan, that is what I do as well. I don't have to do it much, but once in a while I get board that, I don't know, just won't "follow the rules" and turning it end for end seems to fix the problem. Of course my jointer is PERFECTLY tuned!

[Steve Jenkins]

I may be off base but I get the feeling from reading the threads that most people place the board on the infeed table and take a full pass every time until its flat.
When I joint a board the first thing I do is eyeball it and decide where I want to start. I will routinely set the board over the cutter and remove stock from the tail end then reverse and do the same to the other end or remove stock from just the midddle then do the ends on the opposite face working the high spots until I'm able to make a full pass or two to get the whole board flat.
One very important step is to cut the board to just a little over the length you need rather than joint long boards and cut after. It's much easier to joint shorter ones and you will be able to get a better finished thickness. Not too short though as that can be dangerous. I generally rough cut an extra inch unless the yield requires that I be closer than that (say I need 2- 24" pieces out of a 49")

[Michael Gabbay]

What Steve just said.... make your rough cuts first to shorten the board. This will take out the overall bow to something less of a problem. It also reduces the amount of flex you can place on the board while jointing.

I have a heck of a time getting long boards perfectly flat.

Mike

[Hank Keller]

Caution! Newbie reply & I dont have a jointer (yet). Can you use a table saw with your board clamped to a straight edge and run across the fence to get a straight edge??

[Steve Jenkins]

Caution! Newbie reply & I dont have a jointer (yet). Can you use a table saw with your board clamped to a straight edge and run across the fence to get a straight edge??

absolutely.
you can also make a sled for your planer and use it to get one face flat.

[Michael Adelong]

I just went though this same excercise last night. I found that my outfeed table was a little high, contributing the the taper that my improper newbie technique was already putting on the board.

I can't find the link right now, but I'll keep looking. I found a tip on how to use calipers and a board to determine if the outfeed table is too high. I just happened to have purchased the fractional dial calipers that Woodcraft had on sale for $29 last week, so it was an easy task.

I jointed one edge of a 5' long piece of 1x4" pine. Then, I ran it through the TS to make it exactly 3.5" wide. I verified with the calipers that the board was exactly 3.5" wide at 4 or 5 points along it's length. (My TS scale turned out to be under by 1/64", btw). The next step was to set the jointer for a cut - I used 1/32", and joint one edge of the board. Using the calipers, I was able to measure some taper on the leading edge - it was just under 1/64" smaller. I adjusted the OF table down as small of an amount as I could, recut the board on the TS to 3 3/8", and jointed an edge again. The second run was almost perfect. My jointer has levers, so I just loosened the adjustment screw, put a little downward pressure on the handle, and tapped the back of the hand holding the lever with my other hand. On the 3rd measurement, it was the same thickness all the way down the board. The post or article that I'm looking for said that you simply look for snipe on the training edge to determine if the OF table is too low.

The bad news is that I had 2 4' x 8" oak boards to flatten. I got the first one flat, and managed to plane it to 7/8" thick all the way except for the last 5 inches, which is ok because I only need 34" out of it. I tried to use this technique to remove twist on the second one, but I ended up with such an oddball shape on the bottom of the board, that I can't begin to describe it. It looks sorta like a squashed boat hull...

Michael

[Fred Jacome]

I feel so stupid; I just want to cry….. I still do not know what I am doing wrong. I got home last night and took a 2 feet board with a small curve (like a sad face) at opposite ends of the board. And try to run it as suggested and again end up with a curve (like a smile.)
I got out my Low angle smoothing plane and made this board smooth by hand and just to test it out I ran this perfectly smooth board through the jointer and guess what … it removed some from the front end living the board with a half a smile and me wanting to cry with no smile.

I am so mad I really thought this will help me smooth boards, but it looks like I should stick to hand planes. I am ordering this morning a Low angle Jack plane from Lee Vallly......

I am so mad ….

but I do want to thank you all for your help <O</O
Fred

[Fred Jacome]

I have a true strait edge that I pay a bit of money from Lee Valley tools and I place this strait edge between the two tables and have then as perfectly strait as I can get it and the spiral head blades are just touching the strait edge. I was told I can not adjust the spiral head in the jointer.


Fred

[Travis Porter]

Your outfeed table isn't aligned right IMHO. Is it sagging or is it not at the right height? It took me a while, but it does work. Until you get it figured out, use some wood that is fairly straight just to get the kinks worked out.

BTW, you are ahead of me that you can do this with a hand plane.

[Steve Jenkins]

Fred, where are you located? maybe there is someone close who can give you some hands on help.

[Rick Lizek]

www.cambiumbooks.com Go to the machinery section!
Sometimes the best tool is a book. I'm relatively sure your problem is a simple adjustment of dropping your outfeed table slightly. You want to keep pressure on the outfeed table as soon as you have the board on the outfeed table. I would try to find some classes in your area or perhaps a better solution is to contact a local cabinet shop and have them come over to help with your problem. Books don't always work for everyone so you need to get some real hands on help. I'd go to his shop first to see what kind of jointer he has and how he maintains it and have him give a demo on how perfect his joints are to give him some credibility. As simple as a jointer seems it can be very complicated. It's very difficult to walk someone through the steps via the internet. From your posts I don't think the Grizzly tech is giving the proper advice or really understands the tool.

[Bob Nazro]

Fred,
You have gotten a lot of great advise on things to check and how to run boards thru the jointer. So one more piece of advise. After you check for coplaner, outfeed height and squarness of the fence take a straight piece of 2x4 or 2x6 lumber and run it thru the jointer and see what you end up with. Make sure there is no snipe at the end. This will tell you what adjustments to make. The owners manual has a section covering this. If all else fails box up the jointer and send it to my shop and the gang will evaluate it for you for a few years to make sure that it's working right and get it back to you. No need to ptovide extra cutters we will replace any worn out in testing.
Good luck with the jointer. I'm sure you will be very happy with it.