shimming jointer tables

[Gil Liu]

Hi All,

I've been slowly trying to tune an older 8" jointer.

In measuring across the tables, I find the outfeed table to sag 0.028" on the side with a rabbet ledge and 0.032" on the side with the pulley / fence.

I think this is a function of both the infeed and outfeed tables sagging.

If you were to shim a gap of that size would you shim both the infeed and outfeed tables and split the measured gap?

The gibs were tightened and I used John White's advice of making 'masterbars' to use as a straightedge (out of the Taunton book _The Care and Maintenance of Shop Machines_)

Thanks for your input,
Gil

[Dave McGeehan]

Gil,
Before you do any shimming, I'd suggest you remove the infeed and outfeed tables and clean the ways. A few years ago my 6" jointer had a similar problem. It had always worked fine but in a short period of time the tables were no longer co-planer. I figured it happened too quickly to be due to wear. The problem was wood dust and chips had built up (it doesn't take much) between the infeed table and the base due to my occasionally not running my dust collector when I just needed to make one quick pass. Each time I adjusted my cutting depth more chips and dust must have gotten trapped in the table's dovetailed way. After cleaning it it was as good as new. Your problem may be due to wear but it's worth trying cleaning it first.