On February 16th I bought a used jointer at a garage sale that really needed some cleaning up. I posted about it last week with a couple of pics of the clean up in process: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=77024 Now I am finished so I thought I would post up a couple more before and after pics.
I finished scrubbing/sanding all the rust off and waxed the cast iron this past weekend. After work today I reinstalled the knives, then hooked the jointer up to my DC and tested it on some scrap 2x4. I have never used a jointer before, so I'm not an expert on jointer quality by any means, but I was very impressed with the results. The machine ran smoothly, pretty quietly and with little vibration. I was able to joint the face completely flat, then both edges flat and 90 degrees to that face, so what more could I want? A couple passes through my thickness planer (also a Ridgid tool) and I had made my first ever piece of 4S wood. Woot!
I think it took me about 10 hours of total time to get the jointer cleaned up, because I pretty much took it completely apart, but I am super happy with the results. To me it seems to run like a brand new machine, but I only paid $100 for it. I did add a link belt, but even adding in that cost and all of my cleaning supplies I think I probably was still under $140 for everything. (And I have plenty of Scotch Brite pads, sandpaper and WD-40 left over for cleaning up the next used tool I "rescue").
Thanks to everyone who has ever made a post on this site about cleaning off rust and/or protecting cast iron, tuning up a jointer, or offering any advice about this particular model from Ridgid. I did a lot of reading of countless threads to help me through this process and I'm sure I'll be doing a lot more as I continue to get familiar with this tool. This forum and the community behind it is a great resource and I'm really glad I found it. Thanks again.
Now, where is that donate button... I think I need a new hat.
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