Replies

1. 
   davearnone | Feb 27, 2005 10:19pm | #1

   Larry, your biggest challenge is going to be maintaining a grip on the nut as it rounds over from slipping tools. Resist the urge to lube it up. If you can clean off whatever is there before going further.

   The trick to getting stuck fasteners loose is to create small relative motions between the stuck parts. Vibration and tapping with a hammer somewhere near the fastener can work wonders. Dont tap on the wrench, it will just cause the nut to round over as the wrench slips. In a situation like this I will sometimes take a brass punch, set it on the end of the setscrew and tap on the punch with a hammer. Simultaneously try and loosen the nut. It will probably take a helper to hold everything just right.

   Sometimes we will take a vibratory engraver and run it against some non-critical area close to the fastener or even on the fastener. It is suprising how well a little of this works.

   In situations where the fasteners and/or fastened parts are of dissimilar materials you can try heating them up a bit and letting them cool. The difference in thermal expansions of the materials can cause them to loosen up.

   Good luck
   dave

2. 
   JohnWW | Feb 28, 2005 01:37am | #2

   You don't say which model jointer you have so I can't be sure of the following advice, not all jointers have the exact same head set up.

   I'm fairly sure that if you are trying to loosen socket head screws with an Allen wrench, you are not working on the blade lock screws.  Most likely the screws you are trying to turn are jack screws and there would be six of them, two for each knife. 

   Jack screws are used to fine tune the height of the blades in the head and they would be impossible to turn if the blade lock screws weren't already loosened.  I've never seen a small jointer with conventional knives that used socket head screws to lock the blades in place, that's why I'm suspicious that you are working on the wrong screws when you say you are using an Allen wrench.

   The blade lock screws are hex headed screws that set horizontally down in the slot in front of the knives.  The lock screws are threaded into the blade lock bars.  The threading is a standard right hand thread, you need to turn the screws so they thread into the lock bars which may seem a bit counter intuitive.

   Often, the open end wrench for the lock screws that comes with the machine will be poor quality and a loose fit on the hex head of the locking screws.  Replacing the factory supplied wrench with a quality mechanics wrench, typically an 8 mm, will usually help to get a good fit on stubborn bolt heads.

   When you tighten the bolts, after replacing the knives, go easy on tightening them, they should be firm but not tightened with all your strength.  Over tightening the bolts can damage them and make them hard to remove.  The blades are designed to be locked in place with only moderate torque on the lock bolts.

   I could possibly give you more specific advice if you gave me the model number of your jointer and whether you have a special order cutter head with quick change disposable knives.

   John W. 

   
   

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   Edited 2/27/2005 5:45 pm ET by JohnW

1. 
   KesslerCraftsman | Feb 28, 2005 02:48am | #3

   Hi John,

   It may not seem like much to you, but your advice was SO important to me. 

   You're right on target...I was loosening the wrong screws....  I guess it's clear how long I've gone w/out changing the knives...and they're SO ready for it...smile

   I just went on the Jet website, found the correct manual and, sure enough....

   Thank you, thank you, thank you!  I only hope that I can return the favor sometime.

   Larry Pile

1. 
   JohnWW | Feb 28, 2005 05:59pm | #4

   Larry,

   You're welcome, glad I could help.

   John W.