Replies

1. 
   JohnWW | Nov 12, 2008 02:35pm | #1

   According to my information your machine has 6" blades not 8".

   You can find a copy of your machine's manual here at the Old Woodworking machines web site:

   http://www.owwm.com/mfgindex/pubdetail.aspx?id=599

   Just click on the manual's cover illustration to get the manual to download. Please consider donating to OWWM, it is a great resource.

   Right up front I have to say these aren't great machines, to save a buck a clueless engineer eliminated the height adjustment mechanism on the outfeed table which makes it near impossible to properly tune up the machine.

   If you loosened and adjusted the bolts underneath the infeed table, it is probably in the wrong position you'll have to follow the procedure in the owner's manual to reset the table properly before you do anything else.

   Once you have the infeed table working correctly you need to remove, probably sharpen, and then reinstall and adjust the position of the blades in the cutter head to get the machine to cut straight and snipe free. You can follow the instructions in the owner's manual but I would recommend getting a magnetic jig like a "Jointer Pal" to do the job. The jig will make the blade installation go much faster and it will be more precise.

   In theory, when the blades are set up to be at the outfeed table height, which a proper blade installation will achieve, the jointer will cut straight and snipe free, but the fact is that the outfeed table usually needs to be a few thousandths of an inch above or below this supposedly correct height to actually cut properly and you can't make that adjustment with your jointer, so you will probably have to live with a small amount of snipe and less than perfect edges.

   Hope this helps,

   John White

   
   

   ---

   Edited 11/12/2008 6:36 am ET by JohnWW

1. 
   zolton | Dec 02, 2008 01:23am | #3

   John,

   I've got a nearly 30 year old Makita 2030 combination jointer/planer, and it, too, has no outfeed table adjustment on the jointer.

   I set the blades by laying just the ruler portion of a 12 inch combination square on the outfeed table with the free end overhanging the cutterheard by about two inches. As I rotate the cutterhead by hand, the blades will either miss the ruler entirely or cause it to "hop" and travel a little as they pick it up off the table.

   I set the blades high enough that they will make the ruler travel about 1/8 inch toward the infeed table. That seems to position them at the right height, and I get no snipe or tapered boards.

   It is a real pain to do this though, and it takes time and a lot of trial an error to adjust the blades perfectly. Fortunately, the laminated steel blades are very hard and stand up to quite a bit of work before they're dull enough to need sharpening. Still, it would be a nice thing to have a "real" jointer that adjusts the way it should..

   ZoltonIf you see a possum running around in here, kill it. It's not a pet. - Jackie Moon

2. 
   stevek433 | Nov 18, 2008 09:22am | #2

   Re: John's comments on the Craftsman Jointers not being adjustable... FY... OLDER Craftsman models made by King Seeley (model numbers beginning with 103.xxxxx) did have some adjustability built in. Early models like mine (103.23321) has 3 jack screws to adjust the outfeed table to the infield table set a "0". Later ones had adjusting screws on the infield side.

   Either way, John is correct.. these jointers are a pain to set up. A dial indicator is the best way I found to set the knives .002-3 inches above the outfield table -- after it was set parallel and straight with the infield table using a Starret 4 foot precision straight edge.

   And, I will say these older jointers are all cast iron, very heavy and do hold their adjustments. VERY solid....

   Steve Koschmann