Replies

1. 
   MarkRD | Mar 01, 2005 08:23pm | #1

   A couple of things.
   What size is your jointer (6", 8" ?) How long is the bed?
   What type of wood are you working with?
   Are the cutters sharp?

   First, Feed the wood, if possible, with the grain sloping from high to low, in otherwords (boy this is hard to explain) look at the grain of the board from the side, it should slope to the back of the jointer.

   Second, Feed the wood slowly.

   Third, keep constant pressure on the wood after it passes over the cutter head (stand to the side)
   Don't try to joint endgrain

   Don't try to take off too much at once, expect a couple of passes (1/16" or less)

1. 
   pmorris | Mar 01, 2005 10:10pm | #3

   Actually it's a 4" and I've used pine, oak, and birch.  I had better luck with the soft woods.  I think the problem has been the grain and too much pressure on the infeed side rather than on the outfeed side.

1. 
   BrentS | Mar 02, 2005 02:50am | #4

   You shouldn't really be putting much pressure on the infeed table and none at all over the cutter head. Let the machine do the work. After about 8" has passed the cutter head put some pressure against the outfeed table and the fence on the outfeed side and slowly pass the board over the cutter head.

1. 
   notDusty | Mar 03, 2005 06:28pm | #7

                     brent ,

       As far as where to apply pressure , IMHO the technic may be up to the comfort of the individual user . We all do things a bit differently but as long as the end result is desirable , it's all good . But I would not want a new user to limit themselves to only one way , but rather see what works best for them .For me personally it seems as though I do put pressure on the infeed table then directly over the knives and then on the outfeed table. I really don't think about it much it is just a reflex I guess.

                                  dusty

2. 
   Peter36 | Mar 01, 2005 08:51pm | #2

   Hi. Your knives naturally need to be parallel to the outfeed and infeed tables. The knives also need to be higher than the outfeed table. The generally accepted practice is to lay a flat piece of wood about 1"x1"x12" on the outfeed table and rotate the cutterhead to see how much it 'pulls' the piece of wood by. The wood should be pulled about 1/8". You check this on both ends of the knife and on each knife.   Peter

3. 
   cicero | Mar 02, 2005 07:22am | #5

   Also a 4" buzzer tends to be a bit light for hard woods,keep the knives as sharp as possible.

   I have the same prob with a local wood(heart Rimu)blunts the knives quickly.

4. 
   notDusty | Mar 03, 2005 07:02am | #6

             pmorris ,

       Have the knives been sharpened recently ? This sure sounds like a possibility of the problem to me .

                 good  luck               dusty