I was aligning my jointer and the cutterhead measurements from the outfeed table were -.001 of an inch at either end and -.002 of an inch in the center. Is this acceptable or should I be getting a better reading? Any suggestions would be appreciated. When we lowered the outfeed table we were getting snipes , but at this setting there are no snipes. When I am edging one side of my wood, it seems like it is tapering. What am I doing wrong and how do I correct this? When I measure this wood it does measure the same from top to bottom( using side to side measurements). I am only taking 1/32″ off on each pass.
What is the acceptable reading when you align your table saw fence to the miter slot on the saw table? What are the acceptable readings when aligning the blade to miter slot? I have been using the ONE WAY MULTI-GAUGE for the jointer knives and I just got the MASTER GAUGE PLATE AND SUPERBAR for Christmas. I want to use them on my table saw and wanted to know what the acceptable readings should be.
Thanks for any help you can give me.
Steve
Replies
I have a background in metalwork and am also a wood machinist. Afew thousandths is plenty fussy in woodworking machine set up.
The taper you describe can be from several things.
1 Technique...Once the board is on the outfeed table keep both hands and pressure there.
2 You may have adjusted the outfeed table a few thousandths too high. You did right by getting rid of snipe but too often folks take it a bit too far and this creates this tapering condition. Obvioulsy raising the outfeed table too much would cause the board to stop dead at the outfeed table. Lower the outfeed table until you have snipe and raise it slowly again. It typically takes a few tries to get it right. You can check this with a dial indicator or on th cheap with a small straight edge. Hang it over the outfeed table and rotate the cutterhead by hand. The knife should grab and drag the straight edge about an 1/8th of an inch. If it doesn't grab it then you know the table is too high.
3 The other possiblilty would be your one or both tables could be slanted down. A stratight edge would be the tool to use to check.
I really think those guages are way too expensive and overkill. I've been setting machines professionally with simpler and cheaper set ups.
Edited 12/28/2006 7:19 am ET by RickL
On the jointer: you may have the outfeed table to high by .002 or so. Did you check each blade against the outfeed table? They may be different from each other. Think of the planed surface as a very shallow washboard, not as a perfectly smooth plane. The knives cut the washboard. That is why you need for the outfeed table to be below the blade at top. My own technique is to set the knives to the outfeed table. I set a straight edge on the table and adjust the knives until they drag the straight edge about 1/8-inch as the knives are rotated. Theoretically you could adjust the outfeed table until you achieve the same result. With practice you get a feel for it.
Cadiddlehopper
I recently went through the same trouble with my jet 6" open stand jointer. When I would joint the edges of my stock, the last 8" or so seemed to taper and when the pieces were set together they would rock and not fit tight together. After weeks of adjusting, cleaning, readjusting, swearing...etc. I figured out that my outfeed table was going uphill in relation to my infeed table. This was causing the board to ride up the slope of the outfeed table and pull away from the cutterhead in the middle, then as the last few inches went through the knives, it would taper cut. It's like driving a car up a steep driveway and scraping the rear bumper on the street (thats the best analogy I can come up with). My solution was to install shims in the outfeed table ways closest to the cutterhead, this brought the far end of the outfeed table down and solved my problem.
I spent big money on a machined straightedge but in the end I found the best method was just "reading" the cut. If the boards rocked when set together, the outfeed table is going uphill....if there is a gap in the center of the boards when set together, the outfeed table is going downhill and shim accordingly.
An interesting side note...I have found the cast iron tables on my jet jointer seem to be "breathing", sometimes requiring a shim, sometimes not. I'm not sure why, but I can't afford to replace it so I just check it from time to time.
To set up my jointer, I took a 40" straight edge and laid it down the outfeed table to the infeed table, raised that table until it contacted the straight edge, and adjusted the tables to be flat and in line. I moved the straight edge side to side, to make sure the outer and inner edges were even and everything was true. I then set the blades to drag the straight edge as explained in other posts. This has worked well for me.
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