I purchased an older (maybe 35 year old) Craftsman 6″ jointer, and it had a tool, with instructions on setting the blades. The tool sits on the outfeed table and has a screw that you set to be 3 thousandths above the outfeed table. When replacing the blades yesterday, I also had a Duginsky book out that said to set the blades so that the blade moves a piece of wood about 1/8 inch. However those tools that you can buy now to set jointer blades seem to set the blades even with the outfeed table.
The Craftsman jointer instructions said to set the blades up 3 thousandths. Duginsky, as I remember, said, one or two thousandths. So what is the theory on setting jointer blades higher than the outfeed table? Is there a “standard practice”?
Thank you.
Mel
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
Replies
Mel,
I may be mistaken, but I think the differences you mention just arise from varying personal experience. In principle, if the outfeed table was absolutely flat, you should set the blades flush. In practice, nobody's jointer is that flat, and the 2-3 thousandths are to compensate for what is effectively the plane of the outfeed table when jointing. See what works for your equipment and stick with that.
DR
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