Jointer Outfeed question

[Tim Allaire]

I have some stock that I want to mill, that on average is around 8in., and I bought a little benchtop 8in jointer (jet) because it was cheap and seems like a Jet machines; only one major issue, short tables (in and out). Could I get away with building both infeed and outfeed tables that would be effective/true (as say a decent longer jointer)? If so, what materials would you recommend?

Tim

[Tim Allaire]

Anybody have plans I could use?

[Darius Ferlas]

I think the general rules and designs used for miter saw stands with extension tables would be handy for your application

[Dan Friedrichs]

You can use roller stands or the like to extend the length of the beds. You need to be sure they are at exactly the same height as the beds, but the farther away from the cutter you place them, the less critical the height becomes (the flex in the stock will take care of small height differences).

[glenn bradley]

+1 on good roller stands. They take up less room when not in use and can be used for other tools.

[Tim Allaire]

Do you think the rollers would be flat/true to be a solid outfeed?

[Dan Friedrichs]

Do you think the rollers would be flat/true to be a solid outfeed?

They don't have to be perfect. Keep good downward pressure on the board resting on the jointer tables - that's what will keep things flat and true. The roller stands just support the extra stock so that the lever arm it produces isn't so much that you can't hold the stock flat.

If the wood were entirely inflexible, the rollers would have to be perfectly round and perfectly planer with the tables. But the wood flexes quite a bit, so you don't need them to be round and co-planer within thousanths...

[Jerome Hanby]

Nick Engler has a video (on youtube I think) about adding extensions the Shopsmith jointer. Shopnotes issue 48 shows the same kind of thing with a Delta jointer. The Shopsmith is definitely a 4 inch wide Jointer, the Delta might have been 6, I couldn't tell. maybe you could apply the same idea to the Jet.

If it's the Jet I see on Amazon, then I'm not sure these approaches will work...

[Peter Aeschliman]

This is a question I've always had that applies here.

Don't you need both the infeed AND the outfeed tables to be long? I know that the jointer ultimately uses the outfeed table as the reference for cutting, but you still need to feed the workpiece by holding it flat to the infeed table... So wouldn't you want to extend both tables to equal lengths? It's never made sense to me that some jointers have one table that's longer than the other.

If your jointer is going to stay in the same exact spot on your benchtop, then it should be easy enough to set up the outfeed support. Just take your time creating a melamine table that screws into your benchtop. Use some shim stock and a good straight edge to get it just right.

The infeed side could be a bit more of a challenge assuming you want to adjust the cut depth. But if you just want to keep the cut depth fixed (at like 1/16" or something), it shouldn't be too tough.

Just make them with some room for adjustment for when you have to change knives and realign the tables and cut depth...

[Dan Friedrichs]

Don't you need both the infeed AND the outfeed tables to be long? ... It's never made sense to me that some jointers have one table that's longer than the other.


You don't need as much length on the outfeed because its only purpose is to support the finished work. As long as the board is short and/or you are strong enough to keep it flat to the table and/or you have outfeed rollers, the outfeed table doesn't need to be long at all.

The infeed table DOES need to be long enough to catch all the high spots on a board, though, otherwise the board will pull away from the cutter once a higher spot slides onto the table (see picture).

[Peter Aeschliman]

ah, duh. makes total sense.