Grizzly Parallelogram Bed Jointer Setup

[Mike Goetzke]

I’ve gotten so much help at SMC over the years I thought this may help others with this jointer bed setup.

I spent almost 3 hours over two sessions of setting up the parallelogram beds on this jointer. I think I could do it in an hour or less if I had this info to start.

Within a couple of hours I had my nice new Grizzly G0490 assembled with the help of my son. It sat for a few days before I had a chance to check the setup. I also had to wait to get my new straightedge from Lee Valley. I was worried at the get-go since the manual even says to prepare to spend at least an hour on the parallelogram setup. I was so excited at first because the out feed bed was perfect (using the rule and a set of feeler gauges). Then the fun began – the in feed table was way off. It was taking forever to adjust it and here is what I did late in the process that will save tons of time:

1) Mark the factory setting. I used a magic marker on the casting and a center punch on the adjustment nut,
2) Get a dial indicator with a magnetic base and find the lowest and highest adjustment of the adjustment cams and mark them.
3) When an adjustment is needed use the dial indicator to verify magnitude and direction of the move.
4) If possible, make the parallelogram measurements/adjustments before you attach the fence and front bed extension – makes adjustments much easier.

One thing that I found out was the adjustment nut must have lots of slop in the threads because if you reverse the adjustment direction there is lots of dead space. You may think you are changing the bed height but you may just be playing with the slop in the threads – use a dial gauge.


Other thoughts (nothing negative meant to Grizzly just a few minor suggestions to make life easier) –

1) For such a beautiful machine it would have been nice if Grizzly set the beds up initially.
2) Or – Grizzly should supply a spanner wrench for the adjusting nuts.
3) A 3mm hex wrench for the adjusting nut locking set screws should be provided along with all the other convenient tools already included with the jointer.
4) Maybe Grizzly could create an Excel sheet that the user could enter the parallelogram measurements and the program could output the necessary adjustments required.

I’ve only used this jointer on some test pieces so far but is seems like a high quality solid machine. After my 3 hours of setup the beds are as parallel as I can measure them with a 0.001” feeler gauge - plus I double checked it with my digital angle gauge.

Mike

[glenn bradley]

For such a beautiful machine it would have been nice if Grizzly set the beds up initially.

This is the 2nd or 3rd G0490 I have read about not showing up ready to go right out of the box. I hope demand isn't causing QA to slip. Your very clear info will sure help others out if this is going to start being the norm.

[Bill Fitch]

Mike,
When I set mine up, I did something like you with a dial indicator. I found that my outfeed table did not come parallel to the cutterhead, so that was my first adjustment. Next I had to get the infeed table parallel to the outfeed table, but for that I just used a straight edge and a flashlight.

One thing that bothers me is that the parallelogram has 4 support points. I could make a change to one corner's cam and get the change I need, but should I really have been changing both cams along one side or edge? What happens when you change only a single cam?

Did you adjust the cams in pairs or individually?

Bill

[george wilson]

Why not just buy the conventional jointer? I've had no trouble or adjustments with the regular type Grizzly I bought for the toolmaker's shop before retiring.

[Cliff Holmes]

One thing that I found out was the adjustment nut must have lots of slop in the threads because if you reverse the adjustment direction there is lots of dead space

That "dead space" is called backlash. And unless you're using extremely expensive threaded screws and ballnuts, you're going to find it in any threaded mechanism.

[Mike Goetzke]

Mike,
One thing that bothers me is that the parallelogram has 4 support points. I could make a change to one corner's cam and get the change I need, but should I really have been changing both cams along one side or edge? What happens when you change only a single cam?

Did you adjust the cams in pairs or individually?

Bill

I did one at a time. When you get it close to dialed in (say within a copule of thousands) I didn't find one cam adjustment affect the others - at least not measurable.

Mike

[scott vroom]

I purchased the parallelogram G0490 after having been told by the Grizzly tech support guy that it came set up and was easier to keep in tune Vs the std bed models. I paid a high premium for this feature and have had problems getting it set up properly. The OP's comments confirm my fear that I've been duped by Grizzly. I am not a machinist and never thought I'd need to purchase expensive tools and have professional mechanical tooling skills to get my jointer to work properly. I purchased the tool to do woodworking not machining. I'm now understanding the concept of "you get what you pay for".:mad:

[scott vroom]

I'm also having setup problems with the 15" planer I purchased from Grizzly: As the boards are pulled through the planer they are also being pulled rapidly toward the left side of the feed table. On long stock, the boards end up pushed hard against the left side of the feed table with enough pressure to scrape wood off the board edge. I've been told this is a setup issue with the rollers. Why is it that Grizzly cannot manage to ship tools that are properly set up? I saved money going with Grizzly but frankly would have been willing to spend more to get tools that work out of the box.:mad:

[Mike Goetzke]

...wait, wait, wait a minute. This was not posted to be a Grizzly bash on the contrary. I expect to have to check and adjust the setup on my machines. For example extension wings/miter slot alignment/fence alignment on my Unisaw, in/out feed tables on my planer....

Just thought this would save other owners and potential owners some time. Also, the tools for making measurement are not free but are probably in most woodworkers shops for tuning all of their tools - maybe $50 for the straight edge and feeler gauges. Plus I was able to turn the cam nuts with various adjustable wrenches I have but a special spanner wrench would have made it easier - no big deal.


Mike

[scott vroom]

Ok, ok, ok...sorry to have hijacked your thread. I know the pres of Grizzly lurks on this board and I want him to know how disappointed I am that expensive tools are shipping without proper factory setup. If calibration equipment or special tools are required to set up a Grizzly jointer, then this should be disclosed to the buyer up front.

[Glen Butler]

Even if they set the tools up, shipping wreaks havoc on a machine. My jointer was set up perfectly by a pro at timberline tools about 1.5 hour drive away. By the time it was in my shop, it had to be re-done. Imagine a machine shipping across the country then. I wouldn't give them too hard a time.

[scott vroom]

BTW, you mentioned a dial indicator w/magnetic base was recommended for set up. I don't own one and they are $45 at Woodcraft. You also listed a spanner wrench, and 3MM hex wrench as desirable, neither of which I own. Sorry to vent, I'm just annoyed that Grizzly doesn't do a better job with outgoing QA and basically drops the final stage of the mfg process in the owner's lap with little or no concern.

[Peter Aeschliman]

Thanks for the post.

I'm actually pretty surprised to hear it took 3 hours to get it configured. I have always lusted after a parallelogram jointer after having spent countless hours trying to adjust my 6" dovetail way jointer. My understanding was that the ease of adjusting the parallelism of the beds on a parallelogram jointer was the only selling point vs. dovetail ways.

What I'm hearing here is that such adjustments aren't much easier.

I've always wondered why it's not more simple than this:

1) adjust the outfeed table to be parallel to the cutter head
2) adjust the height of the outfeed table to match the height of the knives
3) Clamp a few rigid straight edges to the outfeed table so that the other end hangs over the infeed table
4) raise the height of the infeed table so that it just touches the straight edge
5) Loosen adjustment screws for infeed table
6) Clamp infeed table to straight edge
7) tighten infeed adjustment screws

I would've tried this technique with my jointer, but it's a chicken or egg issue. I have a good straight edge, but it's not strong enough to handle clamping force. So I would've had to make a few straight edges out of some thick edge-jointed hardwood. But I couldn't make any straight edges without a dialed-in jointer!! :)

[Barry Vabeach]

I don't think the alignment is a Grizzly problem, it is just inevitable. I bought a Jet jointer planer and found that the tables were off - but that is to be expected from the amount of travel it saw even if it was dead on in the factory. The other issue, IMHO, is that since you have 4 bushings ( or adjustments ) on a cantilevered table, the adjustments are not as obvious as you might think. If the table is low at the fence side near the cutter head, I could lower the fence side adjuster farthest from the cutter head, or even the adjuster that is farthest from the cutter head away from the fence, and that could make the table rise . Worse yet, as I raise the adjuster nearest the cutterhead away from the fence, that could cause the side nearest the fence to also come up somwhat. I think a one hour assessment is fairly conservative, since the adjustments are so interelated.

[Darius Ferlas]

I also have a parallelogram from King Canada which appears to be manufactured by the same factory that makes G0490. I also spent in excess of 3 hours to adjust the beds and the issues I faced with the threads were pretty much the same. Overall I'm not so sure about this parallelogram's bang for the buck.

[Jerry White]

Mike,

My experience has been that most of machines will need optimazation before initial use. The only machine that I ever have received that did not require adjustment out of the crate was the Grizzly G1021X planer.

I put in about two hours in adjustment of the tables on my DJ-20 when I received it. Mark Goodall's website has instructions for adjusting the DJ-20 which proved to be useful for me.

http://happywoodworking.com/DJ20adjustments.html


The G0490 appears to be very similar to the Delta DJ-20. You or others with the G0490 may find this useful in your setup.

Good luck to you and enjoy that new jointer!

[Greg Wittler]

I spent about 3 hours yesterday building a Harbor freight hoist so I could get my new Grizzly G0691 Tablesaw out of the back of my truck. Probably could have finished It quicker but taking your time with a set up will insure that it is done correctly. Also, unless your tools are shipping on an air ride truck (uber $$$) it's almost a guarantee that something will need an adustment. I was lucky as alot of posts have stated that their Grizzly Machines arrive all banged up and mine didn't even have the smallest dent on the box. I don't have room to set up my saw right now, but I am sure that will be another 3 hours at least. BTW the 200 lb $80.00 hoist from HF worked like a charm.

[Dave Clermont]

Mike thanks for posting those setup tips. I just got a 6" parallelogram jointer (G0604X) and have been having a hard time getting the outfeed table and cutterhead to line up properly. My issue was related to a shim being installed from the factory under one of the mounts for the cutterhead. Just got that taken care of tonight and the outfeed bed and cutter head are nice and aligned now. I will definitely use some of the tips you posted to finish the setup. Thanks again!


-Dave

[george wilson]

Our regular style Grizzly jointer arrived with the tables perfectly aligned. I cannot see what the excitement over a P bed jointer is.
even though,as a machinist,I have all the equipment to align one,I wouldn't want to have to fuss with a new jointer for hours.

[michael case]

Great instructions Thank You. I could have sure used them a couple of weeks ago, but its nice to know that others will benefit, good sharing. To answer some of the questions raised here. The advantage of the parallelogram is two-fold Its supposed to be adjustable. This is an advantage because very few dovetailed way jointers are truly parallel. The only way to adjust them is shimming and/or grinding. The second advantage is the much longer infeed table. I have never received any machine completely dialed in. Even my Sawstop needed some adjustments. These are usually one-time adjustments. The G0490 I received did indeed have to be dialed in. But, you can do it and hopefully since there are piggy backed double set screws on the cams you will never need to do it again. The reward is a perfectly tuned jointer. The beds are flat. Which something you could not address if they were not. The beds on my Delta were joke. The ones on the Grizzly are dead flat. But I will say that since they do not dial them in at the factory they should include better instructions and the tool to do it with.

[george wilson]

I haven't heard of any Grizzly dovetail Jointers being out of adjustment. These days,they are ground with both tables in situ.

However,our millwork shop did pay very big bucks for a new Powermatic dovetail jointer that was REALLY badly out of alignment. I'd have sent it back. I do not buy Powermatic machines.

[Thomas Drummond]

In the spirit of Mike's original post, I have had my Grizzly parallelogram jointer for 7 years now and have spent days upon days trying to get it adjusted right. Two days ago I sharpened my knives and checked the beds with a straight edge discovering that the tail was low on the in-feed. Curse words. Those damn adjustment cams needed work. So I raised the tail on the out-feed side and it was perfect. I set my knives to .003 above the outfield with my magnetic gauge. Tested and found a bit too much snipe on the end. Adjusted to .001 and ran some more tests and found snipe almost negligable. Then I heard a bing when a part fell off the back. It was the eccentric cam bushing located under the fence carriage. Evidently that one does not have a set screw and it's load was lifted, so it vibrated out. Glory Hallelujah. I never understood what these cams were. If Grizzly had just shown a picture of one of these in the manual, my life would have been different. I want to share. What you are turning to make the beds coplaner is a simple bushing that sits in a hole holding the support rod that runs across the machine to its mate bushing. It isn't fastened, but held by two stacked set screws mentioned above. The dot stamped into the outside represents the thickest part of the bushing offset. If the dot is down the bed is as high as you can set it. If the dot is up the bed is as low as you can get it. Halfway is the same middle height. So for those who have a Grizzly with this kind of bushing adjustment and need to work on this, simply start by removing the top set screw all the way to get access to the lower set screw. Back that one off. Now you can imagine that if there were no weight on that bushing it would turn freely and pull out if you wanted. I would start with all of them set at 3 o'clock or 9 o'clock to go back to the beginning. Then raise them or lower them in pairs, so the dot is at the same time on the clock. Once the out-feed table is perfectly parallel with the body of the cutterhead with the exact 1/16 clearance (or whatever is required), then one can get both tables are straight and level without moving those cutterhead side out-feed cams.