Question Re jointer fence tilt preference

[Curt Harms]

I have a question for those smarter (don't take much :o) or at least more experienced than me. You want to clean up/true up the 45 degree bevel on the long side of a piece of stock on a jointer. You have a choice on fence tilt--tilt 45 degrees toward the beds or 45 degrees away from the beds. Which do you choose? Why? Thanks for any insights.

[Myk Rian]

I use mine tilted back. No reason except it feels like I have better control. Easier to check if the angle is correct.

[Glen Butler]

My PJ882 can only tilt toward the beds. Which seems easier to me because the board simply has do be pushed into the angle. Tilting away seems harder to me because you have to hold the board to the fence and down to the table. Try it both ways and see which feels better to you.

[Tom Hintz]

My Powermatic 54HH Jointer has a afence that goes towards or away from the beds but I mostly use it leaning over the beds as it feels more stable to me. On my old jointer with a fence that only tilted away I had boards slip away from the fence and down onto the bed. I expect that there was a technique issue involved as well but I just like the tilt-in fence better.

[Loren Bengtson]

I know this is not what you are asking, but I want to point out that you probably don’t want to true up an edge on a jointer after the piece is cut to size. With a jointer it’s possible to take more off one end of a board than the other.

[Lee Schierer]

I've attempted this a few times with mixed results with the fence tilted away. The board wants to slide down the fence as you push it across the table, so control is difficult. My jointer has stops for tilting the fence away. I've never tried tilting it toward the table.

[Steve Jenkins]

OK I'll stand up and admit it. In 30 years I have never tilted my jointer fence.

[Dave Cav]

OK I'll stand up and admit it. In 30 years I have never tilted my jointer fence.

Well, in over 20 years of having a jointer I never had either....until today. One of the students wanted to turn a big wooden roller out of a 5 x 5 glued up alder blank about 10" long. Too big for our little Jet lathes. We flopped the fence over to 45* and planed the corners off and put it in the lathe, worked fine. (I did the planing, not the student...)