Jointer Table question

[Steven Green]

I found an old Delta Jointer at a sale the other day. Runs and cuts well but the tables are pitted in a major way. Has anybody any experience with having the tables on a jointer milled? It cost me fifty bucks so it's not a deal breaker.

[Tom Veatch]

In my opinion, for whatever it's worth, unless the pits are large enough and/or located such that the tables do not provide continuous support to the workpiece, it's strictly a cosmetic problem.

Dismounting the tables, having them ground/milled to remove the pits, and remounting them could cause more problems that it would solve. However, if you also find them to be warped, bowed, etc. It might be worth having a local machine shop flatten them. The problem will be identifying the proper reference datum so the "new" surfaces can be made parallel after remounting.

[Van Huskey]

If it performs correctly I would just clean the surface and carry on, cost plus agravation don't seem worth it. Now if by old you meant about a year and by Delta jointer you meant something like a 37-361 then things change... :D

[glenn bradley]

+1. If it surfaces the material well, ignore the pits. If they really bug you, fill them with epoxy or JB Weld.

[Larry Schwenk]

This may sound out of the ordinary, but many many years ago (about 30) we needed to clean up our Craftsman jointer.

We removed the fence, and used contact cement to put down a piece of Formica on the tables. A little adjustments and it was perfect again. Unless it's really high use, this may be a cheap fix.