Jointer school

[Rob Hough]

So tonight I've come to the conclusion that my jointer technique is the suck. I think my problem is that I'm applying pressure at the back of the board and its causing all kinds of problems.

Sad part is... I can't figure out how not. I'm thinking maybe a better push block or something... something that'll hook the back of the board?

Also getting some raised lines on the boards. I'm guessing the blades either need to be changed or honed? I've never done either, this is the first time I've really tried putting this jointer to real work.

Also had a problem with my planer tonight where it basically got stuck at the end of a cut. No idea what the heck happened. Guess maybe the blades just got dull? Just a bad night. So I decided to stop working on stuff before I got myself hurt. :eek:

Think I'm gonna sign up for a local woodworking class. I could definitely use some help.

[Myk Rian]

Get yourself a pair of Grr-rippers.

Nicks in the blades. Take a piece of scrap and run it down the edges, instead of using your finger, to find the nicks.

Probably had a wedge shaped board after the jointer.

[Bill Huber]

I am sure not the best person with a jointer but what I have found for me is to use 2 of the flat paddle type pushers.
I have one at the lead edge and another one a farther back as I go over the blades I start putting the most pressure on the out feed table and walk the paddles back still keeping the pressure on the out feed.

On edges I don't use a push stick but I still do the same thing, start the cut and as soon as I get enough of the board on the out feed that is where the pressure goes.

Good Luck....

[george wilson]

Slide 1 blade a little sideways to get rid of the nick if the blades are not too otherwise messed up.

Get a new set if they are dull. Dull blades can cause problems. Your jointer should effortlessly plane wood that you slide with minimal pressure. If you have to hold the wood down TIGHT to get it to plane,it is dull.

[Rob Hough]

Well I bought this jointer used, so no telling how much wear it got before me. I've also never changed the blades so it might be a good time to learn. Same goes for the planer.

They all seemed "fine" before I knew what I was looking for. Now I see all kinds of crap. Ignorant was bliss I guess, lol.

[Chip Lindley]

Rob, thats how we learn! New, sharp blades in both machines may make a huge difference. Since you have never installed new blades, you'll have to learn. Plenty of material in old threads here on jointer setup and technique.

A tapered board will surely stop feeding if it is too thick to pass under the pressure bar. Just crank the head upward until it begins to feed again.

Practice on your jointer technique. You will get the feel for it.

[Matt Day]

The main thing to remember is to transfer pressure from the infeed table to the outfeed table as soon as you have enough stock on the outfeed table.

Check your machine setup first, then practice your technique. I'm sure there are some you-tube videos you can watch too.

[Jason Hanko]

I am sure not the best person with a jointer but what I have found for me is to use 2 of the flat paddle type pushers.
I have one at the lead edge and another one a farther back as I go over the blades I start putting the most pressure on the out feed table and walk the paddles back still keeping the pressure on the out feed.

On edges I don't use a push stick but I still do the same thing, start the cut and as soon as I get enough of the board on the out feed that is where the pressure goes.

Good Luck....

Same here - I dont put any pressure on the back of the board if I can help it. If you feel like you need to hook onto the back edge of the board to get enough forward force to feed it through the cutterhead, Id say your blades are too dull.

I start with the left-hand paddle about 6-8'' from the front of the board, and the right-hand paddle pretty close behind that. I'll start feeding the board, and as soon as the left-hand paddle is about to go over the cutterhead I lift it up, and continue feeding with the right-hand paddle. As soon as I have enough board on the outfeed side of the cutterhead to get ahold of with the left hand paddle I do so and lift up the right-hand (infeed) side.
Basically the idea is that you want to transfer your pressure to the outfeed side as soon as safely possible (no pressure directly over the cutterhead).

[Tom Hintz]

I have a few stories on using the jointer at the link below, scroll down tot eh Joingter section. They have photos and video, both of which make things easier for me to learn. Keep in mind that practice remains a priority. The jointer is one of the most technique-dependent machines we use in woodworking.
Also, check out the poll (currently) on my Tool Reviews List page on how olong it took viewers to get comfortable on the jointer. Hardly anyone did it right away!

Jointer Stories (http://www.newwoodworker.com/basic/index.html)

[Rob Hough]

I appreciate all of the suggestions and advice. I'm trying to find blades for the jointer now, but haven't had much luck finding the exact model. I've got an inquiry in with Global Tooling in hopes they can help. I'll probably contact Grizzly directly as well.

They have something for a self-setting setup, but I'm not sure those will work. Don't want to pull the trigger on something until I know for sure. To be honest though... I've heard good things about Global Tooling so I hope they have something I can use.

[Frederick Gross]

Since the jointer bed is a large flat horizontal surface, a large amouunt of whatever is floating around in the air in your shop ends up settling on it.

To help with your problem, I suggest cleaning/wiping the bed & fence down and then applying a coat of wax in addition to what others have mentioned.

[Ken Shoemaker]

How thick of a cut are you taking? I generally take no more than a 32nd. To much cut makes you work to hard causing your technique to go hayware.

[Randall Clark]

Are you holding your mouth in the right position?

Sharp blades and consistent pressure on the outfeed (as others have said) is how I finally learned. I still drift back into old habits, at times.

[Matt Day]

Rob,
Holbren sells jointer knives for all types of machines. You probably have a certain size & width blade which is relatively common, and Brian should have them. There is a discount for SMC members too.

I have definitely had "sticky" boards that don't move across the beds as smoothly as others, and I have to hook the back of the board with my hand or apply more pressure to the infeed to move it over the cutterhead. Make sure you are aware of what you're doing because putting down a lot of force around a cutterhead can spell disaster.

[Rob Hough]

I've tried the Michael Jordan technique but isn't working out so well. My daughter is much better at it than I am.

I just recently applied a nice coat of rennisance wax to both the bed and fence. I never realized that dull blades could cause this type of problem before but it makes sense now that I know... because I can remember using it in the past and it wasn't quite as "sticky".

Thanks for the tip on the blades as well. I'll check on that ASAP!

The Jointer is probably, to me, the scariest machine in my garage. I'm thinking once I get a router table built... it'll be in the running too.

[Chris Harry]

I took a couple nights of my free time to attempt and learn the jointer.

Im getting better, although I admit Im not quite there yet.

Key for me was the same as everyone has been saying.....transfer pressure to the outfeed table as soon as you can.

I use 2 push blocks....the one in front on the edge of the wood and the one in back up against the side. The one in back against the side prevents me from putting too much pressure downward in the infeed table, and the one in front on the edge allows me to transfer pressure to the outfeed table as soon as I can. I use *slight* downward pressure on the rear block, but most of the pressure is just pushing the board against the fence.

Machine setup is also definitely key. The first few times I practiced I kept getting tapered boards (one end of the board was narrower than the other, and width measurements in the middle decreased from wide end to narrow). That was because the knives and outfeed table werent at the same height. They still arent, really, but I brought the infeed table to "zero" and Im still taking off just a tad of material, but not enough to make a taper (in fact I was able to remove the taper)

It is a scary machine though. I have a router table and a ts, and the jointer still scares me the most.

[fRED mCnEILL]

If your blades are otherwise sharp a nick or two isn't really a problem as it sands out easily and sanding is required anyway.

[Rob Hough]

I just flipped the blades on my planer and still have an extra set of knives for that, so I'm good to go there. It seemed simple enough. Will need to run a board through it later to see if I ****ed something up.

I also pulled a blade from my jointer. I was amazed by the amount of fine dust build up down in that crevice.... I'm thinking I might pull the whole thing apart and give it a good cleaning. Nothing special about the blade - and now I have the measurements. Off to order replacements.

I'm going to hold onto the old ones and attempt to sharpen them later on down the road. I don't have the tools for that though... yet. :)

Funny - "The Boss" used to poke fun at me for the cost of my band related purchase costs and the number of guitars I own (and I generally only use one on stage)... That is starting to pale in comparison to the amount of stuff I've bought for my new found hobby. lol.


well poop sticks! my blade is 6 1/16" x 1" x 1/8", and don't see that anywhere so far. would a 6x1x1/8 work just a well (just keep the missing 1/16" closest to fence)?

[george wilson]

What do you mean "flipped"the blades? You didn't turn them around backwards did you?

[Rob Hough]

They are double sided blades, so I flipped them over to the new edge.

[bob cohen]

Do not put to much downward pressure on the board as it enters the cutter, otherwise you will not be flattening the board, rather only the pressed-down version of it. That use to be by biggest problem.

[Bas Pluim]

In the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, flying is achieved by falling down and then at the last minute missing the ground. Jointing is like that.

It looks like you've already made a lot of progress. One tip I'll add is to simply not worry about the first 8" of the board. Using two push pads, just start jointing until you have about 6" on the outfeed table. Now start "dragging" the board across the knives, using only pressure on the outfeed table. At first, you'll probably notice snipe in the first section of the board because you're pressing too hard. Just cut it off, consider it sacrificial. As you get better, you can actually "feel" how much pressure to apply during the initial part before the board is on the outfeed table.

Sharp knives are important, as is setting them to the correct height. This is why I bought a jointer with carbide inserts...jointing is easy, fidding with dial indicators and knives that move as you tighten the gib screws is not.... :eek:

[Rob Holcomb]

Rob, You said you bought the jointer used. I bought a Delta years ago and never used it much. When I was putting together my shop, I thought it would still work fine. It had rust all over it and I carefully cleaned off the rust and started using it. I couldn't joint a face or edge to save my life. I would do all the checks, shimmed, you name it, I tried to fix it. Finally I thought it was my technique. Sometimes I had bows that I couldn't get flat, sometimes tapers. I got so frustrated that I was making all sorts of jigs so I didn't have to use the jointer. It was more work than what I wanted to do each time I was working on a project so one day I got mad about the whole thing. I started to think that even if it was my technique, at least once in a while I would be able to joint an edge correctly, so I thought I would buy a new jointer and try. Worst case scenario was I could take it back. I didn't have a bunch of money to spend so I went to the BORG and bought the 6" Ridgid jointer. After setup, I ran a board through. Perfectly straight edge the first time. I tried another board. Another straight edge. Tried face jointing and it too was flat. I can't tell you what was wrong with my old Delta but it sits in the corner of my garage now. As an owner of a used jointer, you have no idea what the previous owner did to it or how it was treated so things could be out of your control. Maybe your beds aren't perfectly flat? If you know someone with a jointer that gives good results, see if you can joint a board on it. If you can, it's the jointer and not you.

[Rob Hough]

I definitely appreciate everyone's input. I picked up some new blades for the jointer and put them in this morning. It works like a dream now. I think I could probably tune it up a hair, but it does what I expect it to - easily.

Thank you all!

[Ken Shoemaker]

I definitely appreciate everyone's input. I picked up some new blades for the jointer and put them in this morning. It works like a dream now. I think I could probably tune it up a hair, but it does what I expect it to - easily.

Thank you all!

BTW - What kind of jointer do you have????

[Glen Butler]

Same here - I dont put any pressure on the back of the board if I can help it. If you feel like you need to hook onto the back edge of the board to get enough forward force to feed it through the cutterhead, Id say your blades are too dull.


Or you need to wax your tables.

[Jeff Mackay]

So tonight I've come to the conclusion that my jointer technique is the suck. I think my problem is that I'm applying pressure at the back of the board and its causing all kinds of problems.


I'm jumping in kind of late on this, but have you checked to be sure the infeed and outfeed tables are on the same plane? Raise the infeed table to the same level as the outfeed table, and use a six foot level or other relatively reliable straightedge to check. It could be that the outfeed table slopes down from the blade slightly, which I think would result in the starting end turning slightly thinner than the tail end--even with good technique.

Like others, I try to put most of the pressure on the outfeed table, and "drag" the board over the knives. The few times I've used a power feeder on the jointer, I also position on the outfeed table, as close as I can get to the knives. Since I don't push the stock, I find that this method lets me know when the knives need sharpening--it gets too hard to drag the board over the knives.

[Rob Hough]

BTW - What kind of jointer do you have????

I have a Grizzly G1182 that I picked up on the cheap awhile back. I'm certain that more can be done to tune it up, but it really is working quite well right now.

[Rich Aldrich]

A few years ago, I had an issue making wedges and not getting the face of the board flat. I thought the out feed table was high enough, but for a trial, I raised it just a little and my problems went away.

Also, I have found the more warped the board is, the deeper the cut I take. You have to feed the board slower.

I agree with the techniques discussed above about pressure on the outfeed side, but when the outfeed table is a tad low, it does strange things to the wood.

[John Buzzurro]

Machine setup is also definitely key. The first few times I practiced I kept getting tapered boards (one end of the board was narrower than the other, and width measurements in the middle decreased from wide end to narrow). That was because the knives and outfeed table werent at the same height. They still arent, really, but I brought the infeed table to "zero" and Im still taking off just a tad of material, but not enough to make a taper (in fact I was able to remove the taper)


This was my first thought too. Technique is of course important, but you need to start with a machine that is setup correctly to have any chance of success.