Grizzley Jointer Fence II

["Patrick G Rainsberger"]

I ran across a thread started by Mike Spencer back in January. Mike was having trouble with the fence not being square to the table on his new Grizzley 8” jointer. He had a call into Grizzley tech service to see what they recommend. Mike never gave us an update on what Grizzley said or recommended he do. This got me wondering how square my 8” Grizzley GO593 was. I just recently purchased a Veritas 36” Steel Straightedge, a 6” and a 12” Starrett combo square and used both squares to check the fence to the table. From the ends to the middle, it’s was not square so I took the fence off to check it with my straightedge. I found it to be .008 to .011” off in the middle. I could look through the gap at a box on the other side of the room and read two lines of type written on the box. Both the infeed table and outfeed table were off approximately .005 to .006”. I bought this jointer for my retirement shop sooner than I should have. The one year warrantee was up before I had 2 hours of time on this machine. My question is what options are there for me at this late date. Would a machine shop be able to correct all of these surfaces to a tighter tolerance that what it is now?

[Daniel Berlin]

I ran across a thread started by Mike Spencer back in January. Mike was having trouble with the fence not being square to the table on his new Grizzley 8” jointer. He had a call into Grizzley tech service to see what they recommend. Mike never gave us an update on what Grizzley said or recommended he do. This got me wondering how square my 8” Grizzley GO593 was. I just recently purchased a Veritas 36” Steel Straightedge, a 6” and a 12” Starrett combo square and used both squares to check the fence to the table. From the ends to the middle, it’s was not square so I took the fence off to check it with my straightedge. I found it to be .008 to .011” off in the middle. I could look through the gap at a box on the other side of the room and read two lines of type written on the box. Both the infeed table and outfeed table were off approximately .005 to .006”. I bought this jointer for my retirement shop sooner than I should have. The one year warrantee was up before I had 2 hours of time on this machine. My question is what options are there for me at this late date. Would a machine shop be able to correct all of these surfaces to a tighter tolerance that what it is now?

I'm a bit confused.
You should be able to adjust the fence square to the table on at least one of these sides, even if it throws off the other sides. I understand the gap in the middle, but i'm not clear on what you mean by both the infeed table and outfeed table being off, since you should be able to adjust it so at least one of these works (or at least, at one point).

Otherwise, you could probably have the fence ground, but it's only 38 inches long, so it could probably even be hand scraped or something without a horrible amount of trouble, though you may not like the marks :)

[Philip Rodriquez]

Your tables would be my concern. To correct them, all you need to do is shim your out feed table to match your in feed table. This is a one-time deal. Shim stock can be purchased at an auto parts store.

As for the fence, I would only look at correcting it if you are till having troubles edge jointing your boards. Even the largest jointers will still have some deflection on the fence… which is not a big deal as long as the wood comes off the cutter square.

Lastly, a good trick is to edge-joint apposing faces (one face out and one face in). This corrects any deviation in the fence settings.

[Tony Zaffuto]

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but would the advantages of a "parallelogram" design be, that shims would not be needed to correct this sort of problem?

[Paul Johnstone]

Before doing anything.. edge join two pieces of wood. Butt them up together. Do you get a nice mating?
Then glue up a panel.. see how it comes out.
You might be getting all stressed out over nothing.
I am not sure what the official tolerances of a joiner should be, but I think your expectations for a hobbyist machine might be a little too high. Even if it was in warrantee, I am not sure the manufacturer would offer you replacement parts.. And even if they did.. the new part might be just as bad or worse.

I really doubt that the tables being .005" would be noticable.. Even if the tables were totally perfect, you are still going to have to sand the wood afterwards, which is going to change the "flatness" of it.

[Philip Rodriquez]

I do not keep up on model numbers... bit if it is a parallelogram design, then leveling the tables will be easy and shims are not required. However, after a quick search... the GO593 has dovetailed ways and, therefore, my initial response is correct.

[Terry Beadle]

+1 on test cutting before you do anything else.

I have a "discounted" Delta 6 inch jointer that has a vertical fence that is out of dead flat by a few thou. I've ignored that and just adjusted the fence until the actual piece produces a square edge. I'm not sure why it works but it does. I'm getting a very square result. I'm thinking it might be that even though there's some dip in the fence flatness, the over all effect of pushing the surfaces past the blade averages out the dip.

In any case, I use my Record #7 to shoot the edges of the work pieces to remove the slight ripple effects of the rotating blades. That really makes a great glue surface and it takes just a stroke or two.

Keep us posted.

["Patrick G Rainsberger"]

Daniel,
When I make the fence square to the table in the center (at the cutterhead) it is not square at the end of the infeed table, and is not square at the end of the outfeed table in the opposite direction.

Phillip,
The infeed and outfeed tables are concave by .005 to .006.

Terry & Paul,
Because the infeed and outfeed tables are concave in the center, the finished product has a convex surface and when I edge join two pieces together the center touches while the ends have a gap in them.
Sorry I didn't make myself clear in my original post, I hope this helps.

[Philip Rodriquez]

Jointers can be a fussy thing because many things can factor in… for a “convexed” edge-jointed board, the typical problem will usually be technique and/or the blade setting.

A concave table at .005 to .006 should not cause problems when you are edge jointing because the actual surface deviation, on the edge of the board, is likely less than .0005” with an 8” jointer. For that matter, I’d be willing to bet that .005” is within the manufacturing specs for the machine. Rather, I would guess that your SC is to blame if your technique is good… and I have some personal experience to share with you -

I have a Griz 10” x 84” jointer with a SC. When I received it, the tables were perfectly flat but the actual cutter head was not parallel to the table. I took my dial indicator (Oneway Multi Gauge) and discovered that the cutter head was .005” higher in the rear of the table. To fix it, I just used some aluminum foil and shimmed the front of the cutter head and now it is perfect. FYI, I run by cutter .001” above the out feed table.

As for my fence… it is 3 or 4 feet long and, if I could lift it, I’d bet that I could read a book through the gap (maybe .020” or more). However, in use, I get perfect edges off of my boards. Your .008” to .011” gap should be well within the specs for the fence. Remember, these things also flex so you need to apply pressure to the out-feed side and close to the cutter.

If all else fails, I would get an actual measurement and contact Griz. Even though your machine is discontinued, I would guess that they could tell you what the original tolerances would have been. From there, you could always get the tops re-ground.

["Patrick G Rainsberger"]

Phillip,
I also have a oneway multi gauge and find there is a difference of .001” between randomly selected carbide edges. Little if any on operator vs. fence sides. I also run the cutter head .001 above the outfeed table. I have slightly better luck with .002” and am thinking of putting it back to .002”. What I think I need at this point is to put both infeed and outfeed tables at the same height and find a longer straightedge to see whether the two tables are on the same plane, from end to end. I have a stabila level, but am not sure I could rely on the accuracy of it.

[Philip Rodriquez]

Your Veritas 36” Steel Straightedge is a better choice because levels are never perfect... but it may get you close.