Jointer Clog - Brain Freeze

[Damon Stathatos]

I had been jointing some soft wood planks over the past few days. Today I went to joint some cocobolo 'cants' and as I'm jointing it, I start getting a 'snow machine' effect with chips being thrown back at me and onto the table. After each pass, the table was loaded as below.

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This became a 'pain' because I felt compelled to 'sweep' the infeed table with the board after every pass to keep the board as flat as possible on the table. These boards are heavy enough already so the necessity to have to use them as a 'broom' or 'squeegee' on every pass was not a welcome one. As I'm going through the stack, I'm trying to figure out why all of a sudden my jointer is acting differently than it normally does. I know that different saw blades create unique 'throwback' depending upon their configurations so I start thinking that maybe my jointer blades had gotten gummed up or are getting dull or something such as that, causing this new phenomenon. Turn the jointer off, check the blades, and they look fine, no difference that I can tell. So, OK, I'll take a couple of pictures and post them on SMC and ask for suggestions. As I'm writing my post and before posting the question, the solution 'dawns' on me, not because I'm particularly brilliant (as is plainly evident) but I realize that I've had this problem BEFORE. Man...I thought old age was simply aching joints and hearing loss, but this 'brain freeze' thing is not something I'm now really looking forward to.

So, I go out to the shop with my camera in hand knowing full-well what I'm about to find. This is the underside of the jointer where you would normally either connect dust collection or where the chips should just drop to the floor:

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After digging the 'cavity' out and letting the 'chips' drop to the floor, here's what was stuck up inside and right below the cutter head. The pile of the light softwood that had honeycombed underneath the head:

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The reason I'm posting this is to give a few of you, perhaps, a chuckle. Also, the next time this happens to me, I can do a search here, find my post, remember the solution, and then to reminisce about youth and clarity of mind.

[frank shic]

yup, face jointing will gum up the jointer in seconds without DC. is that a 12" jointer? *salivates*

[Van Huskey]

Been there done that, just not with an Oliver 166!

[Damon Stathatos]

yup, face jointing will gum up the jointer in seconds without DC. is that a 12" jointer? *salivates*

I didn't ever really intend to try to upgrade my Delta 8" but I'm sure glad I did. I went out to a local cabinet maker who had a CL advertisement on a Northfield 28" bandsaw, for about the price of a half-dozen decent blades, and he was in such need of more space, practically forced me to take this Oliver as well. I ended up selling my Delta for more than I paid for the Oliver, so quite a trade-up.

The 12" width capability is a joy and the real kicker is the 8' bed, built like a tank, to boot.

[frank shic]

i'm having a headache right now trying to figure out which of the 6" jointer strategies for my next raised panel project: joint and flip around? joint and feed through the planer with a sled? joint and hand plane off excess? so wish i had just one more measly inch lol

[Sam Murdoch]

Yeah Damon, this making saw dust thing isn't a myth you know :D. I don't think you'll need photos next time. And yes, Frank, having owned a 12" jointer and now back down to a 6" I relate. Just absolutely no room for such a big and useful machine. Using a Powermatic 54A with the 66" long bed. That's the best I could accommodate. I rip and reglue way too much these days, but everything is straight and flat!

[Damon Stathatos]

i'm having a headache right now trying to figure out which of the 6" jointer strategies for my next raised panel project: joint and flip around? joint and feed through the planer with a sled? joint and hand plane off excess? so wish i had just one more measly inch lol

Frank - My jointer history began with a Delta 6" and then to a Delta 8". When I moved up to the 8", I was so relieved because now that 6.25" board was no longer a problem but more importantly, the bed was longer so I could do longer stock. However, the next problem was that I couldn't do any 8.25" boards. The frequency of that was less than the need to do over 6" so, as we all do, lived with it. But I do remember at the time thinking that I should have just 'bitten the bullet' and gone for a 12" or even bigger. After all of this, I built a commercial venture importing and milling exotic hardwoods but the purpose and need for a jointer switched to merely a 'square edge' need because I had acquired a 20" Porter Surfacer for face flattening for the commercial shop:

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After I traded-up to the 12" jointer however, I find myself running 'smaller' stock on the Oliver and letting the big-boy sleep a bit longer. If a 16" or even 20" jointer pops it's head up sometime in the future, I'm going to think long and hard about upgrading again. The point of all of this is that if I were upgrading from a 6" again, knowing what I know now and regardless of my commercial shop or not, I would make the jump to at least 12" (long bed) and forget the 8" step altogether.



Yeah Damon, this making saw dust thing isn't a myth you know :D. I don't think you'll need photos next time...

I hear what you're saying Sam but it was almost a myth to me, so much so that I came this close (thumb and index finger really close together) to posting a question about it here on SMC. I would have felt and looked like the fool I really am and am glad that it dawned on me what the problem was. Up until now, almost all of my sawdust has been of the salt and pepper configuration rather than the spaghetti that pine or fir created. The salt and pepper stuff just drops to the floor but I now know the spaghetti stuff doesn't. I've avoided running yet another DC duct to this jointer but now may very well do so in order to avoid this situation in the future. Barring that, maybe I'll just put a post-it on the jointer reminding me about the possible clog issue. But then again, I'd need to remember to actually read the post-it so the duct seems the better solution.

Thanks to all and hope this has elicited at least a few chuckles.

[Bill White]

Was it Okham's Razor? When in doubt, check the obvious...........
Don't EVEN ask me if I've ever had a brain fart.
Oh well, I'll tell ya about the time I did not put film in the Nikon to photo a newborn grandchild. I's still tryin' to live that one down.
Bill