Van Huskey is not a good influence on me

[Thomas Hotchkin]

Right after Van had his contest, I just happened to be on C-list and low and behold see what followed me home. Tom
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[Jack Wilson50]

What a beast.

[Dave Zellers]

It needs it's own parking space!

[John Coloccia]

Why only one?

[Jerry Thompson]

In my opinion Van Huskey is a homewrecker.:)

[Van Huskey]

Thats a one up!!! That is the Heavy Duty, has DMD has the handbrake with micro switch. It has the 120V switch on the front as well. Notice the "ships wheel" in the back for adjusting the infeed bed, those are very cool. For folks that don't know the Northfield HD look at the end of the table and you will see it is built with core box construction (similar to a torsion box) this is the one place where Northfield arguably trumped the "better" big jointers like Porter and Oliver.

You suck!

PS that appears to be a fairly new one, what are the first two digits of the serial number? That is the year it was built.

[Phil Thien]

That thing is amazing! What a find.

[Dave Zellers]

It looks like the infeed table is hinged on the front. What's that about?

[Peter Quinn]

Right after Van had his contest, I just happened to be on C-list and low and behold see what followed me home. Tom
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You can't blame Van for that. You should have been able to out run something that heavy if you really wanted to! But why would you? You sure you didn't slow down a bit and "let" it jump on that trailer? Nice machine. I'm laughing historically that they saw fit to put a ships wheel on something that resembles an aircraft carrier. Is it on a trailer or is that just the smallest mobile base that can handle the weight?

[Thomas Hotchkin]

Van, Northfield HD Joniter s/n 79409-B, 12" 4 blade cutter head, with Reuland 3HP 3phase motor. In feed table can be tilted up to 5 degrees. With adjustments to both infeed and outfeed tables for clearance to cutter knifes. A good price, but was unable to test motor before purchase, but no open or shorted wiring at motor. Tom

[Thomas Hotchkin]

Peter 1650 lbs and four hours to get it off the trailer. Tom

[mreza Salav]

Nice Acura in the second pic,

Oh yeah, I see an aircraft carrier too...

[Jim Becker]

What a horrible thing to happen. I'm sure some needy woodworker would relieve your pain... :D

[Kevin W Johnson]

I think you need 5 more of those before you can blame it Van. :D

[Van Huskey]

It looks like the infeed table is hinged on the front. What's that about?

It makes it a "pattern maker's" jointer to allow for cutting a draft into the wood for easy mold release.

[David Kumm]

Sweet jointer. The draft adjustment is pretty rare and a good thing to set and never touch again. Northfield was and is known for both the cored tables and ships wheel. They keep their value better than any three toed jointer to my knowledge. Dave

[Van Huskey]

Van, Northfield HD Joniter s/n 79409-B, 12" 4 blade cutter head, with Reuland 3HP 3phase motor. In feed table can be tilted up to 5 degrees. With adjustments to both infeed and outfeed tables for clearance to cutter knifes. A good price, but was unable to test motor before purchase, but no open or shorted wiring at motor. Tom


It is two years newer than mine. The ability to move the infeed and outfeed is cool when working on the journal head. Chances are the motor is fine, that one does not look like it lived a hard life, similar to mine. Worst case senario is a rewind. Do you know if it was wired 230 or 440, do you have a motor starter, I ask since the "low voltage" switch is disconnected. If you need to verify the wiring voltage or rewire in the peckerhead be careful that generation has been known for the leads coming from the motor wiring into the peckerhead to have the insulation get hard (per Jeff at Northfield) and can go to poo if/when you try to deal with the wire in the tiny peckerhead. If I had to rewire mine I might remove the stator (the whole stator comes off since the motor is cantilevered and there are no bearings in the motor itself just on the journal head (cutter head) so I could see what I was getting into. Though I doubt it will be an issue it is a motor shop issue not DIY again per Jeff.

VFD or RPC or do you have 3ph. I haven't decided yet, depends on what else I have 3ph before I get the shop built. Since you have the 120V switch on the front a VFD would be easy to wire using that switch (I think it should operate at lower voltage as I do not think it is magnetic) and hide on the back. Failing that you could probably use the handbrake switch as well. Mine doesn't have the 120V switch so I haven't decided what I will do if I go VFD but will wire the handbrake switch for "emergency off".

Have fun she looks great, although I decided the MD fit better I still would love to have here! Even worse I still haven't been able to pick mine up yet...

[Thomas Hotchkin]

Dave The seller had a hundred dollar offer just on the wheel, so he said. Tom

[Van Huskey]

Dave The seller had a hundred dollar offer just on the wheel, so he said. Tom

That ships wheel seems to be in excellent shape, $100 would actually be low. The wooden parts of the wheel on older ones are often trashed. Folks that are turners often make elaborate spokes and handles as a rite of passage. Besides the Northfield there is only one other jointer you can buy new with a ships wheel, the new Oliver (Asian) 12 and 16" jointers actually come with a ships wheel too.

[Thomas Hotchkin]

Van Motor wired for 203-220/440. Wiring coming out of motor look in good shape. Seller had no history on jointer and would not say much about where he picked it up. Photos on C-list showed it on his truck along with a 24" Do-All band saw. I have a VFD on my lathe that works well, will be looking into both drive units for my 3 phase. Jointer need some clean up and repaint on a few parts. Out here on the left coast cast iron picks up a lot of rust if not protected, but she is cleaning up very well with no pitting that I have found yet. I like your idea on using 120 volt switch for VFD control, Thanks Tom

[Rick Fisher]

The only other ships wheel I have seen is on the Canadian made General Jointer's. Also very sought after ..

That is a fantastic machine .. I look forward to seeing what you do with it ..

[Van Huskey]

The only other ships wheel I have seen is on the Canadian made General Jointer's. Also very sought after ..

That is a fantastic machine .. I look forward to seeing what you do with it ..

Thats a good point they still "sorta" make that one, though I am betting they can count the number they build in a year on hands and toes. There were on a bunch of different jointers back in the day. For me they are just cool decoration since I rarely change depth of cut but in a pattern makers shop they probably saw a lot of use.

[Thomas Hotchkin]

FYI got a email today from Northfield with their history on this joniter. Tom

You have a 12” Patternmakers Jointer that left our plant
05/07/79 and was sold by Kindt Collins. It was built as a
3 HP DMD, 4 Knifehead unit, with a hand brake & switch
on the brake. This one is new enough where it does not
have a spring joint attachment, just the tilting infeed
patternmakers option. It shipped to LeGrand Ind Supply, in
Portland, Oregon. Don’t know how the Franklin badge
figures in. Could have been a property ID tag or the logo
of some machinery jockey that resold it at some time.

[Van Huskey]

They should send you a set of safety stickers for free when you register it, don't know if you even want them on there but I probably will put my on when I repaint it.

You mentioned paint, do you plan to paint it or just touch it up?

[Thomas Hotchkin]

Van Northfield has the manual for $ 30.00, I going to sent for it. I will also ask for their safety sticker, good suggestion. Paint is going to be touch up as needed. Would like to paint blade guard something other then Northfield green. There is a 12 HD on OWWM picture file that was rebuilt by Northfield, I would like to match that color. Need to clean both infeed and outfeed table adjustment screws, no lube for 30+ years, and a little clean up. Then put it to work. Tom

[Van Huskey]

Van Northfield has the manual for $ 30.00, I going to sent for it. I will also ask for their safety sticker, good suggestion. Paint is going to be touch up as needed. Would like to paint blade guard something other then Northfield green. There is a 12 HD on OWWM picture file that was rebuilt by Northfield, I would like to match that color. Need to clean both infeed and outfeed table adjustment screws, no lube for 30+ years, and a little clean up. Then put it to work. Tom

The only manual on OWWM (vintagemachinery) is for the MD like mine. If you are just touching up Pittsburgh makes a rattle can that is a VERY close match to NF green, it is called Vista green http://www.ppgpittsburghpaints.com/our_products/specialty/pitt_bull_interior_exterior_spray_enamel/index.htm

If the jointer you are referencing has an orange guard like the current Northfield guards I think and rattle can safety orange would be very close, I think they have to be fairly uniform for OSHA. If you want to make it "correct" for a new machine the back guard is also orange now.

[Jeff Heath]

Nice score. I had the exact same jointer for 10 years in my shop. In my opinion, Northfield made/makes the best jointers ever......period! They are bulletproof, and run smooth as glass with good bearings.

If you have grease zerks, the biggest mistake people make is putting WAY TOO MUCH grease in there. You only need to grease the zerks once or twice a year.......that's it. Any more is just pushing the grease into the rotor of the motor, and over pressurizing the outboard side.

Enjoy!

Jeff

[Van Huskey]

Just for the integrity of the thread since for search purposes it is one of the few here on the Northfield HD jointer I wanted to add some info.

It was mentioned that this is the "pattern maker's" version of the 12HD. The older HD jointers had more adjustments than this newer one (not just the spring joint capability either) and it may NOT be a jointer you want to fool with, they need a good deal of care and feeding to keep them adjusted correctly, now if you are a pattern maker then the older 40's era ones might be right up your alley. Even then I might suggest you look into a Oliver #12 which strangely enough doesn't share the same reputation (within pattern makers jointers) as its 166 sibling shares with standard jointers, that being the 166s are considered finiky, no presonal experience with either BTW.

[David Kumm]

The Oliver 12 is so rare and has so many adjustments there aren't many out there in the hands of those unfamiliar which is why you hear so little about them. The 166 really isn't finicky, it just doesn't like being moved around due to its pedistal design. mine was on wheels and still stayed on plane. Setting up spring joint and draft machines is a new definition of finicky so be ready with a couple of dial indicators. The Northfield patternmakers did not have a great reputation for repeatability and once adjusted I would leave it alone although i'm referring to reputation rather than actual use. I can compare 166 to Porter directly but have only talked to others about the Northfield. The OWWM guys can give you better info on dealing with the mechanisms. The Porter is regarded as having the best spring joint adjustment and I have it tightened down so I can't screw it up. i think the draft is doubly rare on a 12" machine so you have a pretty unique piece. Dave

[Thomas Hotchkin]

Van and David
Thank you and all the other responders, for all of your great knowledge. Just one of the many things that makes Sawmill Creek so great. Tom

[David Kumm]

You haven't said how you are going to run it but the Northfield 4 knife is a great candidate for a vfd. A little wiring is needed due to the micro switch on the hand brake but there are some benefits. The Northfield runs a 4.25" cutterhead vs the more common 5" so the speed to the knife into the cut is about 1/3 slower. A vfd could be used to speed up the motor, speed the knives and increase the cuts per inch, and horsepower with no downside. The smooth delivery of a DMD with the speed of a belt driven jointer. I've thought of doing it but have a short stop on mine so for now the idea resides in the " too hard" pile. Dave

[Van Huskey]

Dave do you have any idea if the 120v switch on the front would be low voltage friendly for the VFD aux circuits. When I was talking about it I wasn't sure if it is magnetic it probably won't "hold" at low voltage.

On the "over clocking" of a DMD my first concern would be how well the motor rotor is balanced, a bigger deal since the motor has no bearings and the rear of the rotor is over a foot from the journal bearing. Not remotely saying it wouldn't work and it would be VERY cool and something I might consider.

[David Kumm]

Van, I don't know if the existing switch would work as I'm pretty bad a vfd wiring. I've used those type of NO NC on off with low voltage to my sliding saw but no vfd. Jeff would probably know but I'm thinking 65-70 hz isn't going to throw anything out. The bearings will be more than adequate on the head. The fact the cutterheads are really well balanced should keep the motor in line. Good point though. Those machines are so smooth I haven't considered additional speed as a problem and the motor isn't getting the side stress it would with a belt. Dave

[Van Huskey]

With that the calculations of how much to raise the hertz is now on my to do list... that and making sure I get a GOOD VFD, those motors aren't cheap to rewind...

[eugene thomas]

i put a toshiba vfd on my 5 hp jointer., was really easy to install, spent more time trying to figure out how to program than the install, finally just hit the start button on it and was up and running...

[Van Huskey]

i put a toshiba vfd on my 5 hp jointer., was really easy to install, spent more time trying to figure out how to program than the install, finally just hit the start button on it and was up and running...

What is really funny, since you mention programing, we as woodworkers don't even scratch the surface of what even an economy VFD can actually do.

[David Kumm]

With that the calculations of how much to raise the hertz is now on my to do list... that and making sure I get a GOOD VFD, those motors aren't cheap to rewind...

The potential for hurting the motor with a VFD is more of an issue with 440 than 220-230. The stories of non inverter duty motors being hurt are generally at higher voltage. The unbalanced power that sometimes comes from an RPC has been a bigger issue for me. Some old motors don't deal well with the imbalance and others seem just fine. Went to the phase perfect and eliminated that issue. Dave

[Thomas Hotchkin]

Van Had the switch apart last night and contacts are only momentary. It is tied to the brake switch with the original factory wiring. IIRC my Delta VFD switch was a closed or open contact. I believe you could put an emergency shut off switch in the OFF position only and still have the original switch case. Tom