Dennis McDonaugh
05-14-2003, 11:17 AM
I'm in the process of changing the blades in my Grizzly 8" jointer, I've never done this before, but I've changed blades in my planers several times. I have three options for changing the blades. First, I have the alignment tool that came with the jointer, second I bought a jointer pal, and third I can use one of several alternative ways to align the blades I've read on different woodworking forums. I've changed one blade and here are my thoughts:
First, I don't want to move the outfeed table. The infeed and outfeed tables are parallel and I don't want to chance messing that up. The alignment tool grizzly supplied won't fit in the space between the infeed and outfeed table unless I lower both a little, or one a lot. And then I've still got to adjust the outfeed table to the new height of the blades. I don't want to do that so lets move on to something else.
The planer pal I have works great on my Jet 15" planer so I bought the jointer pal. My first impression was favorable as I read the directions. This quickly turns to frustration when I try to use it. The springs in the cutter head are stronger than the magnets in the jointer pal so the blades push the jointer pal off the bed of the jointer. That's no good so what next?
The alternative methods. I've seen two used. The first involves a straight edge which you lay on the outfeed table and then adjust the blades so they just touch the straight edge. The other uses a piece of wood and some tape. You place masking tape parallel to the blades on the outfeed table and draw a reference line on the tape. Then you place the piece of wood across the infeed and outfeed table, the blades "grab" the wood and move it slightly as they travel. The blades are aligned when the wood moves the same amount on each side of the blade on all three blades.
The straight edge seems the easiest and quickest to use (I used it on the first blade) and I'm going to use it on the other two blades. I guess the test will be how well the jointer surfaces and edge joints a board.
What are your thoughts on blade alignment and what methods do you use?
First, I don't want to move the outfeed table. The infeed and outfeed tables are parallel and I don't want to chance messing that up. The alignment tool grizzly supplied won't fit in the space between the infeed and outfeed table unless I lower both a little, or one a lot. And then I've still got to adjust the outfeed table to the new height of the blades. I don't want to do that so lets move on to something else.
The planer pal I have works great on my Jet 15" planer so I bought the jointer pal. My first impression was favorable as I read the directions. This quickly turns to frustration when I try to use it. The springs in the cutter head are stronger than the magnets in the jointer pal so the blades push the jointer pal off the bed of the jointer. That's no good so what next?
The alternative methods. I've seen two used. The first involves a straight edge which you lay on the outfeed table and then adjust the blades so they just touch the straight edge. The other uses a piece of wood and some tape. You place masking tape parallel to the blades on the outfeed table and draw a reference line on the tape. Then you place the piece of wood across the infeed and outfeed table, the blades "grab" the wood and move it slightly as they travel. The blades are aligned when the wood moves the same amount on each side of the blade on all three blades.
The straight edge seems the easiest and quickest to use (I used it on the first blade) and I'm going to use it on the other two blades. I guess the test will be how well the jointer surfaces and edge joints a board.
What are your thoughts on blade alignment and what methods do you use?