Aligning jointer tables--help please?

[John Stevens]

I drove out to Wilke in York, PA Thursday and picked up a new Bridgewood 8" jointer with a Shelix cutterhead. Now I'm working on getting the infeed and outfeed tables aligned. I'm using an 18" steel straight edge that I've checked for straightness and Starrett metric feeler gauges to measure the gaps. I'm using a Starrett combo square to set the fence to 90 degrees. There seem to be a few things that need to be adjusted:

(1) The outfeed table isn't aligned with the cutter head. It's higher on the edge that's nearer the fence.
In other words, when I set the infeed table so the closer edge is the same height as the cutter head (with a blade at TDC) the farther edge is 0.10-0.15mm(about 0.004"-0.006") above the straight edge. I guess with a normal cutter head, you'd just adjust the knife height and the gap would go away. Is there a way to eliminate this gap if you've got a Shelix head?

(2) The infeed table isn't aligned with the cutter head.
Like the outfeed table, it's higher on the edge that's nearer the fence, by 0.15-0.20mm (about 0.006"-0.008").

(3) As you can see from the measurements above, the infeed table is about 0.05mm (0.002") higher than the outfeed table on the edge near the fence. This difference should go away when I fix (1) and (2).

(4) The infeed table sags toward the edge opposite the cutter head.

(5) The fence is aligned at 90 degrees to the infeed table, there's a gap of 0.15mm (about 0.006") at the bottom. You'd expect a gap a the bottom because of (1) and (2), but because the fence is less than half as wide as the tables, I'd have thought the gap would be less than half of the difference between (1) and (2). Because it's more than that difference, does that mean that one or both of the tables, or the fence, is twisted?

The manual doesn't give much advice: "...bring the infeed table up to the height of the outfeed table. The two tables should lie in the same plane, with no droop or sag. If they are not aligned, you will have to adjust the gib screws (fig. 5.3)." Well, figure 5.3 shows the nuts that have to get adjusted, but it doesn't give me a clue as to whether they need to be tightened or loosened, or some need to be tightened and others loosened, etc. What would you do?

Many thanks in advance for any help you can give.

[John Hemenway]

Call Wilke!

[Dennis Peacock]

John,

Congrats on the new jointer. :D
If you are concerned about those measurements, then I'd call Wilke and see what they say.

[Mike Cutler]

John. If I am understanding you correctly the outfeed table is not the same height as the cutter head across the width of the jointer, and it is higher than the infeed table on the edge closest to the fence when everything is "Leveled".

I would do the following. Set the infeed table approximately 1/16" and no more below the maximum height of the cutter head.

Get 4 sheets of paper and set them on the outfeed table, aligned with the edge of the throat, next to the cutter head, and set the outfeed table height level with the table and the paper. Put 4 more sheets of paper at the end of the outfeed table
Measure the height of the outfeed table across the width of the cutter head anf note the discrepancies. At this same time, you will need to measure the oufeed table for "level" to make sure that the end of the oufeed tabe is the same height in relationship to the cutterhead as the throat.
Square the fence to the table.
Any discreancies noticed at this time will require an adjustment of the "Ways" , or an arbor adjustment for the cutterhead if available. The dovetailed ways on the outfeed table will have two "softer" pieces of material that the castings of the table and the base slide against. There is "normally" some form of a nut that is used to apply pressure and tighten or loosen the "Jibs" It takes very slight adjustments here, and sometimes simply reversing, or just moving the jibs, and ways will correct a lot error, although it doesn't sound as if you have a lot to zero out.
This same process is followed for the infeed table, although not as critical as the outfeed table. You really want to focus on the relationship of the fence, cutterhead, and outfeed table. The infeed basically just supports the weight of the material .
Before adjusting the jibs and ways though, I would align the tables as good as you can and the run some material through the jointer and measure the square of the edge. No use chasing your tail for no reason.
Give it a whirl, and good luck.The jointer is a simple, rugged machine and you should only have to do this once and never have to mess with it again.

[Michael Perata]

Mike

I would suggest setting the outfeed table 4 sheets of paper (20# bond = .004" X 4 = .016") below the knives is too much of a gap. Something less than .002-3" works out better and reduces the chance for snipe on the trailing edge. I set my outfeed table so the knives just grab my straightedge when rotating the head (<.001").

John

The 18" straight edge is too short to adequately set up the tables of a jointer. I have a 36" Starrett and wish I had bought a 48".

Lee Valley has an aluminum 50" Veritas straight edge for $55, that's less than half of the cost of my Starrett, and for light shop use, more than adequate. http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=50074&cat=1,240,45313

[Larry Norton]

Call Wilke!!! It's brand new. When I got my DJ20, it was dead on as it should be when it's new. The Bridgewood products are all quality machines and I suspect yours was built on a Friday or Monday. I'm sure Wilke will correct the problem.

[Mike Cutler]

Michael. I agree that the 4 sheets will probably be too much. I was just setting John up to get a usable reading. I didn't realize an individual sheet was that thick, for some reason I thought .0025 was the spec. Oh well, misfire tube #1 :rolleyes: I apologize for the misinformation John
I also agree with the others, to call Wilke on Monday. Before I started adjusting and stoning Jibs and Ways, I'd be contacting the vendor. Wilke has a good reputation and I'm sure that they would provide the necessary information required.

[Chris Padilla]

Lee Valley has an aluminum 50" Veritas straight edge for $55, that's less than half of the cost of my Starrett, and for light shop use, more than adequate. http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=50074&cat=1,240,45313

:D :D

Got one coming! The nice thing about this 50" straight-edge is that it is made of aluminum and not steel. That way you can just graze the straight-edge with the knives...you hit that Starrett steel straight-edge with the knives and you might as well toss that knife (not really but it will dull it).

I asked Lee Valley last summer to make a nice long Al straight-edge...I'm so happy they have a 50" one available now!

[John Stevens]

I just wanted to post a follow-up in case anyone finds this thread while searching for info on jointers. It took me a while to find the time, but I finally got my jointer tuned as well as possible.

I finally figured out how to adjust the sagging ends of the tables (it was in the manual, but not in the place I was looking). By maxing out the adjustment in both tables, I'm now able to flatten the edge of a 2x4 to a little better than 0.1mm (about 0.004" or 1/128") over 6+ feet. (FWIW, I used a 106" Festool guide rail as the reference straight edge and Starret feeler gauges to check the size of the gap.)

I didn't bother trying to adjust the tilt of the tables relative to the arbor, because face-jointing seems to work just fine. On a 2x6 that was about 3' long, there was only 0.03mm (about 3/4 of 1/64") of twist from one side to the other over a 30" span. I could measure the gap with squares and feeler gauges, but when I put the piece face down on a flat surface, I couldn't feel it rock one bit.

FWIW, while poking around, I found that the outfeed table had already been shimmed on one side. But as long as the thing works, I couldn't care less.

Also FWIW, the Byrd Shelix head was able to face plane a highly figured piece of maple (tight curl w/ birdseye) with tearout no deeper than tiny grains of salt. In my book, that's amazing.

Not sure whether all this is good, bad or normal for a new jointer, but I just figured I'd throw it out there for whatever difference it might make. Many thanks to all who helped.

[JayStPeter]

John,

Congrats on the new jointer.

It sounds like all is good, but if you do decide to get anal about the cutterhead relative to the tables you can shim the head. The bolts in the little slots formed where the bed meets the base will release blocks that the cutterhead bearings mount into. If you lower the tables all the way and unscrew the bolts, the cutterhead and blocks can pull out the top. You should be able to just loosen them and put some shim stock of the appropriate thickness (Al foil maybe?) under the low side and retighten.

Jay

[John Stevens]

...if you do decide to get anal about the cutterhead relative to the tables you can shim the head.

Well, I prefer "obsessive" to "anal"...or did you mean something else? :o

Thanks for your tip on shimming the cutter head--it takes up where the exploded diagram in the manual leaves off. It's be hard to resist doing this, but I think some of the best advice I got was from Mike Cutler: "No use chasing your tail for no reason."

[Dick Latshaw]

but I think some of the best advice I got was from Mike Cutler: "No use chasing your tail for no reason."

Reminds me of one of my favorite Mike Dunbar quotes: "Better is the enemy of Good Enough." :)