Question about power feeder and jointer

[Scott Brandstetter]

Always trying to improve the productivity in the shop and began to wonder about adding a power feeder to our jointer. I had never even looked at a video, much less researched particular brands, but after seeing one in action, looks like it could be a great addition.

My initial questions are...
In general, do they work well
Are they easy to adjust (obviously, with each pass of the board the thickness is reduced and I assume the feeder must be adjusted as well)
Do they move to the side when jointing the edge of the boards

I'm sure if I look at buying one I will have more questions after digging into it further, but, would really appreciate any thoughts to get me started.

[Rick Lizek]

https://www.shopgearinc.com/products/co-matic-power-feeders/specialty-feeders/af114j-jointerfeeder.php

[Jeff Duncan]

You can mount a feeder to a jointer, some people have certainly done so. however it's not going to flatten boards nearly as well as you can by hand. A jointer is going to force boards into submission. So in actuality it becomes more like a planer in it's performance. Bow and twist going in…..will be bow and twist coming out the other end.

good luck,
JeffD

[Tom M King]

If I had a large jointer that I could dedicate to flattening boards, I might put a feeder on it, but for every other use I have to look at what needs to be done to that particular board, and rarely does one need a full pass to start with. In those other uses, a feeder would just be in the way.

[J.R. Rutter]

I had power feeders on a couple of jointers for years. One set up for facing, and one for edging. I had them both set up so that all of the pressure was all on the outfeed side. For doing multiple passes, I sometimes used wood chips/sawdust as a shim on the infeed side to prevent the board from rocking excessively. It works pretty well to power feed the jointer, but takes some understanding of exactly how to set it up and use to get the most out of it.

[mreza Salav]

What J.R. said.
Works better with thicker stock (I had several thousand BF of 8/4 maple for a bunch of passage doors that I joined this way), feeder on the outfeed table.
There are specific feeders (with fingers on wheels sort of that grab the wood with minimal pressure) for jointers but you can use a standard feeder. My jointer is a combo (J/P) so I could swing out the feeder when I wanted to flip the tables up to use the planer.

[Rod Sheridan]

I use a feeder when I have a lot of material to face joint.

I set the feeder so it just barely touches the material, that way it doesn't bend it.

It's an enormous help when faced with 4 or 5 hours of face jointing material.

You can buy a special feeder for the jointer which doesn't bend the material, I use what I have which is a 1/2 HP 3 wheel feeder.

325679

Regards, Rod.

[Alan Bienlein]

The one Rod has pictured is not the proper one to use on a jointer. This is the proper type of power feeder to safely use on a jointer.

Some of the features of a power feeder that is designed to go on a jointer.


Feeder especially designed for rough-sawn goods
Deployment for example on surface planning machines
Indirect drive of steel segment rollers, each with independent self arranging damping
For various job thicknesses as well as twisted wooden parts
Inbuilt anti kickback device for additional safety in the workplace

http://www.diybanter.com/attachments/woodworking-plans-photos/2541d1197704915-mounted-power-feeder-jointer-w-pics-jpf7-jpg

[J.R. Rutter]

The one Rod has pictured is not the proper one to use on a jointer.

Not *optimized for face jointing*, but it does work. Also the traditional wheeled feeders allow you reposition for edge jointing.