Jointer Ineptitude!!!!

[Greg Tatum]

I hate replacing knives!!! I can never get it right....I've read then tried the various methods that have been posted or published....I am so mechanically challenged and short attention-spanned (is that a word?) that I just can't figure out what I'm doing wrong.

Here are some pics of my latest efforts. Wedges, scallops, sometimes, but not always, snipe.....light pressure on the infeed side...wt shift to the out feed side....tables appear coplaner when using 2 12" drafting triangles...don't have a long straight edge....

Last pic is the scoring from a new blade...I went to a local saw blade maker on the recomendation of a tool shop in town and ordered a glue line rip blade...It cost 104 bucks with tax...made in Germany.

Now, my rip fence is open only .003 front to back...I have one of those PC hybrid blades (name escapes me) that leaves a cleaner cut....

Any comments, advise or offers to come and help me will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Greg

[Floyd Cantrell]

It looks like your out-feed table is sloped up from the cutter head area. I think I would invest in a straightedge, Lee Valley has some that are reasonable price. The two triangle method only checks the area next to the cutter head and some tables are not flat and you need to get an overall flatness. I have some sketches on different conditions for adjustments that I made some time back. Take a look at the link and different articles and see if you can get some idea of what is happing to your jointer.

http://home.usmo.com/~rfwoodworking/tips_jigs.html

[Tom Hintz]

Tapering a board on the jointer is common as it has no reference to the other side. Jointers flatten one side, a thickness planer makes the sides parallel.
Snipe on the final portion of the board going over the knives is almost always caused by the knives being higher than the outfeed table.
I agree a good straightedge is in order to really check the tables for coplaner. Just for grins, you could strtch a string across the tables, end to end with the cutter head turned so no blades are sticking up. The string will give yo a good idea if you have a major problem with table alignment. Remember the string is not a replacemenet for a good straightedge, just an indicator you can use right now.
About the saw marks, in addition to an out-of-line fence, which yours does not appear to be, runout in the blade or arbor can also producce the scratching type marks you have by intermitently dragging the teeth on the outfeed side.

[frank shic]

greg, don't be so hard on yourself! using a jointer is not exactly as EASY as pushing a piece of plywood through your table saw. you need to invest in a planer to make the faces parallel to each other. another suggestion would be to use a "shoe" like push stick and a grout float to help guide the piece over the knives with consistent downward and feeding pressure. don't forget to feed WITH the grain and particularly when you're face jointing GO SLOW! as for setting the knives, that seemed like an arcane science to me the first couple of times that i did it but YOU CAN LEARN how to do it without all those silly, overpriced jigs or dial indicators if you have an metal straightedge like you'd find in a engineer's square. and last of all: WATCH THOSE FINGERS! :eek:

[Tim Sproul]

Find someone....or someone volunteer.....to help you. It seems like you would probably benefit from some hands-on help.

A picture is worth a thousand words....and hands-on help is worth a thousand pictures.

[Brian Hale]

Make sure the belts on your table saw are tight. That can also cause rough cuts.

Brian :)