Rollers for in-feed / out-feed for jointer

[Dennis Peacock]

Has anybody here ever made their own roller tables for in-feed/out-feed? I need to joint several 12' long boards and my little roller stand just doesn't "cut the mustard". Ideas?
Too bad I'm not in the grocery or freight business. I just need to borrow a couple of short stands for a few days. :)

[Mike Cutler]

Dennis

I've been in the same position myself. 2"x14"x11' Jatoba, and similar sized padauk, with a Jet 6" jointer.
I have two of the Rigid Flip tops, and the only way I could get it too work was to screw an old piece of cabinet grade ply to them and then level the whole thing for the infeed side. The weight of the material and the friction kept pulling the stands over and I still had to weight down the legs with bags of play sand.
I outfeed level with the table saw, so I had enough support there.
If you were closer I'd just loan them, and a TS75, too you. You'd be done with the edges in a short order. Faces would be a different story.

Good luck, be safe, and remember Archimedes Principal. ;) ( I almost tipped over the jointer, running. :eek: )

[Jim Becker]

Dennis, you can likely source the metal rollers with bearings to make your own stands...or even just turn them on your lathe...

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Dennis....have you checked with a rental place?

[Jeff Duncan]

I just made up simple table extensions with some left over scrap wood. With them on I have close to 7' infeed and outfeed which is very handy! Very easy to make, hardest part is making up a mounting bracket so that you can pop them on and off in a hurry. Not a fan of roller tables/stands myself and would be a lot more work/expense than simple tables.....just my opinion though;)

good luck,
JeffD

[Andrew J. Coholic]

I have a 16" Cantek jointer, with 96" table. But when trying to joint planks over 12', or extra heavy stuff, my shop made supports allow use by one person, not having to take someone else off another job.

I made these from 3/4" all maple ply (similar to Baltic birch, but a domestic product) cut out, and using surplus ball bearing rollers from some sort of conveyor/rack. The height is adjustable to a point, to adjust for my not level concrete shop floor. The part that holds the roller can slide up and down, with two 5/16" bolts and T nuts to hold them in place.

I tried some of the folding metal roller stands. But they fall over, are not adjustable for leveling, and just were not ideal. These rollers work perfectly. Only drawback is they are somewhat bulky to store.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ajcoholic/ajcoholic001/image6_zpsg5j6qhl4.jpg (http://s83.photobucket.com/user/ajcoholic/media/ajcoholic001/image6_zpsg5j6qhl4.jpg.html)

[Van Huskey]

You can often find material handling rollers on Craig's List.

[Brian Tymchak]

I have a 16" Cantek jointer, with 96" table. But when trying to joint planks over 12', or extra heavy stuff, my shop made supports allow use by one person, not having to take someone else off another job.

I made these from 3/4" all maple ply (similar to Baltic birch, but a domestic product) cut out, and using surplus ball bearing rollers from some sort of conveyor/rack. The height is adjustable to a point, to adjust for my not level concrete shop floor. The part that holds the roller can slide up and down, with two 5/16" bolts and T nuts to hold them in place.

I tried some of the folding metal roller stands. But they fall over, are not adjustable for leveling, and just were not ideal. These rollers work perfectly. Only drawback is they are somewhat bulky to store.



Those are nice. Seems like they might able to double as saw horses with an accessory piece or 2.

[Jamie Buxton]

An issue with outboard rollers is that they should be co-planar with the jointer's tables. If they're higher or lower, or cocked at an angle, they don't help. I use a seven-foot straight edge to set mine up. And if the stands are light enough that the end of the board can knock them out of alignment, that's a problem too. Andrew's stands are adjustable for height and twist, which is really good.

[John TenEyck]

I just got done jointing some heavy door stiles, and also running them through my drum sander. Two of the HF roller stands worked just fine, no problems at all. $15 each.

John

[Andrew J. Coholic]

An issue with outboard rollers is that they should be co-planar with the jointer's tables. If they're higher or lower, or cocked at an angle, they don't help. I use a seven-foot straight edge to set mine up. And if the stands are light enough that the end of the board can knock them out of alignment, that's a problem too. Andrew's stands are adjustable for height and twist, which is really good.

I also use a long aluminum level to set them up level with the in/outfeed table. And they are heavy enough to stay put.

Easy to make as well. Even easier with a CNC router :)

[jack forsberg]

I am with Jeff not a fan of the rollers. I have a simple out feet table . here its is


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6O-5eced7o

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Dennis, I would stay away from roller stands completely.

My jointer has clip on extension tables, that work great and are always in alignment as they're not floor referenced.

You could make a couple out of something flat like MDF of BB plywood, with one adjustable leg at the non jointer end.

This will give you flat surfaces that don't bias the wood in any way.

A simple angle iron bracket on the end of the infeed and outfeed table will do.......regards, Rod.

[Jamie Buxton]

....My jointer has clip on extension tables, that work great and are always in alignment as they're not floor referenced.
You could make a couple out of something flat like MDF of BB plywood, with one adjustable leg at the non jointer end....


Hunh? How can a table with a leg down to the floor not be floor referenced?

[lowell holmes]

I have a 6" Jet jointer. I use out feed stands frequently. They are adjustable and I adjust them to the proper height
using a straight board 96" long to level them. My jointer is on a roller stand, so permanent out feed stands is not an
option.

[Rod Sheridan]

Poorly described by me.

A single leg table only provides a reference in one plane, it can't twist the table...............regards, Rod.

[andrew whicker]

I see those extendable roller stands in auctions. They seem to go fairly cheap.

[Bill Orbine]

Just get a pair of human helping hands if you can. Works great.

[Chris Fournier]

Hammer/Felder design their machines with pretty short tables for and aft of the cutter. To address this and of course make $$$ they offer stamped steel extensions which attach to the castings. This is one reason that I went with an SCM instead of Hammer/Felder - bigger heavier castings.

If I had a basement workshop I'd likely have made a different choice.

I would agree that auxiliary rollers need to be co-planer with table to be of any use otherwise you really just have a different fight on your hands.

[Andrew J. Coholic]

Just get a pair of human helping hands if you can. Works great.

Not necessarily. The helper needs to also understand the proper techniques and move along with the operator, at the correct height.

In a working shop, the other guys can keep making money for me. That's a huge plus.

[Warren Lake]

A helper is a waste of time, wait for him to show up, then he has no feel, then I joint my own way so even more so leave me alone to work the material and dont interfere with my thinking or how I balance the board as its machined, just someone else to slow you down.

I have Melmine adjustable stands and groups of rollers on adjustable welded heavy bases. They blow away the melmine. The only roller negative is they have to be perfectly parrallel or your board wants to walk a bit sideways, Its best if all the rollers are the same height of course I made them so they are adjustable on either side turn a screw and they raise up.

Ive done 14-16 feet on the waxed melmine and then shifted to the rollers, the rollers at least a group in a heavy base were better but not a huge difference it was 4/4 x 8" wide rough pine so its light material.

last thing I jointed was 2" hard maple 12 feet 2" thick that was damp from sitting around a damp shop at floor level. I started on the waxed melmine and it was brutal. I switched to the rollers and the boards just fly. When weight or other aspects come in the rollers have no friction.

[Bill Orbine]

Really....it's not all that hard to understand. It's a very simple technique. Easy to train...very easy.


Not necessarily. The helper needs to also understand the proper techniques and move along with the operator, at the correct height.

In a working shop, the other guys can keep making money for me. That's a huge plus.

[Warren Lake]

been doing this full time for 36 years I understand it, wait for someone waste of time, every board is different and im reading the stress and where I place on he machine as I go

waste of time its a one man job

[Andrew J. Coholic]

Really....it's not all that hard to understand. It's a very simple technique. Easy to train...very easy.




Really, Ive been running a professional wood shop for 20+ years, and have trained several employees over the years. I know it can be taught, but the question is: why?

So, it makes more sense to me to get one of my guys, take him off a job making me $70 or $80/hr, and then pay him his wage (while not making anything) to help me run wood over the jointer? Or - I can pull my rollers out and do it solo just as fast or in many cases faster.

If it is one piece or two, I can see your point. But often we are jointing several hundred to over a thousand board feet of lumber, maybe several hours to more than a days work.

I know what makes more sense to me... YMMV. :)

[Andrew J. Coholic]

I also agree with Warren. I had a large melamine support (attached to my old 16" jointer with a large pin slid through a set of fingers, think like a large heavy duty piano hinge) with support legs. I prefer rollers.

WHatever works, works. Whether it is rollers, table or an extra pair of hands. No one right answer, but I know what works best for me.