Jointech Cabinetmakers System questions

[Gene Collison]

I recently purchased a Jointech 1232 Cabinetmakers system and have been having some quality issues with the product. I was wondering if my problems are typical or an isolated case. I like the system very much but the quality on it is suspect, first off I have had to shim almost every aspect of it to get proper alignment. It mentions in the book that you may have to shim to set the fence at 90* to the table, however the mounting ears that attach the fence to the clincher are not even co-planar. When shimmed for 90, you can slip a business card between one of the mounting ears. I had to shim the face of the vertical push fixture to square it with the table, the shoe that rides on the table was lifting the VPF off the table because the extrusion appears to be tweaked.
This is the worst part, I was using the fence to do some edging on a project I am working on. I noticed snipe at the end of the cut, I checked and the fence halves were offset. Upon further checking with a straight edge I found that the fence halves have high spots and low spots to the degree that you can rock a part on the high spots. Incredibly out of flat!
My question, is this typical of this system? I am prepared to turn it back in for an Incra. OK, I wrote an email to the technical dept. at Jointech presenting some of my concerns, this was last Wednesday. No answer yet, I write another one Friday about noon, no response from it either.
Any comments on whether this is typical of the product or Jointech would be appreciated. Any recommendations on how to deal with it would be appreciated, my next step was going to be to call Jointech on Monday morning and see what they have to say.

Gene

[Larry Heflin]

I don't think what you describe is typical for Jointech. I also have a cabinet maker system although I have not used it much yet. I did a lot of research before I bought mine and overwhelmingly Jointech is praised for high quality by those who are using their stuff. Like any product however, that doesn't rule out the occassional problem. I think you should call them and talk to someone personally. I talked to them on the phone a couple of times and they seemed helpful. If I recall from reading on their online forum, they were not real prompt with responding to emails. I seem to remember reading of similar frustration over no email response. Their whole forte is precision. I would insist on getting just that.


Larry

[Gene Collison]

Larry,

Since you have one, would you mind checking the fence surfaces with a straight edge just to see how straight yours are? Mine are terrible. TIA

Gene

[Sam Chambers]

Gene:

I don't think this is typical. Jointech's quality is normally top notch. Call them on Monday and I'm sure they'll take care of you. They're really good people to work with, especially Terry.

[Gredo Goldenstein]

I have the Jointech Smart Miter. I bought it at one of the WoodWorking shows. The first day of the show I bought an Incra miter gauge. I took it home and was unimpressed. I took it back the next day and bought the Smart Miter. I was/am very happy with it. Nicely constructed/true calibration. I talked with the gentleman from Jointech who sold it to me the following year at the same Woodworking Show. He remembered who I was (repeated the Incra story to me) and was very helpful. I have heard similar stories about emails to them. Calling seems to get a better response.

Thats my experience with Jointech, for what it's worth.

[Gene Collison]

Guys,

It's good to hear all of these good things about Jointech. Other than the problems I have encountered I do like the design of the system. I may be an isolated case here. I'll give them a call Monday and hopefully get the problems taken care of.

Gene

[Larry Heflin]

Larry,

Since you have one, would you mind checking the fence surfaces with a straight edge just to see how straight yours are? Mine are terrible. TIA

Gene

Hey Gene,

I put a straight edge on mine and it's perfect. Judging by your description, yours has been run over by a truck. Did you notice any tire tracks? I don't understand how this thing can be that far out of whack. If it isn't a matter of simple adjustments then you have a defective product. I don't know how it could get that way but definitely, talk to Jointech.

Larry

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

I've Emailed several times about one thing or another on the past year, and I don't think I've ever received a response to any of them. Call them...they DO answer the phone.

[JayStPeter]

I think shimming for square is normal for both Jointech and Incra. I have some tape on my Jointech system and I had some on my Incra for that reason. My fence is very flat, so I would call them on that one. I had a problem with my sled and they sent a new part immediately.

Jay

[Keith Hall]

Gene, I have had my Sawtrain system for 4 yrs and have not had the QC problems you have encountered. Yes, shims were required on the fence. Other alignment problems were traced back to aligning the blade to the saw table. I thought I had it set properly, but............. Once that was corrected, everything else has been fine. I talk to Terry at each WW show in Atlanta or by phone at the home office about maintenance issues or other questions that I have. His advise has been right on target each time. Give him a call. Keith:)

[Gene Collison]

Thanks for the response guys. I checked it again yesterday just to re-confirm my findings. Shimming the fence to square it to the table is not a problem, but the ears on my bracket are not co-planar, one doesn't touch the fence. About the fence straightness, there is a definite problem there. The infeed is not straight but livable, the outfeed has I would say a 3/64 hill about 4" off center. It is high enough that I can rock a short piece of stock on it. It's enough so it moves the cut away from the cutter about 3/64. No tire tracks on it, it's a heavy piece of aluminum, don't see how it could accidently get bent. I'll give them a call this morning, we'll see waht happens.

Gene

[Hal Flynt]

Thanks for the response guys. I checked it again yesterday just to re-confirm my findings. Shimming the fence to square it to the table is not a problem, but the ears on my bracket are not co-planar, one doesn't touch the fence. About the fence straightness, there is a definite problem there. The infeed is not straight but livable, the outfeed has I would say a 3/64 hill about 4" off center. It is high enough that I can rock a short piece of stock on it. It's enough so it moves the cut away from the cutter about 3/64. No tire tracks on it, it's a heavy piece of aluminum, don't see how it could accidently get bent. I'll give them a call this morning, we'll see waht happens.

Gene

I don't think what you have is typical at all. I think I have shimed my fence to 90 degrees with 1 piece of blue masking tape. I set my son-in-laws up with about the same amount. All our fence faces are straight flat and plumb.

Terry and Earnest have been most helpful getting the allen head adjustments corrected on mine. I get results using the following email.

techsupport@jointech.com

Main site www.jointech.com

[Larry Heflin]

Gene,

Keep us informed. I'm always curious to see how helpful a manufacturer is in resolving customer issues. I'm also interested in knowing why your fence is the way it is. I hope you're making cabinets (or whatever) with your "Cabinetmaker" soon.

Larry

[Gene Collison]

I was in touch with Ernest today, I explained my problems with the removable Smartfence pieces not being straight. He stated that they were checked before leaving but I have a hunch these may have been checked on Friday afternoon just before quittting time. Anyway, my interaction was good and they are shipping new parts out today, so we'll see what happens. I am pleased to hear all of the positive things you guys have to say about Jointech. I'm sure I'm on my way to getting my problems taken care of, when the parts come in I'll post my progress. Hal, I have used the same link that you have listed, no replies yet.

Gene

[Gene Collison]

After being told that the parts would go out yesterday I recieved an email yesterday afternoon asking to confirm what my problem was. My email answer was it is exactly as you have stated, confirming that my fence was bent. To further explain my problem I sent a JPEG to the sender Ernest showing a jointed board resting against the fence clearly showing the bent area. A nice clear shot! Late this afternnoon I get another email from a different guy seemingly ignoring my JPEG showing the bent fence and explaining snipe and how it happens and asking me to bring my fence halves together to see if they meet. I sent 3 more JPEGS one showing a Woodcraft precision straightedge against the crooked fence clearly illustrating the bend, the other two showing the crooked part lying on a granite surface plate with one end off the plate and a .024 feeler gage loosely under it. It appears to be about 30 thousandths out of whack since the .024 leaf slips easily under it. It also appears that at this point in time my parts did not get shipped. So at this point in time I have had this thing more than a week and have not been able to use it. We'll see what happens tomorrow but my patience is wearing thin.

Gene

[John Miliunas]

Hmmmm....Me thinks that maybe my patience would be wearing a bit more than just thin at this point!:mad: That's pretty poor Customer Service in my book!:mad: Gene, I sure as heck you get it resolved or get your money back. This is NOT going very well for their reputation, that's for certain!:cool:

[Andy Howard]

Sounds like they are not giving you good customer service at all. I recently ordered an Incra ls router system from woodpeckers. While I have not received it yet, I did call them and spoke with Perry (who is their technical guy) about some basic questions I had. He was more than happy to help me, even though I dont have the system yet. He answered some questions I had about mouting and setup etc. Then he went on to give me some good tips and information to keep in mind when I am using it!

I hope you get this resolved.

Also, be sure to check out a free software package called "Template Maker". It will actually let you print out half blind dovetail templates to use on your Incra or Jointech system. You can specify your exact router bit you want to use, wood thickness, spacing, pin to tail ratio, number of pairs of pins and tails, etc. The coolest thing is that it will show you on the screen how the joint will look as you change the parameters. Pretty neat software and its free!

Andy

[Bernie Weishapl]

Gene when the third guy sent another e-mail after sending pictures and he would be getting it back with me getting my money back.

[Gene Collison]

Sounds like they are not giving you good customer service at all. I recently ordered an Incra ls router system from woodpeckers. While I have not received it yet, I did call them and spoke with Perry (who is their technical guy) about some basic questions I had. He was more than happy to help me, even though I dont have the system yet. He answered some questions I had about mouting and setup etc. Then he went on to give me some good tips and information to keep in mind when I am using it!

I hope you get this resolved.

Also, be sure to check out a free software package called "Template Maker". It will actually let you print out half blind dovetail templates to use on your Incra or Jointech system. You can specify your exact router bit you want to use, wood thickness, spacing, pin to tail ratio, number of pairs of pins and tails, etc. The coolest thing is that it will show you on the screen how the joint will look as you change the parameters. Pretty neat software and its free!

Andy

Andy,

I am extremely jealous at this point about anyone getting good service concerning an incremental fence. Hopefully something good will happen today about mine or else it's going back tomorrow. I'm ready to throw in the towel.

Gene

[Bert Johansen]

I acquired the cabinetmaker system from JoinTech a few weeks ago and it is flawless. No shims required at all, out of the box. This is a high-quality, precision system!

I picked the equipment up at their HQ in San Antonio. It was my second visit to their showroom, and I met two of their techs--both very knowledgeable and friendly. I probably spent three hours altogether before I made the purchase.

Sounds like your unit was mangled in shipping. Good luck getting your problems resolved. I couldn't be happier with my purchase and highly recommend their system.

Bert

[Sam Chambers]

Gene:

I can understand your frustration. Having dealt with Jointech in the past (I have a Saw Train and a Smart Miter), I can tell you that this is absolutely not the level of service I've received from them.

My advice is to call (not e-mail) again, and ask to speak with Terry Adams. Terry's father founded the company, and Terry is the VP (I believe). Tell him you're a new customer, and you're disappointed with the product and with the level of customer service you've received so far. I'm sure he'll take care of you.

[Gene Collison]

Sam And Bert,

I am quite surprised too at the level of service, it seemed they were reluctant to believe that one of their products could be less than perfect. I had to send them 4 pictures to make my charges stick. I have been told the parts to correct my problem are enroute, so we'll see what happens. Bert, your correct, it is a high precision system, that's what prompted my purchase. My problems will get worked out I am sure. Sam, I am not quite ready to call management yet, I have to give these guys a chance.

Gene

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

Sam And Bert,

.... Sam, I am not quite ready to call management yet, I have to give these guys a chance.

Gene

At Jointech, I'm pretty sure if you get a male voice on the phone, chances of them being 'management' are about 75%.

[Gene Collison]

Just wanted to let you Jointech enthusiasts know that my replacement parts came today and they are dead straight. It turned out well afterall, a bit of a communication problem at first, but at the end we were all on the same page. I returned my deformed fence parts for their examination.

Gene

[Bert Johansen]

Glad it worked out OK. Now get to work and send us some pictures of the great stuff you make on the Cabinetmakers System!

Bert

[John Miliunas]

Awriiiiiight!!!! :D Happy to hear that they came through with good parts for you! I don't blame you one bit for being aggrevated at the "bumpy" communications but, in the end, they stood behind their product. Who knows? You may have alerted them to a QA issue in the process!:) Now, like Bert said, let's see some output from that gem!:) :cool:

[Gene Collison]

Awriiiiiight!!!! :D Happy to hear that they came through with good parts for you! I don't blame you one bit for being aggrevated at the "bumpy" communications but, in the end, they stood behind their product. Who knows? You may have alerted them to a QA issue in the process!:) Now, like Bert said, let's see some output from that gem!:) :cool:

Not only did I get the parts John, I am hooked up with this thing already. Little teenie weenie half blind dovetails coming off of it already. Almost minature, it will add a lot of capabilities for me in the small area. Cool tool! Happy as can be!

Gene

[John Miliunas]

So which model/size did you get? I note they have different increments of them.:) :cool:

[Gene Collison]

So which model/size did you get? I note they have different increments of them.:) :cool:

John,

I bought the JT 1232 mainly because it comes closest to the dimensions of my table. I don't visualize ever needing more than 12" of travel. If I do, I will just go back to my stock fence.

Gene