Jointer Safety

[Tim M Tuttle]

I've been milling up a lot of white oak the past two nights. While I was using my jointer I started to ponder safety. For something like the table saw there are a lot of common safety procedures/dos/donts. A lot more than a jointer which makes sense as there are a lot more variables with the table saw than the jointer.

For the jointer it seems like it all just comes down to not letting your hand get into the cutter head. Simple enough but am wondering if there are some dos/donts you all have for working on the jointer. I always use push blocks when face jointing and edge jointing smaller stock and I only take off 1/32 per pass regardless of how much I have to mill. Thoughts?

[Doug Dawson]

I've been milling up a lot of white oak the past two nights. While I was using my jointer I started to ponder safety. For something like the table saw there are a lot of common safety procedures/dos/donts. A lot more than a jointer which makes sense as there are a lot more variables with the table saw than the jointer.

For the jointer it seems like it all just comes down to not letting your hand get into the cutter head. Simple enough but am wondering if there are some dos/donts you all have for working on the jointer. I always use push blocks when face jointing and edge jointing smaller stock and I only take off 1/32 per pass regardless of how much I have to mill. Thoughts?


1) Don't be trippin' when you're jointing. The blades are not as fascinating as you think they are.
2) Don't lift the jointer up by its ears. It hates that.
3) Always make sure the travel path of your feet is clear of any objects.
4) Never wear gloves.
5) If you're going to fall, fall backwards not forwards (so wear a helmet.)

That is all.

[Mark e Kessler]

U are gona get alot of blow back on #4, lol...


1) Don't be trippin' when you're jointing. The blades are not as fascinating as you think they are.
2) Don't lift the jointer up by its ears. It hates that.
3) Always make sure the travel path of your feet is clear of any objects.
4) Never wear gloves.
5) If you're going to fall, fall backwards not forwards (so wear a helmet.)

That is all.

[John TenEyck]

Never joint anything shorter than about 10". Use a hand plane for those.

John

[Patrick Kane]

Tim,

Most safety measures are as simple as you put it. Being safe around a table saw is as simple as "dont put your hand in the spinning blade". As far as the jointer, if you use push blocks for all face jointing, then you are most of the way there. I think the majority of jointer accidents involve people putting the heel of their right hand into the cutterhead as they push the end of the board through the cut. For the most part, if you keep your hands on the outfeed table you are out of harm's way. For edging, Ive seen it taught where you constantly reposition your hands a foot above and over the cutterhead in an arc as you feed the board. In this case, i would suggest minding your pinky. Dont hang it out there like you are drinking tea with the queen. I always keep my thumb on the top o the board if i can to keep my hand from falling down. You want to push into the fence and forward and not so much downward into the table/cutterhead.

What guard do you have? I like a euro bridge guard for edging. You can set it low and very tight to the fence to make it all but impossible to injure yourself.

[Tim M Tuttle]

Tim,

Most safety measures are as simple as you put it. Being safe around a table saw is as simple as "dont put your hand in the spinning blade". As far as the jointer, if you use push blocks for all face jointing, then you are most of the way there. I think the majority of jointer accidents involve people putting the heel of their right hand into the cutterhead as they push the end of the board through the cut. For the most part, if you keep your hands on the outfeed table you are out of harm's way. For edging, Ive seen it taught where you constantly reposition your hands a foot above and over the cutterhead in an arc as you feed the board. In this case, i would suggest minding your pinky. Dont hang it out there like you are drinking tea with the queen. I always keep my thumb on the top o the board if i can to keep my hand from falling down. You want to push into the fence and forward and not so much downward into the table/cutterhead.

What guard do you have? I like a euro bridge guard for edging. You can set it low and very tight to the fence to make it all but impossible to injure yourself.

I just have the stock guard that came with my jointer (Steelex ST1101, same as Grizzly G0490X).

I don't think table saw safety is as simple as put it because that doesnt account for kickback. But that's for another thread I guess :D

[Darcy Warner]

I don't use a guard on my 30" jointer, I use gloves sometimes.

[Doug Dawson]

I just have the stock guard that came with my jointer (Steelex ST1101, same as Grizzly G0490X).

I don't think table saw safety is as simple as put it because that doesnt account for kickback. But that's for another thread I guess :D

Speaking of which, does anyone know of a replacement guard for a Powermatic 882? The standard guard kind of sucks, I have cardboard taped to mine, etc. It's by far the cheesiest part of an otherwise good machine.

Another safety rule:

6) Familiarize yourself with (and picture in your mind beforehand) the weaknesses and potential failings of the guard on your jointer, and do NOT react "in the moment" to something that doesn't look like it's going as planned. This might require some stamina.

[Andrew Hughes]

For me it’s just keep the knifes sharp.
When the feed pressure goes up I start thinking about when to swap them out. Most of the time I sit in a chair in front of my machine and pass wood over the head. Long boards I stand up .
I don’t like helical heads with the 30 degree facebevel on the Carbide inserts. Because it’s takes too much downward and push pressure.
I also have my guard set aside it just gets in the way.
Good Luck

[Doug Dawson]

For me it’s just keep the knifes sharp.
When the feed pressure goes up I start thinking about when to swap them out. Most of the time I sit in a chair in front of my machine and pass wood over the head. Long boards I stand up .
I don’t like helical heads with the 30 degree facebevel on the Carbide inserts. Because it’s takes too much downward and push pressure.
I also have my guard set aside it just gets in the way.


May I introduce

7) Don't throw away the guard.

7a) (Corollary) If it feels unsafe, it probably is. (Perhaps the most general theorem in power tooldom.)

[Andrew Hughes]

No worries Doug I wouldn’t throw away the guard.
It’s the original to the machine Made in Grand Rapids Michigan.
It’s really a really long PorkChop.

Good Luck

[Doug Dawson]

No worries Doug I wouldn’t throw away the guard.
It’s the original to the machine Made in Grand Rapids Michigan.
It’s really a really long PorkChop.


It's good that you mentioned sitting in a chair (although I've never tried that, personally.) There is a certain balletic motion that goes into feeding the stock (face anyway.) IOW, applying pressure to "deform" the stock to conform with the beds is not always productive, if you want to remove the minimal amount of stock to get the job done.

[John TenEyck]

I don't use a guard on my 30" jointer, I use gloves sometimes.

I thought the OP was asking about safe working practices.

John

[Darcy Warner]

I thought the OP was asking about safe working practices.

John

It's how I feel safe using a 30" machine.

[Jacob Reverb]

Somewhere I heard jointers are one of the leading sources of injuries in WW, probably because people aren't as careful around them as around spinning saw blades.

One thing I always think about is kickback, and where my (pushing) hands would go if the workpiece suddenly disappeared...

[Dylan Wyatt]

When edge jointing, my left hand is always on the outfeed table side holding the board down/against the fence. Left hand is pushing the board through. For normal width (6"-8" boards) when my left hand is within 2' of the blades, my thumb goes to the top of the board and I push with the side of my hand with ALL of my fingers curled making a fist. When I was in school, the shop teacher showed me a picture of his uncle with all of his fingers jointed to the length of his ring finger, say no more, always curl those fingers.

50% of woodworking safety is always knowing where your hands are in relation to the blade and how they would move if something unexpected happened. The other 50% is don't be dumb, if it seems sketchy, it probably is. I've had one accident with the tablesaw, I touched the side of the blade when trying to catch a piece of scrap, I was tired and aggravated with the project I was working on. Know when it's time to take a break and go for a walk.

[Jacob Reverb]

When edge jointing, my left hand is always on the outfeed table side holding the board down/against the fence. Left hand is pushing the board through. For normal width (6"-8" boards) when my left hand is within 2' of the blades, my thumb goes to the top of the board and I push with the side of my hand with ALL of my fingers curled making a fist. When I was in school, the shop teacher showed me a picture of his uncle with all of his fingers jointed to the length of his ring finger, say no more, always curl those fingers.

I agree with curling the fingers to somewhat protect them, but I'm always leery of putting my hands past the cutter. Just as with putting your hand on the far side of a tablesaw blade, in the event of a kickback, your hand (along with the workpiece) could be kicked back toward the cutter or blade, though it's less of a concern with a jointer than a saw...the jointer is one tool where I almost always use push blocks/push pads, particularly with small workpieces.

[Mark Carlson]

Found a good jointer safety video on youtube by a guy that teaches shop. Look for "How to use a jointer". Guys name is Mr. Kosloski. One safety tip from that I don't hear mentioned often is adjusting the fence so the theres minimum cutter head exposed.

[Brian Holcombe]

Wax your tables so the wood can move well. One thing I like a lot about my jointer is the surface finish, which is made so that the wood is moving along the high spots. I’ve worked on precision ground tables and they’re awful, the wood is practically glued to the thing as it gets flat.

I don’t muscle the work on the jointer, I think many people use much more downward pressure than necessary.

I use a gripper for face jointing.

[Jim Becker]

Wax your tables so the wood can move well. One thing I like a lot about my jointer is the surface finish, which is made so that the wood is moving along the high spots. I’ve worked on precision ground tables and they’re awful, the wood is practically glued to the thing as it gets flat.


The ground surface is particularly helpful when face jointing wider stock because as the material actually gets "flat", the effect with a flat, smooth bed is something akin to "suction". It can really stick down hard and make the workpiece hard to move! :) The grind (Blanchard I think?) on some machine beds helps to break that "suction".




I don’t muscle the work on the jointer, I think many people use much more downward pressure than necessary.



Exactly. The whole point of a jointer is to knock off the "high spots" until you have a perfectly flat surface. When folks press down hard, they are distorting the surface and taking material from the "low spots", too.

[Robert Hazelwood]

What do you guys do for edge jointing narrower pieces? I find the normal push pads awkward to use with these, seem to have better control using my hands directly. Of course then your fingers are really close to the table, so I just try to keep them a foot or so away from the cutterhead on either side. I can envision a type of pushstick that might help but it would either have to be adjustable or be custom made for various board widths.

[glenn bradley]

It's how I feel safe using a 30" machine.

The jointer in Maloof's shop. Canvas backed like some tambours.

417826

Wish I would've gotten better pics of it. I keep meaning to drop by.

[Tim M Tuttle]

A few in this thread have mentioned not running your hands over the cutter. Do you all mean you never have your hands over the cutter at all? My left hand moves over the cutter in the beginning to get the piece to the outfeed side. I just can't see any other way to do the operation without having one of your hands over the cutter at some point. I always use push pads when face jointing regardless of the thickness of the stock but it is a little unnerving having your hand an inch or two away from the cutter.

In regards to kickback, I always pay really close attention to the grain and try and joint downhill as much as possible and I always take pretty light cuts.

[Erik Loza]

Wax your tables so the wood can move well... I use a gripper for face jointing.

Yup, yup, yup! ^^^^

It's like a night and day difference with wax and +1 for the Gripper.

Erik

[Darcy Warner]

The jointer in Maloof's shop. Canvas backed like some tambours.

417826

Wish I would've gotten better pics of it. I keep meaning to drop by.

I think Suva made those.

I have enough of the fold up sections to make a gaurd for my 30, it doesn't take much width until a conventional style gaurd makes the jointer almost impossible to use.

[Brian Holcombe]

I like those fold down guards, they’re a smart and practical design. I used one on a Martin and found it’s a great guard in my opinion. Nice to have to walk around the guard.

[lowell holmes]

I always use push blocks when running the jointer.

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbm=isch&sxsrf=ACYBGNRtMnICNCpstxPFz1imUdSRXkpSwg%3A1571330 468180&source=hp&biw=1523&bih=726&ei=pJmoXcjFB6jE0PEPqsO_GA&q=push+blocks+for+table+saws&oq=push+blocks&gs_l=img.1.1.0l3j0i5i30l2j0i8i30l2j0i24l3.5222.330 356..333580...0.0..0.124.1835.20j1......0....1..gw s-wiz-img.....10..35i362i39j35i39j0i131.WQHvxXwUbJA

[John TenEyck]

The jointer in Maloof's shop. Canvas backed like some tambours.

417826

Wish I would've gotten better pics of it. I keep meaning to drop by.

That jointer and guard look exactly like the Zefam my friend has with different badging. Made in Poland, like a battleship. That style guard is about the only practical way of going about it on wide jointers.

John

[Mike Cutler]

A few in this thread have mentioned not running your hands over the cutter. Do you all mean you never have your hands over the cutter at all? My left hand moves over the cutter in the beginning to get the piece to the outfeed side. I just can't see any other way to do the operation without having one of your hands over the cutter at some point. I always use push pads when face jointing regardless of the thickness of the stock but it is a little unnerving having your hand an inch or two away from the cutter.

In regards to kickback, I always pay really close attention to the grain and try and joint downhill as much as possible and I always take pretty light cuts.

Tim

Yes, your left hand will pass over the cutter head on the first motion for edge jointing, but after that the left hand should come to just in front of the cutter head.
I typically like to move my fence to expose as little blade as practical, and then rely on the spring loaded guard to keep my hands away from the cutter head. If the guard is on place, and working properly, my hand never gets within 2" of the spinning cutter head.
For face jointing, no, my hand does not pass over the cutter head. I will feed it through about 6 inches and then put my left hand down on the material on the out feed table. I'll sacrifice a few inches of board, instead of risking that board braking, or splitting with my hand directly over the cutter head.

I do not wear gloves in the shop, and as a general rule while operating any machine. I have used them for working with Wenge and Shedua, because of the splinters,but rarely, very rarely, for anything else. No gloves around rotating machinery.

[Jim Becker]

I use a Euro/Bridge guard and my hands never get near the bottom of it where the spinning knives are. :) I can slip them over the top if extra control is needed after the leading edge of the board is engaged, but I try to avoid that whenever possible.

[Mark e Kessler]

I rarely if even ever use push blocks on a jointer, with proper technique you don't need them, I would be more prone to use one on a jointer with a porkchop guard, with a euro guard I have never felt the need.



I always use push blocks when running the jointer.

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbm=isch&sxsrf=ACYBGNRtMnICNCpstxPFz1imUdSRXkpSwg%3A1571330 468180&source=hp&biw=1523&bih=726&ei=pJmoXcjFB6jE0PEPqsO_GA&q=push+blocks+for+table+saws&oq=push+blocks&gs_l=img.1.1.0l3j0i5i30l2j0i8i30l2j0i24l3.5222.330 356..333580...0.0..0.124.1835.20j1......0....1..gw s-wiz-img.....10..35i362i39j35i39j0i131.WQHvxXwUbJA

[Edward Dyas]

I've been milling up a lot of white oak the past two nights. While I was using my jointer I started to ponder safety. For something like the table saw there are a lot of common safety procedures/dos/donts. A lot more than a jointer which makes sense as there are a lot more variables with the table saw than the jointer.

For the jointer it seems like it all just comes down to not letting your hand get into the cutter head. Simple enough but am wondering if there are some dos/donts you all have for working on the jointer. I always use push blocks when face jointing and edge jointing smaller stock and I only take off 1/32 per pass regardless of how much I have to mill. Thoughts?For me I think the most dangerous aspect of a jointer is the push blocks they give you when you buy a new jointer. I tried them for about an hour with the purchase of a new jointer and found they slip way too easily and promptly threw them in the trash. I then fabricated a push block which looks like a hand plane with a block on the black end of it you can hook on the end of the board.

[David Zaret]

i would put a vote in for lubricating the bed and fence, routinely, so the wood slides easily. the times when i've felt the most concerned for my safety is when i have to overcome a lot of friction - a well-waxed bed and fence means less pressure and force.

that said, my push blocks are chunks of 2x6s with black pipe handles and drywall screws to catch the surface. no chance of them tipping or leaving the material surface.

[Carl Beckett]

+1 on minimal pressure and sharp knives (this is similar to pocket knife safety, the easier it cuts the less built up energy to go the wrong way).

I have girls. Hair tied back. But I like to wear long sleeve shirts, and around the jointer in particular I always check to be sure they are buttoned tight at the wrist (or more often I remove the shirt when jointing)

I keep hearing about the Gripper.... I am going to have to try one, do not know if I love them or hate them (seems to be bipolar on this topic).

My guard is off. As a combo machine it makes it a little more frustrating to keep the guard on because the top surface is also the TS and Shaper table. So a guard gets in the way there. And sharp knives, even stationary, can cause knicks. The fence has to be put on/off. One time I ran the jointer without the fence because was just facing the board. I think that is a bad idea, having that extra guide helps stabilize things.

Agree on using the outfeed table as the reference plane, so your hands are after the blades as much as possible (the accidents I know of personally were ones where the board kicked out/slipped but the downward pressure/momentum of the operator meant their hand went into the cutter head). Give a mental thought to where the trajectory of things would be if something did go wrong, plan for that with technique.

[Tim M Tuttle]

+1 on minimal pressure and sharp knives (this is similar to pocket knife safety, the easier it cuts the less built up energy to go the wrong way).

I have girls. Hair tied back. But I like to wear long sleeve shirts, and around the jointer in particular I always check to be sure they are buttoned tight at the wrist (or more often I remove the shirt when jointing)

I keep hearing about the Gripper.... I am going to have to try one, do not know if I love them or hate them (seems to be bipolar on this topic).

My guard is off. As a combo machine it makes it a little more frustrating to keep the guard on because the top surface is also the TS and Shaper table. So a guard gets in the way there. And sharp knives, even stationary, can cause knicks. The fence has to be put on/off. One time I ran the jointer without the fence because was just facing the board. I think that is a bad idea, having that extra guide helps stabilize things.

Agree on using the outfeed table as the reference plane, so your hands are after the blades as much as possible (the accidents I know of personally were ones where the board kicked out/slipped but the downward pressure/momentum of the operator meant their hand went into the cutter head). Give a mental thought to where the trajectory of things would be if something did go wrong, plan for that with technique.

I always use the Gripper push pad on the rear. It has retractable hooks that can drop down and hook behind the piece.

[Mel Fulks]

This has been covered pretty well. But you forgot one thing! For some ,especially employees, using a jointer is just
pushing a piece of wood. That makes them zone out. I face with bow down . That often causes the board itself to
straighten. Some think that is dangerous. The real danger is not understanding that you have to think when you work.
Employees who think it's boring are usually not happy with the excitement of the emergency room either.

[Brian Holcombe]

I do the same as Mel, for the same reason. It helps to straighten the board if you work with the bowed side down.

I actually cut a very light hollow into long boards (1/64" over 8' or so) so that they straighten perfectly after being planed.

[Andrew More]

I keep hearing about the Gripper.... I am going to have to try one, do not know if I love them or hate them (seems to be bipolar on this topic).

I've got a Grrripper, it's a great $20 tool with a $60 price tag.

That having been said I've got a couple of push blocks that came with the jointer, and John Heitz style push stick (https://ibuildit.ca/projects/plywood-push-stick/). I use the blocks on the front to hold down the wood, and the push stick in the back, where it can hook onto the back edge of the board. I like these sorts of push blocks (https://www.amazon.com/POWERTEC-71032-Push-Blocks-2-Pack/dp/B01998GS36) since they completely cover my hands in hard plastic, and I'd need to push them over to expose flesh. Since they're very stable it's hard to do.

I feel the Grripper is really at it's best on the table saw, where it can be used to push on both sides of the cut at once. On the jointer there is no such need.

[Tim M Tuttle]

I've got a Grrripper, it's a great $20 tool with a $60 price tag.

That having been said I've got a couple of push blocks that came with the jointer, and John Heitz style push stick (https://ibuildit.ca/projects/plywood-push-stick/). I use the blocks on the front to hold down the wood, and the push stick in the back, where it can hook onto the back edge of the board. I like these sorts of push blocks (https://www.amazon.com/POWERTEC-71032-Push-Blocks-2-Pack/dp/B01998GS36) since they completely cover my hands in hard plastic, and I'd need to push them over to expose flesh. Since they're very stable it's hard to do.

I feel the Grripper is really at it's best on the table saw, where it can be used to push on both sides of the cut at once. On the jointer there is no such need.

This is the one I use on my jointer.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DNX3N7S/ref=twister_B07B3QTTTJ?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

[Doug Dawson]

I do the same as Mel, for the same reason. It helps to straighten the board if you work with the bowed side down.

I actually cut a very light hollow into long boards (1/64" over 8' or so) so that they straighten perfectly after being planed.

Hmmm, you mention 8' boards. I find that the "focus" (for want of a better word) of the bow or a kink _often_ tends to be related to a knot or some kind of discontinuity or grain reversal or some other subtle stress on the tree. To this end, before surfacing, I like to simply separate the stressed parts (i.e. cut into rough components well in advance of any other work.) I work with "full-sized" furniture, and it's rare that I surface anything even close to 8'.

Safety-related: don't work with boards bigger than you have to.

Of course this originated with having used hand planes for most of my surfacing in the past. You can imagine why.

[Dave Mount]

I'm not clear on what folks mean by "bowed side down" -- does that mean the convex face or the concave face is down?

Agree on sharp knives, slick tables, and light pressure. If you have to use a lot of pressure, then one of the first two probably isn't true.

Not sure anyone has mentioned looking out for major knots or other defects that create short grain (grain angled significantly to the face). Likely source of blowouts or kickback if the grain starts to separate.

Another thing is taking care with pieces that have a crook near the end that, if you have concave face down, can "fall into" the cutterhead as the leading edge comes off the infeed table, causing a much deeper than planned cut and forces that could create kickback. If you have that situation, safer (IMHO) to do a couple quick passes starting with the bulk of the board on the outfeed table and only the "protruding" end on the infeed table, then just drag the trailing end across. Flip end for end and repeat if both ends are a problem. Once you have a few inches flat, go to a normal feed. A "dragging" cut can still overfeed and want to grab, but if it does, the board is being pulled backward away from you instead of being thrown toward you. Of course, the even safer approach is to do some initial flattening with another tool so it's not an issue.

Best,

Dave

[Mark Hennebury]

People zone out using the jointer... wow, never would have thought that. to me the jointer is the most engaging and enjoyable operation that you can do; Eyeballing the lumber, making decisions on how and where to cut to get the maximum yield out of a stick, varying the pressure, balancing the twisted ones, and snipping a bit of opposing corners, flipping the boards, all of the decisions and control required to get the best results.....altogether a fun and rewarding job.

[Kevin Jenness]

"bowed side down" for me means convex side down- I don't know why, but like Mel and Brian I find I have better luck straightening out bowed pieces that way.

[Brian Holcombe]

Hmmm, you mention 8' boards. I find that the "focus" (for want of a better word) of the bow or a kink _often_ tends to be related to a knot or some kind of discontinuity or grain reversal or some other subtle stress on the tree. To this end, before surfacing, I like to simply separate the stressed parts (i.e. cut into rough components well in advance of any other work.) I work with "full-sized" furniture, and it's rare that I surface anything even close to 8'.

Safety-related: don't work with boards bigger than you have to.

Of course this originated with having used hand planes for most of my surfacing in the past. You can imagine why.

My first three years in business I dimensioned every piece of stock by hand, joint and thickness.

I don’t disagree with your process but I’m not sure what you’re implying with respect to my length callout? I assume you mean to suggest that I joint boards before turning them into parts, if that is the case it is incorrect. I work long material for table tops, bookcase sides, door stiles, etc. I rough cut into smaller when the parts are smaller.

Not sure where long long boards are unsafe in my shop, I have 16’ of support, they are in fact safer because I’m never near the cutter when working longer boards.

I’m making a 54” wide 7’ long table top today, last month I had a 42” x 9’.

I work with mainly quartersawn and rift. As example, making 8’ long shoji screens which require 1.5” x 1.25” perfectly straight stiles. It is no easy task.

[Doug Dawson]

I'm not clear on what folks mean by "bowed side down" -- does that mean the convex face or the concave face is down?

Agree on sharp knives, slick tables, and light pressure. If you have to use a lot of pressure, then one of the first two probably isn't true.

Not sure anyone has mentioned looking out for major knots or other defects that create short grain (grain angled significantly to the face). Likely source of blowouts or kickback if the grain starts to separate.

Another thing is taking care with pieces that have a crook near the end that, if you have concave face down, can "fall into" the cutterhead as the leading edge comes off the infeed table, causing a much deeper than planned cut and forces that could create kickback. If you have that situation, safer (IMHO) to do a couple quick passes starting with the bulk of the board on the outfeed table and only the "protruding" end on the infeed table, then just drag the trailing end across. Flip end for end and repeat if both ends are a problem. Once you have a few inches flat, go to a normal feed. A "dragging" cut can still overfeed and want to grab, but if it does, the board is being pulled backward away from you instead of being thrown toward you. Of course, the even safer approach is to do some initial flattening with another tool so it's not an issue.


Boards are always cut straight at the mill, and bow afterwards (particularly after drying.) That much we can all agree on. Compression wood shrinks a lot more when it dries, causing it to bow towards the direction of compression, i.e. in the concave direction. Shaving off the _opposite_ side (the convex side) can somewhat relieve this stress that causes the wood to deform its shape (bow), particularly when focussed on the apex of the bow.

Re your last paragraph, a scrub plane or a power planer is helpful.

[Doug Dawson]

My first three years in business I dimensioned every piece of stock by hand, joint and thickness.

I don’t disagree with your process but I’m not sure what you’re implying with respect to my length callout? I assume you mean to suggest that I joint boards before turning them into parts, if that is the case it is incorrect. I work long material for table tops, bookcase sides, door stiles, etc. I rough cut into smaller when the parts are smaller.

You do awesome work, Brian! I was just trying to make a more general point. I wasn't talking about you specifically, and I apologize if anyone got that impression.

[Mel Fulks]

Dave,any board that has a bend that is similar to a piece of sheet metal bent sharply in a tool for that purpose should
just be cut off before any facing is done.

[Andrew Hughes]

I was flashing back to some of the used jointers I’ve seen. Mostly Craigslist ads.
Never assume the knives in a used jointer that hasn’t been set buy you are correct. I’ve seen knives too thick,too wide. And once I saw the gibs backwards.
I tested a jointer out in Oxnard once that had the tables so out of wack I almost got my self in some big trouble with a piece of hickory.
Im also guilty of jointing longer then needed boards for the simple pleasure of using my machine.:)
Good Luck

[Mel Fulks]

I was flashing back to some of the used jointers I’ve seen. Mostly Craigslist ads.
Never assume the knives in a used jointer that hasn’t been set buy you are correct. I’ve seen knives too thick,too wide. And once I saw the gibs backwards.
I tested a jointer out in Oxnard once that had the tables so out of wack I almost got my self in some big trouble with a piece of hickory.
Im also guilty of jointing longer then needed boards for the simple pleasure of using my machine.:)
Good Luck
Agree. Some times the machine is being sold because the owner thinks he is just never going to get it set up.

[Brian Holcombe]

You do awesome work, Brian! I was just trying to make a more general point. I wasn't talking about you specifically, and I apologize if anyone got that impression.

Thank you and thanks also for clarifying. I do also agree, the shortest reasonable length and will add until around 20” or so for any new person reading along. I generally cut double lengths for short parts and just add 1” per side on longer boards.

[Mark Hennebury]

If you wish to understand safety, you will have to be very careful in how you interpret the information provided.
Some people don't use guards, some use all of the safety devices on the market, and swear that you are suicidal if you don't,
Some work with their fingers a fraction of an inch from the blades and are relaxed and comfortable, some quake in fear at the thought of being within a foot of the blade.
Maybe you should ask about the facts, the results, not the opinions.
Find out who had the most accidents, and under what conditions.
understand also that safety is a personal thing, not a statistic, Statistics are great for insurance purposes. If you are the one in a million that it happens to, it's very personal.
Study and understand you machine, tooling and materials, And you will work with confidence and control. Smooth, relaxed, but firm motions.
Develop process and procedures that work for you.
Have the discipline to follow them.
Don't follow others.
Understand Yourself, and the pressure to get stuff done, learn to know when to quit and pick it up tomorrow.
Learn to live in the second.
The only job that exists is the one that you are doing now.
Only when that one is done do you become aware of the next one.
Eventually there will be no more to do and you will be finished.
If you think ahead you will not be concentrating on what you are doing.
Safety is in your control.

[Dave Cav]

I have a 12" Invicta jointer with Byrd head. When face jointing I usually use a home made hooked push block on the back end of the board, and a rubber grout float for the front push block. Rubber grout floats are cheap and grip the wood very well. When I am face jointing a lot of longer stock I swing the power feeder around and set it up. It makes things a lot faster and safer.

[Edwin Santos]

Good thread. None of us is so experienced to not benefit from a safety refresher. The jointer is a deceptive machine from a safety standpoint, not as obviously menacing as a table saw or spindle shaper. I once had a guy tell me a table saw can cut your finger or hand off, but a jointer will turn it into scalloped potatoes.

The only two practices I can add/echo to what we've heard here already;

1. Pay attention, stay present in the moment. I happen to think lapse in concentration is the root of many workshop accidents. I don't think any manner of safety aids are a substitute for the operator's focus.

2. Try to hook your pinky finger over the top of the jointer fence, or top of the board when edge jointing. When your hand is hooked or anchored to something, whether the machine fence, or the workpiece, it's one line of defense to prevent it from flying into the cutter. I try to practice this at the miter saw, jointer, router table, everywhere I can. Learned it from a woodworking master who has all ten fingers, none shortened.

Edwin

[Andrew More]

This is the one I use on my jointer.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DNX3N7S/ref=twister_B07B3QTTTJ?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks, that looks pretty cool, and price seems more reasonable that the original Gripper.

[Zachary Hoyt]

I just ran across a Craigslist posting that made me think of this thread. The last sentence reads "This jointer has severed me well".
https://syracuse.craigslist.org/tls/d/fulton-craftsman-6-jointer-joiner-made/6998977104.html