Michael J Evans
09-03-2020, 11:20 PM
Hi all
I made a impulse decision at a garage sale to pick up a older 6" Craftsman jointer. Has the non adjustable outfeed table. I barely just checked it over but appears to be in decent condition.
Few questions
1) where do I start with checking everything? From what I've read I need to get the in feed and outfeed co planer and without twist.
2) setting knives - when I did a quick check of the knives it appears that the knives have a slight hollow. I just put the head of a square on the outfeed side and manually turned the head. The knives would grab the outer edge but not the middle. It cam with a new in package set of knives, so I'll probably change them to those. But before that, how hard of a task is it to change and set the knives in one of these machines? From what I can find the knives need to be set .003 high from the outfeed. The old Craftsman book recommends some tool that no longer is in production. Can I just flatten a piece of wood with a hand plane, set a sheet of paper on the outfeed side and then adjust the knives till they grab? I don't want to spend another $40 on one of the commercial jigs available.
3) motor - it currently has a 1/2hp motor. I happen to have a 1hp or 1.5hp motor from a old Craftsman table saw that is not in use. Would there be any negative repercussions from hooking up and using the larger motor?
I've never used a jointer, but plan on watching some YouTube for tips and what not. But the fence is adjustable, is there any reason why I wouldn't just leave it locked down at it's widest opening?
Any special safety devices I should have? I currently have a gripper for my older table saw, so I was thinking I could use that as a pusher and then make something else for the outfeed side or get another gripper.
Any insight is greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Michael evans
I made a impulse decision at a garage sale to pick up a older 6" Craftsman jointer. Has the non adjustable outfeed table. I barely just checked it over but appears to be in decent condition.
Few questions
1) where do I start with checking everything? From what I've read I need to get the in feed and outfeed co planer and without twist.
2) setting knives - when I did a quick check of the knives it appears that the knives have a slight hollow. I just put the head of a square on the outfeed side and manually turned the head. The knives would grab the outer edge but not the middle. It cam with a new in package set of knives, so I'll probably change them to those. But before that, how hard of a task is it to change and set the knives in one of these machines? From what I can find the knives need to be set .003 high from the outfeed. The old Craftsman book recommends some tool that no longer is in production. Can I just flatten a piece of wood with a hand plane, set a sheet of paper on the outfeed side and then adjust the knives till they grab? I don't want to spend another $40 on one of the commercial jigs available.
3) motor - it currently has a 1/2hp motor. I happen to have a 1hp or 1.5hp motor from a old Craftsman table saw that is not in use. Would there be any negative repercussions from hooking up and using the larger motor?
I've never used a jointer, but plan on watching some YouTube for tips and what not. But the fence is adjustable, is there any reason why I wouldn't just leave it locked down at it's widest opening?
Any special safety devices I should have? I currently have a gripper for my older table saw, so I was thinking I could use that as a pusher and then make something else for the outfeed side or get another gripper.
Any insight is greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Michael evans