HELP-Cant set Jointer Outfeed/Infeed Table Heights w/ Tersa Knives

[Sean Moore]

Hi all,

I recently picked up a robland nx410 combo machine, and I have been having a hard time getting the outfeed/infeed tables adjusted.

The machine only seems to have adjustments on the left side of the beds (the side you work on). The other side that swings open to form the planer has no adjustments.

The only way I can get the beds coplanar is if the outfeed table is a bit higher than the knives. From everything ive read, the outfeed table is supposed to be on the same level as the knives, and then the infeed table is set to match. If I get the outfeed table level, the closest I can get the infeed table still leaves me w/ about 1/16" gap at the beginning of the infeed, and no gap at the cutterhead.

Ive had little luck with Roblands customer service and Im getting at my wits end. If they were non tersa knives I could adjust them to be parallel with the outfeed table, but the knives have no adjustment.

Does anybody have any advice? Has anybody dealt with this situation before?

[Steve Jenkins]

Where are you located?

[Sean Moore]

Hi Steve, Im located in Los Angeles.

[Steve Jenkins]

But far for me to swing by. Maybe someone can help

[Erik Loza]

Sean, that sounds just like the Minimax FS30’s. You will want use shims on the hinge side. Not sure about Roblands but FS30’s usually had a few shims from the factory if you happened to remove one of the tables. Any brass shim stock will work. Trim to fit. Hope this helps.

Erik

[Sean Moore]

Hi Eric,

Where exactly would a shim go? Im not sure how to go about inserting a shim here.
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Adjusting the bolts on the infeed side move the table up and down but not enough to get it coplanar, the best I can get is about 1/16" gap at the infeed edge and flush at the cutterhead.

[Jebediah Eckert]

That looks similar to my FS30. I loosened those 3 black bolts on top of the hinge. Then I just lifted up a bit on the table and put the shims where needed, under the hinge and near a bolt, then tightened them back down. Rechecked the readings and adjusted where needed. Fun......I hope I don’t have to do it again. Lots of trial and error before I got it right.

[Sean Moore]

So if my bed slopes down from the cutterhead as seen in the picture below, I should just add a shim under the lowest bolt? That seems like an awfully large shim to have to insert in there?

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[Kevin Jenness]

Shims should go under the hinge in your first set of photos. The other side, in the second photo set, should be adjusted with the bolts. I am not seeing a hold-down latch on that side- is there one?

[Sean Moore]

Hey Kevin, the hold down latch is that out of focus handle. My issue is that even with the adjustment bolts, I cant get the bed level enough, there is a consistent down slope from the cutter. I just checked with feeler gauges and it is .080" out. That seems like an awful lot to have to shim?

[Andrew Hughes]

Is the outfeed table fixed ? As in no handle or wheel to move the entire table up or down.

[mreza Salav]

The raise you get at the end of the table (away from the cutter head) will be far more than the thickness of the shim.
If the distance of the two bolts of the hinge is say 8" and you shim under the on away from the cutter head and if the distance of the edge of the table to the other bolt of the hinge is say 24" then you get 3x raise at the end of the table.

[Kevin Jenness]

My issue is that even with the adjustment bolts, I cant get the bed level enough, there is a consistent down slope from the cutter. I just checked with feeler gauges and it is .080" out. That seems like an awful lot to have to shim?

Start by getting the outfeed table parallel to the cutterhead and more or less parallel to the infeed table (lengthwise) when the infeed support bolts are near the center of their adjustment range. This may require shims under the outfeed table hinge. Then get the infeed table parallel to the outfeed in both directions by shimming the hinge and adjusting the bolts on the opposite side. You should not have to shim under the bolts, but if the base is actually out that much readjust the tilt of the outfeed table or buy some longer bolts.. As mreza said, the adjustment at the table supports is a fraction of the overall table misalignment. Just take your time and be systematic.

You will get the best results using an accurate straightedge as long as both tables. You should be able to make one out of wood with your sliding table saw (actually, make two and compare them to confirm straightness).

[Jebediah Eckert]

What Mreza Salav said!

When I did my similar machine there was a bunch of trial and error. Some adjustments left me scratching my head. Finally I stopped getting hung up on that, removed what I did, and tried something else. On the operator side (bolt adjustments) I used blue tape under the bolts and shimmed the hinge side. This allowed me to test out what I thought I should do without losing the factory settings on that side. Hinge side is easy because you can just remove the shim if things go crazy.

My mind says put a shim where I put the red arrow and a couple of pieces of blue tape under the right bolt and see what it does? From memory I think in the end I had to readjust the lock down lever.

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[Jebediah Eckert]

Another thing I did that helped me...

I took a pieces of tape and put it on the front edge of the table breaking it up into quarters. I drew the table out on a piece of paper with those 4 quartering marks. When I made an adjustment I measured at those 4 points on the table, operator side, center, and back. Each time I recorded the gaps. After every adjustment I measured those 12 points again and recorded them under the last. This gave me a good idea what was happening every time I made an adjustment. Sometimes it went in the right direction, sometimes not.......

[mreza Salav]

I have a FS350 and have removed the tables (disassembled the machine entirely) twice and had to put things back together and adjust things. Setting the tables right takes time (usually I spend 1 hour or more) and several tries and measurements but it's doable and I can get it within 0.001-0.002" off.

[Warren Lake]

I ended up needing to shim the infeed table on both sides. Just held the shims on with tape. I also was able to rotate the infeed a bit forward on the operator side. I didnt understand worm screws that are there where that attaches but using a dial and see how much I pulled the table forward helped me get to .0005 the same in all measure points. I wrote the shim measures down in four places and as I changed them could clearly see what changes they made to the other measures.

bit hard to see and have better photos but not filed to the machine folder. You can see the shim right and left side

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here is rotating the table forward using the dial to see what change ive made

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[Sean Moore]

I ordered some brass shim stock on Amazon, it should be here by tomorrow so I will attempt to shim the infeed table hinge side and report back.

It seems that the hinge is a round bar that sits in a mating piece of metal that has a curve milled into it. Should I have any concerns about placing a shim between that curved section?

[Sean Moore]

Is the outfeed table fixed ? As in no handle or wheel to move the entire table up or down.

Correct, the outfeed table is fixed. There are adjustments on the left (user side) to adjust its height, but unfortunately there is no way to adjust the height on the right side of the machine where the hinge is. As of now, the table sits a couple thousands above the cutter head on the right/hinge side, and I can lower it to be level with the cutter head on the left/outside. Im not sure how to lower it on the hinge side, perhaps there are already some shims under the hinge that I can remove to lower it?

[mreza Salav]

What is the process you follow to adjust things? There is a lot that can be achieved with adjusting those two bolts at the front of each table (with the table locked down). The cast Iron does flex a bit. If the machine didn't come with some shims on the hinge side it's likely they are not needed.
Try to first check if the outfeed is indeed higher than the cutters at the hinge side, if not then you should be able to get the outfeed not higher than the blades all across its width. If the front of outfeed is level and the back (hinge side) is high, try to raise the bolt at the front further away from the cutter. It should help to "lower" the back side of the table (hinge side).
It is true that you work on the outfeed first but you may have to go back to it and adjust if you cannot get infeed entirely in the same plane with it. It's a bit of back and forth to get everything co-planar....

[Kevin Jenness]

Correct, the outfeed table is fixed. There are adjustments on the left (user side) to adjust its height, but unfortunately there is no way to adjust the height on the right side of the machine where the hinge is. As of now, the table sits a couple thousands above the cutter head on the right/hinge side, and I can lower it to be level with the cutter head on the left/outside. Im not sure how to lower it on the hinge side, perhaps there are already some shims under the hinge that I can remove to lower it?

You should be able to lower the inboard end of the outfeed table on the hinge side by shimming under the outfeed end of that hinge. Then check that the other side of the outfeed table is level with the cutterhead and check that the outfeed table is not twisted by placing your straightedge diagonally across it from corner to corner. Then move on to the infeed table.

"It seems that the hinge is a round bar that sits in a mating piece of metal that has a curve milled into it. Should I have any concerns about placing a shim between that curved section?"

Hard saying without knowing, but that "mating piece" should be bolted to the frame and you should be able to shim under it. Shims in the moving section of a hinge are bound to wear.

[Erik Loza]

Correct, the outfeed table is fixed. There are adjustments on the left (user side) to adjust its height, but unfortunately there is no way to adjust the height on the right side of the machine where the hinge is.

That doesn't make any sense, Sean. If there were truly no way to adjust the outfeed table height, it would be impossible to calibrate the machine on the assembly line and there is always a way to do that. Your design look identical to Minimax from the images I see on the web. Four mounting bolts: Two on the hinge side and two on the outboard side. Just like the Italian machines. It won't be a round hand knob like the infeed side. Should be an oversized bolt head though. In your case, if the outfeed table is dropping off, you would shim the outer hinge bolt and the outer stop bolt on the operator's side. Hope this helps,

Erik

[Richard Coers]

That doesn't make any sense, Sean. If there were truly no way to adjust the outfeed table height, it would be impossible to calibrate the machine on the assembly line and there is always a way to do that. Your design look identical to Minimax from the images I see on the web. Four mounting bolts: Two on the hinge side and two on the outboard side. Just like the Italian machines. It won't be a round hand knob like the infeed side. Should be an oversized bolt head though. In your case, if the outfeed table is dropping off, you would shim the outer hinge bolt and the outer stop bolt on the operator's side. Hope this helps,

Erik
It's not impossible Erik. Craftsman sold thousands of 6" jointers with a fixed out feed table. I owned one in the '80s and it took at least twice as long to adjust the knives, but it can be done.

[Kevin Jenness]

This is a Tersa head though with no way to adjust the knives in the head. I guess if there were no other option the cutterhead pillow blocks could be shimmed, but it is most likely that the table hinge blocks can be independently shimmed and the support bolts on the operator side adjusted to get everything in plane. It's too bad the factory didn't dial it in closer. I don't mind tuning used machines, but it can be tough for someone not in the habit to figure out this particular situation. Jointers are one of the simplest of machines but one of the most frustrating if not set up correctly.

[Mel Fulks]

You can adjust it for making bird houses ,cutting boards, and turning rough wood into less rough wood. For critical work
like trying to make a sprung joint , 1 and 1/2 thousandths is a lot in both directions.

[Erik Loza]

It's not impossible Erik. Craftsman sold thousands of 6" jointers with a fixed out feed table. I owned one in the '80s and it took at least twice as long to adjust the knives, but it can be done.

Richard, yeah, but this is a Robland, not a Sears machine! I’ve never personally seen one of the OP’s machines in person but CANNOT believe there is not simple way to make that adjustment. With all due respect to the OP, I feel like he must just not be seeing it. Just my semi-educated opinion.

Erik