Help with new to me tecnomax scm fs41 elite planer jointer table alignment

[David Bryan West]

I have just finished getting this machine ready to use, cleaned up a bit and modified my dust hose hookups etc, only to find my tables don’t seem to be co planar. I just sold my beloved from day one, dj20 that was dialed in so nicely recently and I need this to be setup the same way. I just can’t seem to figure out the best was to do it. It’s a 2007 model and it’s in beautiful condition. I mean it looks new. However the tables to have some low spots here and there but not too bad. Worst is .0004 in the middle of indeed table. The longest straight edge I’ve got is the Veritas 50”. It’s what I used to setup my delta and it’s nice. My floor isn’t great though as far as flat and I’ll be moving the planer around a little bit so it will not be in the same place every time. How do I know if the machine is twisted as it sits there? I think I noticed some shims on the hinge side of infeed table. What can I use to shim if I need more? Can I get shim material at Home Depot? I’d love a little help. Thanks.

[Kevin Jenness]

If you look back in the archives you will find a number of threads on this topic. To start with, are you getting accurate results with the outfeed adjusted even with the cutterhead? In that case no adjustments are needed.

Otherwise you will need to start with the outfeed table checking it across the diagonals to ensure it is free of twist, then using shims on the hinge side and-or adjustments to the opposite side supports to get it level with the cutterhead. Then do the same with the infeed table to get its plane parallel with the outfeed. Ideally you will have an accurate straightedge as long as both tables, and you could make one of wood for temporary use.

If you find by results that the machine is twisting when moved, it might be worth investing in a machinist precision level https://www.mscdirect.com/browse/tn/Measuring-Inspecting/Levels-Plumb-Bobs/Levels/Master-Precision-Machinists-Levels?navid=2107754. You can get packs of brass shim stock at MSC, McMaster Carr, etc.

[David Bryan West]

Thank you Kevin. Yes it seems that the info is the same. I’ll try to get some shim material at the local suppliers. As tine is of the utmost importance. I wonder if anyone else uses these machines with wheels and the floor isn’t perfect? I mean I’d you roll it around, every time the machine could be twisted? That’s crazy. Machinest levels will help setup the machine each time it is used. Aren’t those very expensive?

[David Bryan West]

On another note, has anyone used retractable casters or anything else that will allow this machine to roll forward and backward and in and out? The mobile kit it came with isn’t useful as you need to use tge wheeled bar and the wheels are sideways. I can’t roll it sideways in other words.

[Aaron Inami]

Generally, the twist in the machine is related to how flat the floor is. If you are working the machine on your brick patio, You can use leveling feet to straighten out the machine twist. However, as soon as you roll it to a different location, the machine will likely be twisted again.

[David Bryan West]

The picture was from the ad that I saw. It’s on my garage floor. But the floor isn’t perfectly flat and level. When you shim the hinge area, does the bolt have to be completely removed in order to get the shim in? Or loosening it is enough to slide shims in. I’ve never had to do this sort Ot thing.

[Bill Dufour]

Shims can be almost anything. kitchen aluminum foil 0.63 mills or 0.93mills for the heavy duty stuff. computer paper 0.004", dollar bill 0.0043. Can you still get cigarette papers, that used to be a standby.
Bill D

[Bill Dufour]

What hinge are you talking about? do you mean the pivot point the gib strip will have over the shim? You get to use trig for this stuff.
You should be able to find a online table or calculator for using a "Sine Plate" that will help a little.
Bill D

[Erik Loza]

It’s extremely unlikely that an uneven floor will affect that particular machine. The table-to-frame ratio is not that great and there are no parallelogram rods to deal with. I had a local customer with one of these, years ago, on a very uneven wood floor. He did not experience any performance issues. Of course, you want to shim the feet so the machine itself doesn’t rock,

OP, have you actually run any wood over this thing yet? I would do that before you start loosening the tables. I think you will find that the factory has already fitted shims to one or both tables. Beyond that, your only adjustment points will be the bolt heads on the “open” side of the hinges. One other thought: Be wary about over-tightening the locking lever on the infeed table. Barely wrist-tight is fine. Due to the camming action of the shaft on the locking lever, it is possible to actually induce some “arch” into the infeed table if you really crank on that lever. Good luck and hope this helps.

Erik

[David Bryan West]

Okay thank you. And do you have to just loosen the bolts and slide in shims on each side of the bolts or do you need to remove the bolts? Also I just changed my knives and noticed the cuts I’m getting have subtle lines going across the board. Mill marks that I didn’t get before I changed blades. Is it possible the blades didn’t sit properly in the Tersa head due to bits of dust etc?

[Richard Coers]

You can get shim stock on Amazon. I have no idea why Home Depot would carry it.

[Erik Loza]

Okay thank you. And do you have to just loosen the bolts and slide in shims on each side of the bolts or do you need to remove the bolts? Also I just changed my knives and noticed the cuts I’m getting have subtle lines going across the board. Mill marks that I didn’t get before I changed blades. Is it possible the blades didn’t sit properly in the Tersa head due to bits of dust etc?

I would avoid fully dismounting a table “if” shims are needed. The helper springs are very stiff. Also, HOW DOES THIS MACHINE JOINT? Are you able to get a flat board? I would never make an adjustment to the tables (beyond just up or down) unless I was getting convex boards.

Regarding the streaks in the board, it sounds like you knicked one of the knives. It’s virtually impossible to improperly install a Tersa knife. There would have to be some major-level obstruction inside the knife channel for the gibs to not seat properly. You can loosen on of the knives and shift it over by a millimeter or so. That ought to clean up the lines.

Erik

[David Bryan West]

I’m sorry that I didn’t respond sooner as I didn’t know that there was more comments Thank you for helping. The shims I got on Amazon, brass, and I’ll use them if I need to. I have used the new knives only to edge joint on the far side of the table and they cut good and it’s a decently strait board I’m left with. But when I move to the front of the machine, the cut doesn’t make it past the end of a 20” long board. Crazy. I put a pencil line on the board and jointed it five times and it didn’t get rid of the line about an inch from the end. So obviously the front is not right. I’ll have to get the tables situated but at least the back works great. I mean for 70 inch long boards they come out pretty straight. Not perfect but close. Good for right now. I’m wanting to put this machine on casters, mounted on the side. Adjustable machine casters that are super heavy duty. I’m hopeful someone out there has done this? This is so I can move in and out easily with no bar getting in the way. Lol. Oh and I was cleaning my planer table and noticed it was loose. I could move it side to side pretty easily. I tightened the nut on the underside where the skinny column support is because the lock nut was loose and then I tightened the main column nuts and it seems to be better but still there is movement side to side. Anyone see this with their planer tables?

[Jim Becker]

I urge caution on the idea of casters as it reduces the engagement with the floor compared with the normal contact points. Unven floor can also affect performance...when I had my FS-350 in the temporary gara-shop before my new building was completed, cranking the thicknesser table up and down was "tight" due to the uneven floor. Once in the new shop, it was back to normal, easy operation. Cast iron and steel do bend/deflect and these are heavy machines. The OEM mobility kit, despite being inconvenient, never leaves the machines on wheels when you are not making an adjustment to position in the shop. If you truly need it mobile, rather than casters, build or have built or buy a low profile mobile base that engages the floor and keeps the center of gravity as low as possible. When you flip up the tables for thicknessing, there's a big weight shift.

[David Bryan West]

My mobility kit has the wheels in the back always down touching the floor. Is this correct or should they somehow retract so the steel frame touches the floor? So the machine is angled slightly as it’s up on the rear end about a 1/4” or slightly more on wheels. I was going to build something that had the wheels recessed up so the overall height difference would be less than 1/2”. And if anything the center of gravity could be better as the wheels are further out. And with the levelers, it woukd rest on those and not the casters on all four corners.

[Erik Loza]

To Jim’s point, the only time I suggest casters at each “foot” of a jointer-planer is if your shop has a dead-flat concrete floor. Otherwise, it will rock and otherwise unbalance the machine, allow lots of vibration, etc. Also, I seem to recall that the feet on that particular machine are just hollow square tubing. In other words, there is not really anything to thread casters into. Hence why the OEM solution involves cutouts in the walls of the legs. The OEM mobility kit is indeed a bit awkward but actually works quite well.

OP, this is just my 2-cents, which might be worth half that: Everything you’re mentioning so far is falling into the “new owner getting used to the machine” bucket from what I can see. I would focus on getting that machine firmly settled onto the floor, wax the jointer tables and planer bed, verify that the fence is square, etc. before worrying about cast iron tolerances. Here is a DIY for calibrating a Robland X-31, which has an identical jointer table design to your machine:

http://www.hypersurf.com/~charlie2/X31/X31SetUpInstructions/X31SetUpInstructions0.html

Again, good luck and hope this all helps.

Erik

[David Bryan West]

Hey thanks for all the advice on my fs41 elite. I’ve got another question, while I’m planing, can I change speeds while it’s on or shut off first? I’ve had two planets and they each had different requirements. Thanks.

[Erik Loza]

Hey thanks for all the advice on my fs41 elite. I’ve got another question, while I’m planing, can I change speeds while it’s on or shut off first? I’ve had two planets and they each had different requirements. Thanks.

I always shut the machine off before changing speeds and most everyone uses theirs on the higher speed. One important note: Always put the gear selector back into NEUTRAL when not using the machine. That helps prevent creating a divot in the polyurethane drive wheel.

Erik

[David Bryan West]

Oh okay. Great. Thanks. Good to know and I appreciate it

[Jim Becker]

My mobility kit has the wheels in the back always down touching the floor. Is this correct or should they somehow retract so the steel frame touches the floor?
There should be locking handles that permit you to lower and raise the fixed wheels so your machine is flat on the floor. There should be a lever for each wheel separately. To make it mobile, lift that end with the Johnson bar, let the wheels drop and then tighten the, um...tighteners. Then move the Johnson bar to the other end to lift it and be the third wheel, as it were, that is steerable. I cannot imagine your FS41 is different than my FS350 in that respect.

[David Bryan West]

Interesting. So the mobility kit is temporary in that very time you want to move the machine, it has to be lifted and the wheels loosened up so they fall down into position and then tightened up again. And then when you’re done with machine for the day, repeat the process to put back? This seams crazy. I must not be understating you correctly.

[Jim Becker]

Interesting. So the mobility kit is temporary in that very time you want to move the machine, it has to be lifted and the wheels loosened up so they fall down into position and then tightened up again. And then when you’re done with machine for the day, repeat the process to put back? This seams crazy. I must not be understating you correctly.
That's correct. Keep in mind that the majority of owners are not moving these machines very often. I had to move mine a few times in the temporary gara-shop in order to fit some longer material through, but otherwise, mine is set in a position and doesn't move unless there's a change to the shop orientation. That was true at my previous shop, too. That said, it's not as arduous as it seems at first. In fact, if you're not going to use the machine when it's tucked up to your wall for space considerations, leave it on the wheels. Just be sure it's on the floor when you are actually processing material. Once you do it a number of times, it gets easier and more automatic and you also get a feel for how you need to maneuver things with the Johnson bar to put it exactly where you want it without a lot of fiddling around and back/forth movement.

[David Bryan West]

Thank you very much for all the insight. I have just discovered that I really miss my bird head on my Delta, DJ 20. As I have put in brand new M 42+ blades and have only run a few boards through planer , maple, there are 1/2” wide or so lines all over the place. very disappointing results from brand new blades. I guess I’ll have to get carbine if I can’t do six boards from three-quarter inch down to 5/8 inch without getting lines everywhere. Does anyone have any experience with these Tersa m42+ knives abd how quickly they don’t give a good result right away?

[Warren Lake]

where was the material stored.

[David Bryan West]

They are 10 inch wide 3/4” s4s from my supplier. They are ready for using for the most part. I don’t use them from the factory but some I’m sure would. They are clean except the paint on the ends of the boards.

[Robert LaPlaca]

I use m42+ Tersa knives in my MM FS41E, they leave a lovely finish, obviously they will not last as long a carbide Tersa’s. The knives will get minor nicks if the stock has dirt embedded in it, or if the stock has lots of embedded silica, sounds like that maybe your case..

[David Bryan West]

I’m going to take a picture of the wood. Keep in mind this is after just using them for one pass on the planer. Do you know how to insert a photo?

[Kevin Jenness]

They are 10 inch wide 3/4” s4s from my supplier. They are ready for using for the most part. I don’t use them from the factory but some I’m sure would. They are clean except the paint on the ends of the boards.

Paint explains the knife nicks- the pigment is abrasive. Trim the ends before milling.

My impression is Tersa M42 does not hold up as well as good quality HSS conventional knives, but all bets are off if you run painted material through the machine.

[David Bryan West]

See I never new that. I always run the boards through my old planers and jointers. So basically the hss and m42+ knives are not up to the task. If this little bit of paint on the ends of the boards caused this, then the steel is too soft for me. I need my byrd head back.

[Kevin Jenness]

Tersa M42 knives are fine if you don't abuse them. If you need to mill abrasive material buy a set of carbide knives. I guess you could replace your Tersa head with a helical one but I wouldn't think it worthwhile unless regularly using highly figured wood. I run conventional carbide tipped knives in my jointer and they work well.

[Andrew Hughes]

If the maple has black streaks in it that’s mineral pockets.
It’s sand and will nick carbide too just not as deep.
I run T1 in my jointer only clean wood. If I have rough lumber I brush it off to save the knives as much as possible.
I also never stack boards on the ground.

[Warren Lake]

Never ever stack boards on the ground but you will see some do. Ive never left the ends on always cut off and dropped on the floor to look for cracking, Mel throws them down so hes smarter or more angry maybe. You would have to watch ends as well as sometimes there are staples that dont show up well from tags that are sometimes ripped off. either way ive never left them on. Lumber is cross cut, offcut is dropped on concrete to see if it cracks then cut in further till its solid.

[David Bryan West]

I run these same boards through my dewalt planer with the stock blades and they give a better finish than these Tersa m42+ on a big dollar machine. I’m really dissatisfied. I bought my di20 and it had steel knives in 2006. I changed it to byrd head in 2008. I never changed or rotated the inserts one time on it. The cuts were still perfect. The day I sold the machine, just a two weeks ago, my buyer saw me run hard curly maple through taking a big cut, and his face said it all. He couldn’t believe I never have rotated the cutters. I mean I had no idea that these Tersa Heads would give such a bad cut with these knives from what everyone said about them. Maybe I have a bad batch of old brand new Tersa knives. I’ve been making cabinets and furniture since 98 and can’t believe these results. Oh and by the way, I ran mdf all the time on my delta byrd head along with walnut oak poplar maple alder mahogany birch plywood, everything. So I’m really thinking I screwed up but I got the machine per owned and it had the Tersa head. It’s a beautiful machine though. Really. I don’t know if I should chance carbide knives or just get the byrd head again. I never had any problem with the knives leaving the lines like some insert cutters do. My grizzly planer had insert head
and it left the lines from the cutters. Bad. But my delta jointer didn’t. What options do I have? Anybody know of a knife that will be better than these without costing carbide money? And do you all have all 4 knives carbide or just two?

[Kevin Jenness]

I run these same boards through my dewalt planer with the stock blades and they give a better finish than these Tersa m42+ on a big dollar machine. I’m really dissatisfied. I bought my di20 and it had steel knives in 2006. I changed it to byrd head in 2008. I never changed or rotated the inserts one time on it. The cuts were still perfect. The day I sold the machine, just a two weeks ago, my buyer saw me run hard curly maple through taking a big cut, and his face said it all. He couldn’t believe I never have rotated the cutters. I mean I had no idea that these Tersa Heads would give such a bad cut with these knives from what everyone said about them. Maybe I have a bad batch of old brand new Tersa knives. I’ve been making cabinets and furniture since 98 and can’t believe these results. Oh and by the way, I ran mdf all the time on my delta byrd head along with walnut oak poplar maple alder mahogany birch plywood, everything. So I’m really thinking I screwed up but I got the machine per owned and it had the Tersa head. It’s a beautiful machine though. Really. I don’t know if I should chance carbide knives or just get the byrd head again. I never had any problem with the knives leaving the lines like some insert cutters do. My grizzly planer had insert head
and it left the lines from the cutters. Bad. But my delta jointer didn’t. What options do I have? Anybody know of a knife that will be better than these without costing carbide money? And do you all have all 4 knives carbide or just two?

Your options are limited for Tersa knives. I believe Kanefusa makes a coated hss Tersa knife that is in between M42 and carbide in cost and performance. I can't fathom running mdf or plywood through a planer even with carbide knives but what do I know? I doubt you are going to be happy with the Tersa head but if you are going to keep it get carbide knives. Try two plus two dummies and see how that works, you can always add two more carbide knives. I believe Joe Calhoon runs (or has in the past) two carbide knives on his jointer.

[Jim Becker]

I get excellent finish from my Tersa knives and if I get a small nick...it happens...I just move one of the knives over a hair to eliminate the issue. For what a set of carbide knives would cost, I can buy 4-5 sets of M2 or HHS. and since they are double sided, they last a long time. I do take care to clean off any debris and if I need to process something with paint on it, I pull out an old set of knives to do the "dirty work".

[David Bryan West]

I can try it with carbide Tersa. Dummy blades are specialized to not cut? Where do you buy those at? I delta Dj 29 was a jointer not a planer so when I said I ran mdf it was edgeing or sometime rarely I would run it through my grizzly planer with carbid inserts head. But I make a lot of doors with all sorts of materials so sometimes mdf. It was great cause I didn’t have to think about the jointer getting dull cause it never did. But now I can’t even run maple through the planer without audio lines that aren’t nicks. 1/2 inch wide lines in lots of places after one or two passes isn’t acceptable. So I’ll try two carbide and two dummies. I can always sell them if I sell the Tersa head and get a carbide helical byrd.

[Kevin Jenness]

Here's a thread from a few years back on the subject. You could run two carbide and two (dull) hss knives. The reason to run dummies would be for balance and to keep the slots clean, but I don't know if it's essential. I guess you could grind back the steel ones to take them out of the cutting circle entirely. Apparently the carbide knives can be sharpened, but you would have to adjust the outfeed table height and possibly the chipbreaker, pressure bar and/or feed rollers at that point. https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?268392-Tersa-Carbide-Knives

The steel Tersa knives do a nice job when sharp and are super easy and quick to swap out but if you are going to run abrasive stuff, including painted ends on solid stock, they won't last long.

[Jim Becker]

While lightly touching up the edges on a Tersa knife is certainly possible, they were not designed for resharpening. The carbide knives are pretty durable...I could be wrong, but I think that Brian Holcomb runs them on his machine...but they do not provide as "good" a surface as the HHS or M+ knives. I buy my knives from https://tersaknives.com/. They do require a larger order to keep shipping cost down, but they are a small business that has about the best prices on the actual knives going. I get a year or more out of a couple sets, but I'm not processing constantly.

OP, you should not have any lines on your material if the knives are not nicked. If you are getting that, something is amiss, either with the specific knives you have or with the machine. That's just "not a thing" with these tools in my experience.

[Erik Loza]

Agree with the others: Either invest in some carbide Tersa knives or just don’t run dirty wood through the planer. One of the benfits of having a Tersa head is that it gives you the option of multiple cut qualities on on a single platform. That being said, your experience, David, is why I always suggested a spiral head when I was selling jointer/planers. Based on user feedback, it gives the “experience most want” from a high-end jointer or planer. Not saying you need to switch heads, just that the expectation needs to be moderated. Tersas are awesome but not a silver bullet. Hope this helps.

Erik

[David Bryan West]

Yes I think I’m going to try carbide Tersa to start and see how that goes. Two blades sounds like it will be good with two hss blades as dummies. I’d rather spend that to see how it machines. Does a co sell dummy blades? Or should I use old dull steel ones?

[Erik Loza]

Yes I think I’m going to try carbide Tersa to start and see how that goes. Two blades sounds like it will be good with two hss blades as dummies. I’d rather spend that to see how it machines. Does a co sell dummy blades? Or should I use old dull steel ones?

I think Martin USA sells the dummies, though you could certainly use old blades, too.

Erik

[David Bryan West]

How about glue in joints? Like when I glue up panels and then plane them? Does that hurt the hss of + knives? I think I’m just getting carbide. Probably the helical head. Do you know how much the xylant head is for the fs41elite and is it better than the byrd head?

[Erik Loza]

How about glue in joints? Like when I glue up panels and then plane them? Does that hurt the hss of + knives? I think I’m just getting carbide. Probably the helical head. Do you know how much the xylant head is for the fs41elite and is it better than the byrd head?

Well, the glue is not as rough on knives as old paint or grit but you may need to experiment.

As far as a helical head goes, if you wanted one, I would go with Byrd. I’m sure that the Xylent head is fine but I think that Byrd will you give you the purchasing and support experience you would be looking for.

Erik

[David Bryan West]

Old dull blades or blades that have been filed away so they don’t touch the wood?

[David Bryan West]

I ordered 4 carbide knives for the head. So we’ll see. I am thinking that I’ll use 4 rather than two.

[Warren Lake]

never thought to ask the old guys but seen one or two that know their stuff on shapers have a knife set back and say it still does hogging even if not the final profile. Likely Steve Latta the last one I heard or someone like that.

Id like to try carbide in the jointer at some point. Have esta stuff that came with one machine and should try that but they dont have carbide or didnt when I asked. always easiest to go back to what I know. Never minded the process and try and do it to a very fine level.

[David Bryan West]

Sorry I can’t really understand your comments. However, I just installed my new carbide knives and I’ll say that it’s much better than the m42 knives as far as I can see. So that’s good. Anybody know if I should just use two or all four?

[Kevin Jenness]

Anybody know if I should just use two or all four?

Well, it's easy enough to try it both ways and make up your own mind. And please let us know which you prefer.

[David Bryan West]

Okay. I’ll do that. Right now I have 4 and it’s good. But I’ll try two and let you know.

[David Bryan West]

Hey can anyone tell me what this mysterious accessory is for my planer joiner? I came with it but the previous owner didn’t know what it was. Possibly fir the mortiser? Maybe another tool all together. 508299508299508300

[Erik Loza]

Hey can anyone tell me what this mysterious accessory is for my planer joiner? I came with it but the previous owner didn’t know what it was. Possibly fir the mortiser? Maybe another tool all together.

Those look like the “backing rods” for the jointer fence. I never actually learned what they call them in English. Basically, stop rods to provide additional support against fence deflection in the case of jointing really large or heavy pieces. Those black knobs should screw down into threaded fittings in the surface of the outfeed table and then you would slide the rods to meet the back side of the fence. I never personally found them necessary but to each, their own. Hope this helps,

Erik

[David Bryan West]

Oh interesting. I’ve seen those with the machines with fences that attach to the infeed side of the jointer but haven’t seen them with the center mounted fence though. I’ll check the table though to see if I can tell. Thanks for the help.

[David Bryan West]

Well that wasn’t it. So I’m still at a loss. I think it doesn’t go with this machine.

[David Bryan West]

Hey I’ve got a new problem. My fs41 elite isn’t turning on like it should. It’s acting like it wants to turn the head but it just makes a sound and then eventually it will trip my breaker. So it’s pretty serious. I’ve been using it a lot and it’s been perfect. So I’m totally confused. And I’m in the middle of a big job of course. lol. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I have a video but I can’t get it to upload.

[Robert LaPlaca]

Sounds like a bad start capacitor..

[Erik Loza]

My first guess would be start cap, as well. OP, I would pull the rear access plate and get in there with flashlight and inspection mirror. If you don’t see a bulging or oozing capacitor, time to get out the multi-meter. Hope this helps,

Erik

[David Bryan West]

Hey thanks so much for the quick reply’s. I hadn’t received any notifications of the reply’s so I wasn’t aware of them. So sorry. I did replace both capacitors as they were both bulging and leaking. Or at least one was leaking. I changed them both and learned a lot in the process. Now I have a new problem. My brand new carbide knives are giving me a good cut but when I plane maple, only thing I’ve planed, I get random bad bad mill marks. Pretty deep. Looks like an accordion on the surface. I’ve not had this issue before, when I planed with m42 knives anyway. I’ve got a video of what the boards look like. How can I upload it?509830

[Jim Becker]

You cannot upload videos directly to this forum site...or almost any forum site. You can host it elsewhere, such as Youtube, and link to it using the Media button in the edit panel when composing a post.

Those marks are certainly more than I'd expect from new knives. Carbides do not give the "best" surface compared to the other formulas (they are harder and more durable but at the expense of "sharpness") but I'd be unhappy with that. I use the HHS/M2 knives in my FS350 and I've never had a surface result like that. Try shifting one knife over a skosh just for grins and see if the surface is the same.

[Erik Loza]

David, which speed were you running the planer on? I always suggest the slow speed for any type of finish work. To Jim’s point, carbide is tough but doesn’t give as nice a finish quality as HSS. Manufacturers of helical heads can cheat this by canting the inserts for a shearing effect, so you never see the waves. I would use a set of virgin HSS knives on the same batch of maple, as a “benchmark”. Hope this helps.

Erik

[Andrew Hughes]

That looks like one knife is cutting more then the others. If it were my machine I wouldn’t find a way to measure the knives height to each other.
Same looking surface from a jointer with a high knife.
Good Luck

[David Bryan West]

Thank you for replying. I think this set of passes was high speed. I varied the speeds to see if the results were different. The problem was the depth of these actually made it so I couldn’t get rid of them because I didn’t have enough thickness. I had to get to 5/8” and that was my stopping point. So I just sanded these out. They won’t be seen when I’m finished as the drawer fronts go on but it’s crazy. So far I’m disappointed in the results from the planing with the fs41 elite. Im not used to this. My grizzly left marks from the helical inserts but that was it. The boards were perfect and I could hog off way more per pass than this machine. It doesn’t make sense. Oh and the noise from these straight knives is much louder than the grizzly. I miss the helical. I probably will sell the Tersa head and get a helical.