G0490 Arrived

[Jay Knoll]

Hi everyone

Well, it arrived right on schedule by Overnite Freight, I'm in the middle of putting it together, so no pics yet.

So far things are a mix of everybody's experiences, the back panel is bent. (I'm going to put a moving pad on my workbench, then the panel then a piece of ply and hit it with a rubber mallet to see if I can flatten it out.

Overnite insisted that we open both boxes before they left, reported the back panel. There was a gash in the side of the wooden crate, everything inside looks OK. One of the bolts was loose but both were in their holes so I don't think that things hit the sides of the case. The base was upside down in the cardboard box, anyone else have that experience?

The motor mounts are straight, the extension was installed by the factory.

Finish seems fine, the numbers on the base were crooked, but while I was waiting for some friends to stop by for the "big lift" I peeled them off and tried to get them to look a little better. Yeah, I know, a bit compulsive!

I'm confused about the wiring, and the plug I bought doesn't give any clear directions so I guess I'll call an electrician. I know green goes on the ground, but don't know if it matters if I put the black/white on a specific plug.

I retrofitted the dust collection with a piece of ply like Allen did, used caulk so I could remove it if it caused a problem.

More later when I get the beast running

Jay

[Jim Becker]

Jay on the plug...if you are going to run on 120v, the white goes to the silver pole and the black to the gold. Very important. If on 240v...it doesn't matter. You didn't specify...

Congrats on the new iron!

[Jim O'Dell]

Congrats Jay! Man you guys are turning me green, no pun intended. If I can get everything together, I'd sure like to get a jointer this year. Time will tell. Jay, if you see this before you get too far, may already be past that point:D , if you would, take a look at the two casters that are stationary on the outfeed side...can these be turned 90 degrees so the unit will roll straight away from the wall length wise? That and price may dictate what I can use. Thanks! and ENJOY!!!!! Jim.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Hi Jay, Congrats on the new iron. I agree with Jim on the electrical but I'm pretty sure we're talking 240 volts here right? Have fun with the new toy...er tool.

[Russ Massery]

The G0490 is 220v ONLY. So like Jim said it just doesn't matter.;)

[Howard Norman]

Jim this Howard not Jay but I can answer your question. There is no simple way to turn the two fixed castors 90 degrees. It could be done but it would take some welding.

Howard

[Jay Knoll]

Thanks guys

Yes, it is 240 (or 220?) I KNOW it isn't 110!

Back to the shop and some wiring

Jay

[Jay Knoll]

Jim

As Howard said, not possible, the caster sides are welded into the case base so that won't work. The only thing that I could see working would be to make some "outriggers" that would bolt onto the side of the base and let swivel casters work.

Jay

[Allen Bookout]

Jay,

Glad that it arrived in good shape, especially that the motor mounts are straight. I turned mine on and off several times before I installed the panels and could see no flex so I think that they are strong enough the way that they are.

The base does ship upside down. Makes it easy to install the lift swivel caster. Just bolt it in place and then turn it over.

The panels are easy to bend back straight so you should have no problem there.

Along with everyone else----doesn't matter which hot wire goes to which hot pole with 220.

The dust collection is very good with the modification. Do not know how good it would have been otherwise. I got one report back (from Russ Massery - "Mini GO490 review") that it was pretty good without the mod.

One more thing. The motor really gives the v-belt a jerk when it starts up. I had centered the belt cover on top of the back base covering the upper pulley and when it started up the belt would slap the cover and did not sound to good so I had to move the cover to it's limit to the left as you look at the machine from the rear. Start it a few times after you install the belt/pulley cover before you put on the back base plate cover to see if you need to adjust it. Saves a little time.

I cannot think of anything else right now. Keep us posted as the night progresses.

Allen

P.S. I don't blame you about the crooked numbers. That was the first thing that I looked at. Would have driven me crazy.

[Doug Shepard]

...
Overnite insisted that we open both boxes before they left, reported the back panel. There was a gash in the side of the wooden crate, everything inside looks OK...


It's usually the customer that insists that the carrier wait while they inspect for transportation damage. Either Overnite is re-writing trucking customer service norms or they know something you dont - like maybe they were the cause of that big gash. I'm guessing somebody skewered the crate with a forklift. Happens a lot.

Congrats on the new baby.

[Allen Bookout]

It's usually the customer that insists that the carrier wait while they inspect for transportation damage. Either Overnite is re-writing trucking customer service norms or they know something you dont - like maybe they were the cause of that big gash. I'm guessing somebody skewered the crate with a forklift. Happens a lot.

Congrats on the new baby.

Overnight is now a UPS company. Could be that has something to do with it. I have heard that things are changing there.

[Jay Knoll]

Hi everyone

Thanks for the advice, everything fired up as it should (once I remembered to turn the red off switch before I hit the start button).

I just ran a short piece of pine through the unit so SWMBO could take a picture.

Guess in addition to the gloat we can do a mini tour of the garage -- you'll notice my Festool guide rail storage on the door, and a table "hugging the ceiling" above my head.

Looking at the picture, guess I was in a hurry to fire it up, I"ve got the back panel on the front, LOL.

The "bent panel" flattened out nicely; since it was late I didn't run the jointer very long -- don't want complaints about the noise.

The fence seems dead on at 90 degrees, but I think I'm going to have to work on the 45 degree stops, my Starret combo square shows those to be really off.
Couldn't find my feeler guage so I coudn't check the table, but it seems fine when I laid my long level on it, couldn't see any light before I installed the fence.

Jay

[Jim Becker]

Jay...I need my magnifying glass for that picture! I can't even make out your big grin!! :D ;)

[Allen Bookout]

Jay, Jims right---slap us a larger picture on there. Allen

[Jay Knoll]

OK, let's see if this works

[Chris Barton]

Congrats on your new miniture aircraft carrier! Sounds like a great tool!

[Allen Bookout]

Much better! If you were a real man you wouldn't be using those push blocks. How do you expect to keep all of your fingers that way? Thinking about that, someone on one of the threads was talking about the 8" being more intimidating than the 6" and I don't know why but it does seem to be true in my case. Doesn't make much sense as the 6" can do the same thing to you. Now I guess that we are all going to have to get power feeders.

Did you notice----the back panel is on the front. Just kidding again. I know that you aleady said that.

You got it up and going pretty fast. Congratulations!!!!!!

Allen

[Russ Massery]

Glad to see all in well with yours. Give us a follow up when you can run it through it's paces.

[Jim O'Dell]

Jim this Howard not Jay but I can answer your question. There is no simple way to turn the two fixed castors 90 degrees. It could be done but it would take some welding. Howard

Howand and Jay, thanks for the note. I was hoping the casters would turn on the mounts, but guess not. I thought I was through looking, but maybe not. It will remain toward the top of my list unless I find something that will work better for my situation. I guess if it remains the best priced unit, I could put a different mobile base under it, or hook up the welder my Dad gave me last year and learn how to weld!!! Thanks again! Jim.

[Dev Emch]

If the unit is wired for 240 volts and your wire has a black, white and green line, you may wish to use RED phase tape on the white wire on both ends. This is red electrical tape that can be used to mark off and identify the white wire as a hot lead and not the neutral is normally is. Best of luck.

[Allen Bookout]

Jim O'Dell,

Even if you modified the outfeed side of the base to have the wheels roll the direction that you want the front swivel caster reverts to straight ahead whenever you take any pressure off of it. I do not think that it would work very well unless you put new wheels on all four corners. Even the way it is now requires some effort to move it.

By all means ---- fire up the old welder. That way you can create anything that you want to and have it work just the way you like. Metal is very inexpensive for what you get. I get mine from a local machine shop. The mobile bases that I have made are strong, cheap and work great.

My thought is that the GO490 is the best 8' jointer for the money in the market by far. It would be worth the effort to learn how to weld, if you do not already know as I geather from your post, and make yourself a mobile base just the way that you want it. You will still be money ahead and I will bet that it will roll much better than the factory one anyway. Or it would leave you free to chose any jointer without having to worry about the mobile base set up.

If welding intimidates you do not worry. I am not a very good welder but you do not have to be for this type of thing. After all, I am not welding up a high pressure gas line or a space shuttle fuel tank.

Good Luck! Allen

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Jay...I need my magnifying glass for that picture! I can't even make out your big grin!! :D ;)

Jim, you know Jay is most definitely smiling inside.

[Ed Bamba]

One more thing. The motor really gives the v-belt a jerk when it starts up. I had centered the belt cover on top of the back base covering the upper pulley and when it started up the belt would slap the cover and did not sound to good so I had to move the cover to it's limit to the left as you look at the machine from the rear. Start it a few times after you install the belt/pulley cover before you put on the back base plate cover to see if you need to adjust it. Saves a little time.

Allen



I had to do the same with my DJ20, good thing they are adjustable. That belt slap was a concern for me at the time. Now it's on to fine tuning the tables and blade setting.
Ed

[Jim O'Dell]

Thanks Allen. I waited too long for the free lessons from my Dad. His eyesight is failing and doesn't trust them to give me a short lessen even. I should have learned years ago...grew up in a redimix concrete plant no less. I'll read throught the owner's manual one of these days and give it a try. I inherited a lot of junk steel parts when we bought this house, so I have plenty of fodder. :D (Previous owner was a retired welder.) Thanks for the encouragement! Jim.

[Jay Knoll]

Hi everyone

Well, I had a chance to try to move things around in the shop (garage?) today to find a place for the new jointer.

Here's what I came up with, would appreciate your thoughts

I've got about 5' beyond the jointer cutter heads before I run into the wall, but if I need more space I can roll the beast toward the center of the garage and lengthen the dust collection.

The band saw has about the same distance behind it and lots of space to the right. The saw is inside the bench vise face, so I can run long boards out to the left of the bench if I want to (but don't know why I would) If I want more space behind the BS I can back it up a bit (it is on wheels) and turn it 90 degrees.

The rolling stand for the Dewalt bench top saw JUST slides between the BS and the workbench, going to have to get another set of swivel casters to make that easier.

I can move the bench top out into the center of the garage, or even into the drive if I need to but, the truth be known, I haven't used it too much since I got my Festool stuff.

You can see my shop-built DC tucked into the corner, the can just slides by the jointer.

I did the nickel test this morning once I got the jointer in place. It stood up when the jointer was turned on and running. I put my hand on the belt cover when I cycled the machine, couldn't feel any "slap" so I guess I aligned the cover properly when I put it together.

Oh, Allen you'll be pleased to notice that I've got the panels on properly. :D

The dust collection seems to work well, I had a few shavings on the table top after a couple of practice runs, but the DC was capturing the majority of the stuff.

Guess that is all for now, appreciate your thoughts/comments on the layout before I finalize the DC connections.

Jay

[Allen Bookout]

Jay,

It is a amazing how nice the jointer looks with the front panel on the front. I feel a whole lot better now!!!!!!!

Your floor and dust collector look really good. Great job.

I see that we are in about the same situation as far a space goes. It is a constant battle moving things around. But better that than nothing at all. I will be of no help on layout as I have not found any good answers. The only thing that I can think of for me is selling the wife's car and replacing it with a moped so that my stuff can stay where it belongs (RIGHT!!!!).

Will be watching for layout suggestions.

Allen