Some musings on setting up my jointer......

[Mark Rios]

I finally got my new G0593 jointer put together and set up. 54140

The fit and finish are very nice, save some minor scratches on the table from the fence. They were there out of the box. I"m not sure how or why they got there but the scratches won't affect the performance any. The tables are as flat as I can measure using a certified (to within .0002" {2 ten thou} per foot), steel 3' straightedge and a .0015 (my thinnest) feeler gauge. Flat, flat, flat and there is no twist between the two tables as well. Very nice.

However, two things did come up. One, when I checked the alignment of the spiral cutterhead to the outfeed table, I found some of the cutters barely touch the straightedge and some don't. Does anyone know if there is an adjustment on a spiral cutterhead for this? Or does this condition warrant an adjustment on a spiral cutterhead.

The other thing that came up was when I laid my straightedge on the tables, centered over the cutterhead, parallel with the length of the tables. The outfeed table seems to slope away from the cutterhead. Where as I can't fit my .0015 feeler gauge under my steel straightedge when laying on a single table, it will just barely, barely fit under the far left end (over the outfeed table); It will fit but it is very tight. Is this small of a slope an amount to be concerned about? Or is it within tolerances? If it is of a concern, how is this adjusted?

Thanks for looking and reading and for any thoughts, opinions and suggestions.

[Ken Garlock]

Sounds like you have a winner.

Have fun.

[glenn bradley]

I'd accept those tolerances and I am picky, picky, picky.

[Gary Keedwell]

Have you tried to edge a board yet?

Gary K.

[Todd Solomon]

IHowever, two things did come up. One, when I checked the alignment of the spiral cutterhead to the outfeed table, I found some of the cutters barely touch the straightedge and some don't. Does anyone know if there is an adjustment on a spiral cutterhead for this? Or does this condition warrant an adjustment on a spiral cutterhead.

The other thing that came up was when I laid my straightedge on the tables, centered over the cutterhead, parallel with the length of the tables. The outfeed table seems to slope away from the cutterhead. Where as I can't fit my .0015 feeler gauge under my steel straightedge when laying on a single table, it will just barely, barely fit under the far left end (over the outfeed table); It will fit but it is very tight. Is this small of a slope an amount to be concerned about? Or is it within tolerances? If it is of a concern, how is this adjusted?

Thanks for looking and reading and for any thoughts, opinions and suggestions.

Hi Mark,

Spiral cutterheads do have a tolerance on the location of the insert seat, and on the thickness of the inserts. So, you'll get a bit of height variation from insert to insert. I can see rows noticeably deeper (but barely) when I plane with my Byrd cutterhead. This is not a big deal to me, unless the variation is more than a couple of thousandths (not sure what a reasonable tolerance is). You need to hand-plane, sand, or scrape any planed surface anyhow, so small height variations should not affect anything. The finish coming off of my planer is not as pretty as from a straight-knived machine, but there is less tearout. So I consider it a good trade-off.

Sounds like your jointer table flatness and alignment are exceptional- be thrilled. My 12" Grizzly is also amazing, both tables flat and parallel to .001" over 80 inches! Enjoy your new machine, and let us know how it well it surfaces your wood.

Todd

[Mark Rios]

Thanks to all for your feedback. I wasn't meaning to sound like I was complaining about the tolerances, just wondering what they were 'cause I didn't know what they should be. It sounds like they're good so, thanks very much again.

[David Mueller]

Mark,
I added a byrd head to my G500 last year. When I put it all back together, I found that the head was about .005 lower in the back if I used a front cutter as a reference to the outfeed table. I ended up putting a .004 shim between the bearing collar and the seat in back so now I basically measure almost dead flat across the outfeed table to almost every cutter. I really don't really see any lines like the others talk about. Mostly smooth like a baby but it's wood dependent sometimes. I still scrape or plane for finish but it's mostly not necessary. Enjoy the jointer.