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View Full Version : Benchtop Jointer Tune-up = Happy Guy



glenn bradley
01-06-2007, 12:50 PM
As I continue to throw spare change into a bucket to swell my jointer upgrade piggy bank I've given my little Delta 6" some attention. The performance of this unit was never stellar but it is just a little guy. Well I decided to give it some TLC.

A thorough going over found some table misalignment. A little time and some shims brought things into line. I re-set the blades and went through the usual alignment checks adjusting as required. The whole operation took under an hour of my time.

I then grabbed a 'not square' piece of two-by material about 2 feet long (three feet is about the max size this little guy will deal with reasonably). I followed the steps to square a board; face joint, square on side, plane and rip. The board came out almost to my liking. I was able to finish it off with a little bit of scraping. I now have a useless but beautifully square piece of 2X4.

Moral of the story for me; don't dog your "lesser" tools. Just tune 'em up well and don't expect them to exceed their capacity. I'm a happy guy but, I'm still saving for that 8" jointer.

Mike Cutler
01-06-2007, 6:42 PM
Moral of the story for me; don't dog your "lesser" tools. Just tune 'em up well and don't expect them to exceed their capacity. I'm a happy guy but, I'm still saving for that 8" jointer.

Very astute Moral. I agree completely.
I still want a bigger jointer though.:D ;)

Jim Becker
01-06-2007, 7:51 PM
I agree that no matter what the "stature" of a tool, keeping it in good condition and tuned up is good for both function and safety. I'm glad you took the time to do a little maintenance on your jointer so that it can do the best job possible for you.

Al Willits
01-06-2007, 9:39 PM
Not a lot of expreince here, but I managed to get a 8" jointer and use that for 90% of the time, I did get a little 4.5" Sears jointer from my Vet and I keep it in my miter saw cabinet, comes in handy for those smaller pieces that I don't want to drag the bigger one out, it took a couple of hours of TLC and it suprisingly does a nice job.
Always nice to have nice working tools, no matter how big or small they are.
Al