feeder on jointer

[joe aiello]

Has anyone put a feeder on a jointer? good or bad results? I have a 8" jointer and a 3 wheel 1/4 hp feeder. --- joe:)

[Jim Becker]

Some folks do, but I wouldn't. Jointing is a "feel" operation, including the "just enough but not too much" pressure you exert on the board when making it flat.

[John Renzetti]

Hi Joe, I know some guys that have feeders on their jointers. All reports are that once set up correctly they are great for quickly face jointing a lot of material in a short time. The key things are "proper setup" and the amount of material to be face jointed. Setup can be tricky. Too much pressure and you will deflect your table. If you are just jointing a few boards, the setup time, at least initially, will take up more time than it's worth.
take care,
John

[Joe Chritz]

The custom shop up the road has one on his jointer. Both feeder and jointer are a tad bigger than almost any hobbist will have. A 20" American jointer and some monster feeder.

In talking with him about it once it is great when both are adequately powerful and you have to run lots of stock.

It is possible but may not be worth it unless you are doing many many feet at one time.

Joe

[J.R. Rutter]

Pros:
Makes it easy to run through a pile of stock.
Take a bigger cut, if you have the HP.
Wrist/hand saver for carpal tunnel syndrome.
Like having a 3rd hand for long boards.

Cons:
Changing from facing to edging takes time.
Can be tricky to deal with big twist.
Can be slower when you need to burn the ends down first on bowed stock.
You have to figure out how to mount it.

I have two jointers, one for facing and one for edging. Both have feeders.

[joe aiello]

thanks for the replies. I think I understand the the pros and cons. If there are a lot to process I think a feeder would improve things. Where would you mount it? Any pics available? By the way I have an old Oliver 16" that I am rebuilding and old 12" Crescent (sitting idle); also 7 shapers each with feeders and an old direct drive saw(3 hp) ,I think Tanawitz with a feeder dedicated to ripping and dadoes. I still like the manual operation for the jointers. --- Joe.

[CPeter James]

Why wouldn't a feeder on a jointer work just like a planer and just smooth a twisted or warped board instead of flatteneing it, leaving it twisted or warped?

CPeter

[Jim Becker]

Therein lies the rub, CPeter...the actual pressure and placement of the feeder has to be darn exact to avoid distorting the board and still letting it move the material through the cut. I suspect that folks who use them also take a bigger bite on one pass, too...

[J.R. Rutter]

Why wouldn't a feeder on a jointer work just like a planer and just smooth a twisted or warped board instead of flatteneing it, leaving it twisted or warped?

CPeter

If you put it on the outfeed table, you can control the position of the board as it feeds across the cutterhead. Then the feeder presses the flat against the table. For severe twist, I use a shim under the high trailing corner to keep the board from twisting as it feeds. You can do multiple passes until it is flat. Once the jointer is dialed in for the feeder pressure, it is fast and easy to get snipe-free faces or edges.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showpost.php?p=538499&postcount=10

Here's a previous thread on jointers and feeders. The facing feeder is actually mounted in some tapped holes in the outfeed table that used to hold the fence. The table is 16" wide, the cutterhead is 12". I made a new bridge guard because the swing-away stock guard left one side of the cutterhead unguarded. The new guard also makes sure that the stock doesn't stray off the cutterhead.