Power Feeder for 24" Jointer

[Rob Will]

We talked about this once before but I'm still looking for ideas.

I want to face joint some really big slabs across a 24" jointer. I've been doing this by hand but it takes a lot of force to feed a big heavy slab across the jointer.

I think it would be a lot safer to use some sort of power feeder. Is there anything on the market that has enough traction to feed heavy 24" wide slabs?

Thanks for any ideas you care to offer.

Rob

[Ben Abate]

Hello,

I'll tell you what I have and what I know of in the way of availability. I have a Steff Maggi (made in Italy) 3 wheel on my 20 inch jointer and so far it is doing pretty good. I have recently put it on and have only run a few wide boards but it seems to be fitting the bill. I also have a Steff Maggi on my shaper that one is a 4 wheel model no. 2048 Steff makes feeders for most every other company out there. The only one that I know of that is possibly a better feeder is Univer. Martin machery sells Univers, get out the wallet for one of those. Probably if money were not an issue for my jointer I would have used a Steff model 2048 but I was able to purchase a 3 wheel Steff used in good shape. The basic models are all you need for a jointer in my opinion. Something that has 4 speeds would be fine. With a 24 inch jointer I doubt if run out room is an issue. A 2048 Steff Maggi is pretty long, probably 20 to 24 inches long. You can find them used for about $500 to $700. I bought my 3 wheel 3ph from a guy in Chicago for $400 plus shipping used. New that would have cost about $900 plus shipping. Remember you need to set all the wheels on the outfeed table. I had to fabricate a large bracket to support the 3 wheel feeder. It weighs in at around 150 lbs. and it should have the ability to swivel out of the way when not in use.

Hope this helps some.

Ben

[David Weaver]

I'll wait until more people have responded, but a guy who sells hardwoods around here will face the boards for you with a 24" Porter jointer and power feeder, and I've never seen the feeder struggle, even with wide boards.

If you don't get a good answer, next time I'm there, I'll peek at the power feeder. I didn't pay that much attention to the feeder because I was fixated on the jointer, but I think it was larger than a normal power feed. I wouldn't want to try to feed the boards by hand, either - but the feeder whizzed them right through without a hitch.

[Phil Pritchard]

I've run a Steff 38 (3-wheel) on an 18in jointer in the past, wheels over the outfeed table and it worked fine with just a slight bit of slippage on one or two very heavy prices of 4in thick material. On those rare occassions when it did bog it was because I was trying to take too deep a cut. I have a Univers 5-wheel feeder on my Volpato edge sander - and it needs it to keep the work rolling. The 5-wheel feeder has no more power but the extra wheels means that it never slips

Phil

[Rob Will]

Do you guys think that a 3 or 4 wheel power feeder is better than one of those power feeders made especially for a jointer? (Jointmate)

The conventional wheeled feeder aproach sure would be easier to service as I have a Maggi dealer nearby.

Rob

[Phil Pritchard]

Servicing? The chain needs to be lubricated periodically (spray chain lube), the gearbox needs topping up and the urethane tyres wear out and need to be replaced. It takes 5 minutes to unbolt an old one and fit a new one. Feeders don't take a lot of servicing so I don't see the need to have a service centre nearby.

My own experience with feeders on sanders and spindle moulders (shapers) is that the "stickier" the work the better off you are with more wheels. Wadkin sold a feeder machine (model RPF) before WWII with a single 16in diameter wheel on it and they worked well enough, although in the 1950s they went over the the more familiar modern 3-wheel feeder because it suffered less from slippage

Phil

[David Weaver]

Do you guys think that a 3 or 4 wheel power feeder is better than one of those power feeders made especially for a jointer? (Jointmate)

The conventional wheeled feeder aproach sure would be easier to service as I have a Maggi dealer nearby.

Rob

The feeder that I saw on the porter jointer was a 3-wheel feeder, but it was large with large wheels. From the world of tractor traction, larger wheels increase the traction surface area, so that probably helped a lot.

[Rob Will]

Servicing? The chain needs to be lubricated periodically (spray chain lube), the gearbox needs topping up and the urethane tyres wear out and need to be replaced. It takes 5 minutes to unbolt an old one and fit a new one. Feeders don't take a lot of servicing so I don't see the need to have a service centre nearby.

My own experience with feeders on sanders and spindle moulders (shapers) is that the "stickier" the work the better off you are with more wheels. Wadkin sold a feeder machine (model RPF) before WWII with a single 16in diameter wheel on it and they worked well enough, although in the 1950s they went over the the more familiar modern 3-wheel feeder because it suffered less from slippage

Phil

Thanks Phil, I was really just talking about an easy place to get parts.
It appears to me that a conventional wheel machine would be a lot more common around here than a Jointer Mate.

Rob

[Phil Pritchard]

The only things which wears out are the wheels which are a soft polyurethans bonded onto an alloy hub, but even they last about 2 to 3 years in my shop on the sander and spindle moulder (shaper)

Phil