Glue Ups

[Ron Hedrick]

I am trying to glue 2 pieces of cherry. They are 3/4x5x32. I am having a hard time getting a good tight joint. I have a small 6" Delta benchtop jointer. I have never been able to get a decent edge. I don't know if I am doing something wrong or if this jointer is just a piece of ______. Am I totally wasting my time with this jointer or can someone tell me what I may be doing wrong, when I run a piece through I get gouges and the edge is not square. Can someone tell me how to get a good glueup without a jointer?

Sure would appreciate some help, thanks. I'm pretty new and am really trying to learn.

[Dixon Peer]

If the edge is not square it means your fence is not square to the table. The gouges you describe may be what we call snipe, which is caused by the outfeed table being lower than the arc the spinning cutters make. Sounds to me like your problem is rooted in the alignment of your machine. If you have the instruction manual, you should "read and understand" (in Norm's words) it. You should then be able to fix what ails you.

[Quinn McCarthy]

Ron

The last thing you want to do is force the glue joint with clamps.

I have never used a jointer like yours. I would take a look at the knife alignment. Make sure they are in correctly. Also check the edges for nicks. You may need to send the blades out for a good sharpening. I usually use a machinist square to set the blades. The other thing to check is to see if the tables are parralell. You can do that with 2 framing squares. Put one on each table with one arm on the table and one in the air. Move the arms in the air toward each other until they meet. Then you can see if the tables are in line by the gap between the two squares. There should be no gap.

I don't know what else to tell you. I hope that helps.

Quinn

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I am guessing that everything is wrong. The tables are not parallel, the blades are dull, the fence is not square.

Fix those things and your jointer will make you a happy camper.

Google will turn up tons of resources and tech tips to do all of it.

Or the guys here may open the floodgates and provide you more information than you might guess is possible.