jointer alignment help needed

[Gil Liu]

Hi All,

I recently purchased a used 8" jointer -- green Grizzly, dovetailed ways, levers instead of wheels. The tables are flat and coplanar, as best gauged by winding sticks and laying a Festool saw guide rail across the corners diagonally.

When I began looking at how the knives line up with the outfeed table, I see the side of the outfeed table that is closer to the fence is farther from the cutterhead (high) by a good bit (perhaps a little more than 1/16"). If I try to set the outfeed table so that it is just a hair lower than highest point of the knive's arc, a straightedge brushes against the round part of the cutter head at the side farthest from the fence.

Should I simply raise the outfeed table more and skew the knives so that they are higher closer to the fence? Is it possible that the cutterhead is misaligned? Is it that the tables are slanted up toward the fence and needs to be shimmed?

Thanks for your help!! :confused: :(

Gil

[Gary Muto]

I would raise the table and the knives, but I've never had that much discrepancy from front to back. You could also check the knives to ensure that the cutting edge is parallel to the base edge of each knife. I guess I would also check the set screws to make sure that they are all bottomed out before I reinstall the blades.
I never had to adjust the cutter head and it doesn't sound like fun. You can also check to see if the bearings are worn. Best to disconnect the drive belt. There should be no radial play in the bearings.

[Jason White]

I'd try a different straightedge, maybe something thicker. I use a Festool rail with my saw and it can flex a bit depending on how long it is. Could that be throwing you off?

JW


Hi All,

I recently purchased a used 8" jointer -- green Grizzly, dovetailed ways, levers instead of wheels. The tables are flat and coplanar, as best gauged by winding sticks and laying a Festool saw guide rail across the corners diagonally.

When I began looking at how the knives line up with the outfeed table, I see the side of the outfeed table that is closer to the fence is farther from the cutterhead (high) by a good bit (perhaps a little more than 1/16"). If I try to set the outfeed table so that it is just a hair lower than highest point of the knive's arc, a straightedge brushes against the round part of the cutter head at the side farthest from the fence.

Should I simply raise the outfeed table more and skew the knives so that they are higher closer to the fence? Is it possible that the cutterhead is misaligned? Is it that the tables are slanted up toward the fence and needs to be shimmed?

Thanks for your help!! :confused: :(

Gil

[John Thompson]

Morning Gil..

I would re-check the rear out-feed table first. Diagonally corner to corner and then down the center. Don't be overly concerned with off by several .000 as it's cast iron. Use a 4' level edge if you don't have a machinist straight edge. Then re-check the in-feed before re-checking for both table being co-planular. Now.. check the knives one at a time to see if they are properly seatedl And if they are all is well above..... sounds as if a problem with the cutter-head or the gibs and hopefully not.

But... my advice at that point would be to get on the horn to Grizzly technical and see if they have run across the problem from other customers and there is a simple fix for something you over-looked. Hopefully there is as messing with the cutter-head and even worse (adjusting the gibs) is not exactly a great way to spend the day!

Good luck...

Sarge..

[Pete Bradley]

As long as your bearings are good and you can set the knives to match the tables, I doubt the position of the cutterhead will make any difference.

It is possible that a previous owner improperly installed the cutterhead or that the bearings are totally trashed. Slip off the belt and see if the head turns smoothly by hand. Ordinarily bearings go bad long before they have noticeable play, but it's possible these have run way beyond their life and the shaft/bore is worn undersize/oversize.

Pete

[David DeCristoforo]

It sounds to me like the previous owner simply set the knives to low. If you adjust the kinves up a bit in the cutterhead and then set the outfeed table tangent with the arc of the knives, you should be fine....