Mounted Power Feeder on Jointer (w/pics)

[David Eisan]

Hello Everyone,

After a three month wait, my jointer power feeder made its overseas journey successfully, arriving at work a couple of weeks ago. Work on the house has held up its installation until tonight.

I assembled the main components and laid them out to see what needed to go where,

http://www.federatedtool.com/david/img/jpf1.jpg

I drilled and tapped two holes in the back of the jointers main casting to receive the mounting bracket. It wasn't until after I had drilled the holes that I noticed that I would not be able to swing a regular tap handle for the hole nearest the fence mounting bracket. I didn't feel like removing the fence so I used a 12 point 1/4" box end wrench, and with many 1/2 turns, I had both holes tapped,

http://www.federatedtool.com/david/img/jpf2.jpg

Time to mount the power feeder,

http://www.federatedtool.com/david/img/jpf3.jpg

I have it so it is pulling just after the cutterhead. I feed the board about 6" past the cutterhead and the power feeder takes over.

I noticed right away that even with the turtle/hare speed selector in turtle mode, the power feeder was going to be running too fast. I switched out the primary set of gears for a second set that would allow it to run even slower,

http://www.federatedtool.com/david/img/jpf4.jpg

Time for a test run,

http://www.federatedtool.com/david/img/jpf5.jpg

I was not sure what to expect for marks on the back of the board from the power feeder; and I was happy to see virtually none,

http://www.federatedtool.com/david/img/jpf6.jpg

Here is what the business end of the power feeder looks like,

http://www.federatedtool.com/david/img/jpf7.jpg

I only ran the one test board tonight, but I am quite pleased. I have 1200 BF of cherry to turn into cabinets and trim around the house, this should make it easier.

Thanks for looking,

David.

Every Neighbourhood has one, in Mine I'm Him

[frank shic]

I only ran the one test board tonight, but I am quite pleased. I have 1200 BF of cherry to turn into cabinets and trim around the house, this should make it easier.

you forgot to mention MUCH SAFER! thanks for sharing and good luck building the rest of your house.

[Kelly Leblond]

Please don't take this the wrong way...love the idea and excellent job on the install. But it looks like you have more of a planer now than a jointer. Is there any chance that to get a good feed there may be too much downward force, reducing jointers effectiveness?

[Mike Heidrick]

Does mounting the feeder there limit how far back you can move the fence at all? Can the fence be moved to give the full 12" table face of the jointer? I also own the DJ30 and it is a wonderfull aircraft carrier. Very very solid.

Did you find a deal on this feeder? What brand and which model did you go with? Where did you get it from?


Looks awesome.

Also in the picture of the feeder mounted, over by your bandsaw is what looks like another feeder. Any other tool pictures from your shop? It looks outfitted really well.

[Bruce Page]

Please don't take this the wrong way...love the idea and excellent job on the install. But it looks like you have more of a planer now than a jointer. Is there any chance that to get a good feed there may be too much downward force, reducing jointers effectiveness?
I was wondering the same thing as Kelly, it seem like the feeder could be flattening the board too much.
Seriously cool feeder. That is a great looking installation.

[Scott Banbury]

It will work fine as long as the depth of cut is sufficient to joint the entire face in one pass and any twist in the board is balanced--I sometimes slip a wedge under the high trailing corner of a board to make sure it doesn't rock as I feed the front edge.

[David Eisan]

Please don't take this the wrong way...love the idea and excellent job on the install. But it looks like you have more of a planer now than a jointer. Is there any chance that to get a good feed there may be too much downward force, reducing jointers effectiveness?

I understand where your question comes from.

A planer has a highly sprung infeed and outfeed roller that must apply enough pressure to propel the board through the planer. The cutterhead is on the top of a planer and there is very little reference surface.

If this was a standard wheeled power feeder with solid highly sprung wheels, you would be correct.

However, this is a specialized feeder made specifically for a jointer. If you look at the last photo, you can see that it grips the board by grabbing it with the points of the wheels, not pressure. Each wheel is lightly sprung individually and rides up and down with variations of the board, it does not press down evenly over its width.

I too was a bit skeptical, but after using it on a couple of boards, I can attest to the fact that it does not simply smooth a face, but it flattens it as well.

David.

[David Eisan]

Does mounting the feeder there limit how far back you can move the fence at all? Can the fence be moved to give the full 12" table face of the jointer? I also own the DJ30 and it is a wonderfull aircraft carrier. Very very solid.

Did you find a deal on this feeder? What brand and which model did you go with? Where did you get it from?


Looks awesome.

Also in the picture of the feeder mounted, over by your bandsaw is what looks like another feeder. Any other tool pictures from your shop? It looks outfitted really well.

I can move the fence all the way forward and back.

The power feeder was made by Co-Matic in Taiwan and imported by the company I work for. Based on how much I and another employee who also has a sample like it, we might start importing them for sale. I honestly don't know the price at this point. There are three models, small (6"-8"), medium (8"-12") and large (12"+). This is the medium version.

The other powerfeeder you see over by the big bandsaw is on my Jess'em router table. It is a 3 wheel 1/4hp unit. I really like it, it makes things much safer.

David.

[David Eisan]

I was wondering the same thing as Kelly, it seem like the feeder could be flattening the board too much.
Seriously cool feeder. That is a great looking installation.

Here is a quote from the manual,

"Recommended Feeding Pressure - Indirect and self-adjusting segmented spike rollers provide multiple contact points (segmented) with a sure-grip (spike). A light and sufficient pressure (to pull) is only needed to ensure a smooth operation without altering (bending) the physical shape of your stock"

The best way to describe it is that it does not rely on pressure to "push" the board through, but grip (spikes) to "pull" the board through.

Does that make sense?

David

[Jim Becker]

David, that's an interesting device...I've not seen that type before. Thanks for the explanation as it addressed my concerns, which are similar to the others', to the point!

[Bruce Page]

Thanks David.
Learn something new everyday.