the beast is alive... finally!

[julie Graf]

Well, we finally got the "beast" - an OLD 12 inch jointer - working. (after a rather eventful move into a shop that has 2 flights of stairs to it - up or down. We choose down, and what a ride it was!)

I ran about 100 bf of ash through it yesterday and it seems to be working great.

a few questions:
* any ideas how old/what brand? no markings on it.
* how can you test to see if the tables are perfectly in line with eachother? with my 6" jointer i use a straight edge, but with this I don't have anything long enough. I want to see if there is any sloping - up or down - at the end of the outfeed table.

The plan is to eventually restore it to a thing of beauty, but right now i just needed it to work.

[scott spencer]

Now THAT'S a jointer! Makes my Griz 1182 6" seen like a benchtop model! :D

[Chuck Wintle]

Julie,
That is one monster of a jointer! They sure don't make them like they used to. :D

[Phil Thien]

A taught wire stretched on a piece of wood (like a long violin bow) can be used for checking flatness.

[Jim Becker]

A beauty in the making!!

You might want to see if you can get a Euro bridge guard for that as part of your "restoration". Much better than a pork-chop, IMHO, especially with a wide jointer and face jointing.

[Bill Huber]

So I guess you got that to use when making small jewelry boxes...:D

Are you going to connect a shop vac to it so you won't have to pick up all the saw dust, I am sure they make a 20hp shop vac with a 100 gal. tub.

That is one great looking machine and it looks to be in great shape also.

On the straight edge I would go with the wire or string and make one. Corner to corner should tell you if its flat.

[Victor Stearns]

Truely AMAZING Machine. My whole shop is jealous! Please post photos after your restoratoin. I'm sure that you won't want to move the jointer often.
Victor

[Mike Marcade]

Hows the dust collection on that beast? :D:D:D

[Bart Leetch]

Any ideas how old/what brand? no markings on it?

I think its probably a CIHW.

(Cast Iron Heavy Weight):eek::):D:D:D

[John Shuk]

Looks similar to my Yates American 12 inch which has yet to make it into my basement shop. Mine is from the 40's I think. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=15783

[Brian Weick]

the make is a Crescent Direct drive 12" planer by the looks of it , they are know for their swept leg base, made in the 40's or around that time- they went to stamped plate markings instead of cast into the leg base . earlier markings of the cast markings you can see on the leg base. You may have a serial# stamped on the end of the field table. hope this helps. Use a piano wire to test the bed, or something similar. :)
Brian

[frank shic]

julie, that aircraft carrier of yours DWARFS the ridgid cutoff saw you have sitting next to it. have fun!

[julie Graf]

a cresent direct drive from the 40's - you are right Brian! i searched for some photos, and sure enough it's a match.

thanks all for the straight edge/ string idea. i knew there had to be some thing simple out there.

as for dust collection - i plan to work something out at some point. for right now, it's a broom, dust pan and a dust mask.

and i would like to get a guard for it - i will look into the eurobridge - thanks jim.

i'm really happy with this machine - it has been a pleasure to work with the past 2 days. and not only does it look like an aircraft carrier, it sounds like it's getting ready for takeoff when i turn it on!

[Ryan Lipski]

I'd have to say that beast is an understatement. That thing would easily take up half of my shop!

[Bill Huber]

a cresent direct drive from the 40's - you are right Brian! i searched for some photos, and sure enough it's a match.

thanks all for the straight edge/ string idea. i knew there had to be some thing simple out there.

as for dust collection - i plan to work something out at some point. for right now, it's a broom, dust pan and a dust mask.

and i would like to get a guard for it - i will look into the eurobridge - thanks jim.

i'm really happy with this machine - it has been a pleasure to work with the past 2 days. and not only does it look like an aircraft carrier, it sounds like it's getting ready for takeoff when i turn it on!

Here are some images.

http://owwm.com/PhotoIndex/detail.asp?id=6321

http://owwm.com/PhotoIndex/detail.asp?id=5047

[Mike Marcade]

as for dust collection - i plan to work something out at some point. for right now, it's a broom, dust pan and a dust mask.

I was just teasing with you because of that B. A. pile of sawdust in the pics. :D

[julie Graf]

Mike - haha - yes, it's a BIG ASH pile of sawdust. it's amazing how much sawdust this thing makes! and fast!


Bill - yep, that's it. mine is in a bit better shape - the tables have been reground, which is nice. nope, didn't get it to make jewelry boxes! ha! i actually found the need for a larger jointer when i was making a king size platform bed. now i think i will use it for much more than beds...

[Marc Prudhomme]

If they did ,that jointer would go for about $6,000
Julie,
That is one monster of a jointer! They sure don't make them like they used to. :D

[David Weaver]

Julie - have you ever been to pawlowski lumber? I can't recall where it is - somewhere outside of the south hills. Kind of a different experience.

Anyway, the guy who runs it is a retired teacher, sawmill blade expert and sawyer, and if you buy rough sawn wood from him, he'll run you over into his shop if he has time and face joint it on a 24-inch jointer with power feed. It'll make you want a power feeder :rolleyes:

I know the sound you're talking about when you start it up. It sounds like a city of pittsburgh leaf collecting shredder - like they tie behind the trucks. Definitely worthy of ear plugs.

I'm definitely jealous of your ability to face joint wide boards!

[Greg Cole]

WOOF. 12" is what sll us guys want for making piles of BIG ASH (shavings that is :D). If you're making jewelry boxes with that, what would you use for the bed???
Congrats Julie, to say it's a beast is an understatement.

Greg - who only has 8". :p

[Jim Becker]

Greg, with a wide bed, you can skew material for a cleaner cut, especially when working with exotics and knarly grain. I rarely joint something as wide as my tables, but I almost universally skew the board with great results.

[Jerry Olexa]

Wow!!! That is a monster...Nice job of restoring. i envy you....

[John Thompson]

Good thing you sought refuge in a church, Miss Julie. Otherwise the Air Froce and Navy might try to designate it an "Emergency Landing Strip" in time of need.

Nice piece of "arn" you found their and I am sure you will recieve dividends on your investment.

Regards...

Sarge..

[Greg Cole]

Jim,
Sorry to wander off topic, but was just a play on words based off machine size versus project size. I use the skew technique with my 8" and with my lunchbox planer. Curly maple used to cause much cursing before I wised up to a little water & skewing the stock when possible.
I am envious of the capacity..... :rolleyes:

Greg

[Matt Crew]

My back is aching just looking at that monster!

[Vince Shriver]

How do you skew a board on a jointer? Do you remove the kinfe guard (that sort of scares me), or the fence? Do you just fee-hand it across the knives? Thanks, Vince

[John Thompson]

How do you skew a board on a jointer? Do you remove the kinfe guard (that sort of scares me), or the fence? Do you just fee-hand it across the knives? Thanks, Vince

I just skew the fence on my 8" Steel City which takes about 2 minutes to set up. Other jointer fences will skew, but most are a PITA with the way the designer set them up. Anyway..that will skew the stock automatically as you pass it through.

If you are using wide stock that the pork chp would restrict in a skew, I take it off and put my home-made over-head (aka Euro or very similar) gaurd on to compensate for that. I don't run a jointer without a gaurd period.

Sarge..

[jason lambert]

dust collection and a coat of paint.... Who needs guards anyhow, kiddn, it is a really good idea on a joiner to have a guard.

[Dave Norris]

You could check tables by straightening a long board on the 6 inch jointer and then using it as a straight edge

[Jerry Olexa]

Forgot to mention: get a guard on that blade for your safety....great machine

[Al Killian]

Exellent machine. Do you have three-phase or are you running a inverter? I am still waiting for the electric company to come out and let me know if I can have it.

[Curt Harms]

Well, we finally got the "beast" - an OLD 12 inch jointer - working. (after a rather eventful move into a shop that has 2 flights of stairs to it - up or down. We choose down, and what a ride it was!)
2flights of stairs??!!:eek:. I'm looking at one flight of stairs with a much lighter machine and my trepidation far exceeds my enthusiasm, I'm afraid. Great looking machine, congratulations.

Curt

[julie Graf]

wow, this thread keeps going!

hopefully i can respond to everyone here:

David - i do believe i was at pawlowski lumber about 10 years ago - then i lost the directions and never found it again. But now i'm up north in amish country so i've been exploring the mills around here. ;)

John - do you have plans for your homemade overhead guard? I'd be interested.

Al - we decided to go with the Autogen Static Phase Converter and it seems to be working very well. no problems.

Curt - it was a delicate process involving an appliance dolly, lots of ropes, various anchors and friction belays down a long flight of stairs outside, and a 2nd flight of stairs with an elbow inside. You probably wouldn't believe it unless i had video of it, and all i have is a picture:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2280/1691332033_9d7d7acd73.jpg?v=0

[Ken Shoemaker]

My 2 year old, 6 inch Delta just pee'd itself and is hiding under the couch. :rolleyes:

[julie Graf]

that just cracked me up. good one, Ken.

[Greg Just]

bet that baby is never coming out! :eek:

[Danny Thompson]

That is SICK! I am crazy jealous.

[John Thompson]

Howdy Miss Julie... you will probaby either have to retro-fit a gaurd or make one something like I mentioned. When you see the picture, keep in mind that that is the set up for thick stock. Read the post accompaning the pics as this was posted a short time ago in the thread "how to retro-fit a Euro gaurd" I think?

Simple to make with the three heights I used with one set of the new utility clamps ($14.99) from Rocker. Hope fully it will give you some thoughts as you would b very lucky (as in winning the lotto) to find the stock gaurd on a Crescent. I'm old, but that thang is ancient.

Now Miss Julie, on a note of extreme importance... be reminded young lady that you have chosen and set up shop in a chruch!

Soooo... "don't bogart that jointer.. my friend"! ;)

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showpost.php?p=730510&postcount=11

Sarge..

[Dennis Peacock]

Now THAT's some serious iron there!!!!!! Nice job getting it going Julie!!!!! Congrats!!!!!!! :cool:

[Charles McKinley]

Hi Julie,

I think we will get along quite well as I have a 16" Cresent belt drive jointer. I don't envy your having to move it up or down steps. Is it new enough to have ball bearings or do you have babbet? You have to love those huge tables though. :)

Hope to meet you soon,

[Robert LaPlaca]

Wow that's a monster of a jointer alright. I would agree it looks to be a Crescent. I would say that a guard would be real high on my list of got to do's..

Good luck

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Sweet.

For the table I'd use a dial test indicator on a movable bast like you'll machinists using on a surface table.

If you hold the base on one table and slide the indicator forward and back so you test the other table you'll know exactly what angles or slopes there are between the tables. You only need a few inches of test surface with an indicator to get a very accurate reading.

[Bryan Cowing]

easy way to test, edge joint two boards about 2 ft long, as if you where to glue them up, and if you get a perfect joint with no light passing through between the boards, only paint it. If it's not broke, don't try fixing it!