Proper jointer use

[Joe Von Kaenel]

Hello,

I have had a 6 inch Delta jointer for 6 months . I hesitate to use it because it usually makes the edge of the board worse. It leaves little divots. I slide the board through with a fluid motion applying downward pressure. Any thoughts? Thanks

Joe

[jerry needham]

Try backing off on the depth of cut. Jointers need a lot of patients. Good luck.

[Mac Cambra]

Also look at the direction of the grain, going against the grain, not implying across the grain, tends to create tear out.

Depth of cut and sharp knives are very important as well.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

Joe - this might help too..

http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1351307219&channel=1155152696

[Lee Schierer]

Before jointing or planing any board you need to look at the grain. Feeding the board into the cutters so it tends to lift the grain will cause the tearout or chipout you are seeing. The same is true when routing boards. You want to avoid the type of cut shown below.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=86361&d=1208046578
You can also feel the wood to see which way to push it across the cuters. Take a cotton rag and drag it along the edge. In on direction the wood will grab and hang up on the rag. Sliding the rag in the other direction the wood will slide more easily. Always have the tips of the grain pointing opposite the driection of feed on your jointer, planer or router.

[Thomas Pender]

My old shop teacher said no matter how it looks or feels, you will still dig out some gouges (tearouts) (once in a while) with even a jointer with sharp blades (or a planer) (even expensive and very sharp handplanes do this). His solution - decrease the depth of cut so you can reverse the feed direction - i.e., if it cuts tearouts in one direction, try the other and that way you do not waste much wood figuring it out. I also especially liked the damp cotton cloth suggestion, which has the secondary benefit of reducing tearout anyway because of the moisture. (BTW - birds eye maple is a notorious offender - I really do not even worry how that turns out the first time.)

One thing I have learned through experience is that less, really is more effective. So, I tend to take very little off with the jointer until I figure out what the wood is doing - how flat it is against the fence, etc., and then only increase it by a very little. Thus, I really endorse the suggestions on depth of cut, but perhaps for slightly different reasons.

[J. Z. Guest]

All good stuff posted above. When I get divots, (I assume you're not talking about tear-out, which is related to grain direction) it is because I'm feeding it too quickly.

Slow down your feed rate and as soon as possible during the cut, transfer the downward pressure to the outfeed table.

What do your shavings look like? Do they look like shavings, or are they kind of dusty? If they're dusty, it means you're due for new knives or re-sharpened knives.