Need help with jointer alignment

[Paul Arnold]

I have been trying to adjust my jointer now for 2 nights with the same results. It takes more off of the fence side of the piece and with multiple passes is very noticable. I went thru it last night and tonight using an Aline-it dial indicator to get the knives "right" and to check the to tables. I have put a straight edge on both tables and everything seems to be good. Still I get the same thing too much off the fence side, as if the knives were higher or the table lower toward the fence.

Do I need to try shimming? If so, where do the shims actually go?

It is a General 80-100L M1 and the instruction maual is only fit for starting a burn barrel! It has springs under the knives and what I think are jack screws. Its obvious I don't have a clue what the heck to do with this stinking thing, but I hate to let it whip me!

Also, would a Byrd Shelix head be easier to adjust on this thing than regular knives? Is the finish cut better on a spiral? Do the inserts on a spiral get dull faster than knives?

Thanks,
Paul

[Barry Vabeach]

Paul, it might help if you give some background. How long have you owned it, what brand is it, was it working well before, what are you trying to do. If it was working some time ago and it is a used machine and it didn't fall over recently, but you changed or adjusted you knives recently, I would think it must be the knives. There are 2 common tasks, 1- making one face flat and 2 making a side flat and square to an existing face. If I am trying to flatten one face, unless it is really far off, I don't know that I would notice if it takes off more on one side or another , and even if it did, it could be that the board is twisted and the jointer is doing its job. If I am squaring an edge, more will likely come off one side or the other, because that is what has to happen to get it square. I hate to suggest messing with shims on the table until you rule out the other answers. Since you used a dial indicator to adjust the knives, just for info - what kind on numbers do you get if you measure the knife height with the base of the indicator on the infeed - if the numbers change as you move away from the fence, but they don't change as you move from one side to the other on the outfeed - I am thinking something needs adjustment.

[Jeffrey M Jones]

Paul,
If the wood is being cut higer on one side than the other, the blades are not set properly or the tables are not set properly to the head. If you are sure the blades are set properly (off of the cutter head, not the tables), you need to drop the outfeed table and run a straightedge off of the table over the cutterhead to check for squarness. When you do this the straightedge should touch both sides of the cutterhead, not any part of the blades or the recessed areas for the jackscrews. If it is square, move the outfeed table back to where it was, level with TDC of the blades. If it isnt square you must shim the O.F. table if you have a dovetail table, or loosten the paralellogram plate pins if you have paralellogram tables. This is a very tedious process, hopefully if the table is off you have paralellogram tables as they are easier to adjust in my opinion. once the o.f. table is paralell, you should check the i.f. table to the o.f. table for squarness. Hopefully this helps. what kind of jig are you using to set your blades? I have just recently studied up on jointers thouroughly as I have had some problems with mine and had to figure it out. If you have any questions you can pm me. I have a paralellogram jointer, so I dont know much about shimming a dovetail but Im sure there are people here that will be more than happy to help. Hang in there, jointers can be frusterating to troubleshoot.:mad: Just dont get mad and kick it over like I wanted to.. itll just give you more problems Im sure.
Jeff