Am I expecting too much?

[Dick Holt]

I recently took delivery of a Shop Fox W1741 jointer (same as Grizzly G0490). I checked the flatness of the tables and fence. The tables were dead flat. The fence was out by .020. I called Shop Fox and they said it was just over their tolerances and would send me a new fence. I just got it today and checked it before I installed it. It was out .017. Should I call Shop Fox and complain? I don't know what their actual tolerances are. Since .020 was "just over" , maybe .017 is within their tolerance. If so, should I return the jointer? I haven't used it yet as I haven't quite finished putting in a 220V outlet. I have saved for a long time for this jointer, and I have to admit I am not too happy. Am I being too picky? Would a fence .017 out of flat cause any noticeable problems?

Dick

[Tim Morton]

I recently took delivery of a Shop Fox W1741 jointer (same as Grizzly G0490). I checked the flatness of the tables and fence. The tables were dead flat. The fence was out by .020. I called Shop Fox and they said it was just over their tolerances and would send me a new fence. I just got it today and checked it before I installed it. It was out .017. Should I call Shop Fox and complain? I don't know what their actual tolerances are. Since .020 was "just over" , maybe .017 is within their tolerance. If so, should I return the jointer? I haven't used it yet as I haven't quite finished putting in a 220V outlet. I have saved for a long time for this jointer, and I have to admit I am not too happy. Am I being too picky? Would a fence .017 out of flat cause any noticeable problems?

Dick

Did you order a fence that was .017 out? I didn't think so...

[Mark Engel]

Seems worth a phone call.

It would be interesting to know what Shop Fox considers the 'allowable tolerance' to be. Then you can decide if your expectations match up with Shop Fox's allowances.

[Myk Rian]

.017 isn't going to matter. You can have a fence .5" out and get an accurate edge joint. The flatness of the fence means nothing when face jointing.
The only time the fence would matter when edge jointing is if it was twisted bad.

[Steve Griffin]

I'd be fine with a fence off that small amount. Can't say I've even bothered to check mine (ignorance is bliss!)

It's not as important as the tables, and even those would probably do fine with that much variation.

Give it some test cuts and I bet you'll be happy.

-Steve

[David Kumm]

Unfortunately more fences are off than on with the current jointers. Convex is bad and twist is worse. There are lots of complaints regarding the smaller MM j-p as well as the hammer so a flat fence must be a price point issue. If the tables are flat, parallel, and co planer consider yourself lucky. Dave

[Peter Quinn]

Are you asking too much? Maybe so. I have never checked my fence with anything more than a quick glance at a straight edge, not to much daylight, no problem. Mine is an older DJ-20. Its a little out. .010'? .015'"? .020"? Who knows? I never even got out so much as a feeler gauge to check. I just pushed wood over the jointer, checked that, tweaked the fence until results on a test piece are good, and there it lives. We have an older SCMI jointer at work that has been through hell and has a fence so twisted you can see it with the naked eye from 10' away, but you set it in the sort of middle "sweet spot" and it work s great.

Now if the tables were out .017', they would be hearing from me lots, but the fence IMO just isn't that critical to success on a jointer. Its more of a thing to lean against than anything. Its nice if they are flat, and you could certainly remedy that at any machine shop should you want to. Just watch that it doesn't keep moving, I hear rumors they don't always work all the stress out of the iron these days and it keeps warping as it ages, don't know the validity of that?

[John W Henderson]

It was out .017...Would a fence .017 out of flat cause any noticeable problems?

Not entirely sure, but for point of reference, this is the width of 3-4 human hairs. For metal machining 17 thousandths is pretty sloppy; not sure what is acceptable for flatness in woodworking, though.

[Jeff Nicol]

If you are going to be making things out of wood and expect it to stay within .017 tolerance you will never achieve it. Wood is alive and will change in shape when the humidity changes. If you make a piece of furniture with all kiln dried wood and 1 or 2 pieces of air dried wood, they will react differently to the changes in humidty.

Perfection is not attainable no matter how hard one attempts to achieve it, especially in woodworking. Since most times you will either be gluing up or cleaning up an edge, there will be some sanding, finishing, carving, routing or other process done to it. If you were not able to get it perpendicular to the bed that may not be so good in keeping the face and edge at a 90 degree angle.


No worries in my eyes,

Jeff

[Ron Kellison]

The only thing that matters is whether the wood is flat when you've finished running it through the jointer! If the fence is 90 degrees to the table, the tables are flat and co-planar everything should be fine. Maybe I missed it but when you mention .02" are you talking about vertical or horizontal flatness? If you're concerned about 2-hundredths of an inch along the horizontal I would suggest you will twitch more than than during the typical pass across the blades.

Make chips and measure the results. Don't get hung up on "perfect". Perfect is the enemy of the Good!

Regards,

Ron

[Rick Fisher]

I think your being too fussy considering ..

I have a Griggio 12" Jointer and when I measured the fence, its out about .015. Its not a problem.

[Myk Rian]

My latest project is a late 30s JD Wallace 8" jointer. Not even worried about the fence.

[Phil Thien]

Deviation from flat along the LENGTH of the fence hardly matters. .020 or .017 would be fine.

Deviation from flat along the HEIGHT of the fence can be a problem in that it can allow the wood to rock while edge jointing.

[glenn bradley]

At the Shop Fox and Grizzly price point I would say you are looking pretty good. My G0490X fence had an issue and the replacement was fine. I thought the tolerance quoted was .008" but, I wonder if that is documented somewhere or if that was just what I was told. I am often caught off guard by how many folks do not use their jointer for angled edge cuts. Fence deviation can cause issues there but, people rarely mention it when talking about jointer fences. Jointers are great for long mitered edges. At any rate, your tolerance is what is important. I would run some boards and see if you are happy. That is the real test, no matter what the numbers say. We use tolerances as a guideline to judge things but, if I am getting what I want out of a machine, I am not going to get in a twist because my dial indicator or feeler gauge says this or that. My .02.

[Glen Butler]

The fence being perpendicular to the beds is what matters not so much the straightness of the fence.