Jointer technique

[Gerry S. Wojtowicz]

<p>
Hi all, I just purchased a jointer. I havee never used one before. The first board I tried to joint started off fairly square (sighting down the flat edge and joint edge it looked fairly square). When I was done with my jointer effort, the board was significantly out of square. If you can imagine the original board as viewed from the end measuring 3 inches wide by 3/4 inch thick. At the end of my effort the board is 3 inches wide, 3/4 inch thick on one side and 1/2 inch thick on the other. What did I do wrong?</p>

[Mel Fulks]

Sounds like the board has a twist, put it down on a flat surface and check.

[Lee Schierer]

To get better answers specify which jointer you have. Posting photos of your finished board will help clarify what your problem might be.

Unfortunately many power tools these days are not well set up when they leave the factory. The first thing you need to do is determine if your jointer is set up properly. Your owners manual should have instructions on aligning and replacing the knives. The knives need to be parallel to the table surface and equal in height to each other. Your need to check your out feed table setting to insure that it is at the correct height relative to the knives. The out feed table should be at exactly the same height as the highest point of the arc the knives go through. The in feed table should be coplanar to the out feed table. A long straight edge is your best tool for determining this.

Once you assure yourself that your jointer is set up correctly, you can appraise your technique. When feeding a board across a jointer it is important that you keep the piece flat on the in feed table and against the fence at all times. As soon as some of the board is over the out feed table, transfer one of your hands to the out feed side of the cutter head and press down on the out feed side. This will insure that you get a straight cut. Kep your pressure along the center line of the piece being cut so you don't cut one edge more than the other.

[Jacob Mac]

Ensure your jointer is set up properly. That takes a variable out of the equation. There are lots of YouTube videos on how to do it. I like the wood whisperer's set up videos.

[Yonak Hawkins]

Aside from dressing a board to get two adjacent surfaces at the proper angle to one another (usually square), another important purpose of the jointer is to get one surface of a board flat. Once that's accomplished, go to the planer to get the opposite side parallel.

[jack forsberg]

Surly You didn’t surface 4 faces on the jointer ?

[Jim Becker]

Yoanak makes an important point...the jointer is only used for one face and one edge initially. Once you flatten a face and make the edge adjacent to that face perpendicular to that face, you have to thickness using a planer. The other edge is generally made parallel to the first one at the table saw and, perhaps, cleaned up on the jointer.

It's normal for a board that's been flattened and/or edge jointed to not be perfectly rectangular or of equal thickness after those initial steps are completed.

[Gerry S. Wojtowicz]

Thanks to all for your responses:

1. The jointer is a CUTECH 8 inch bench top jointer
2. I'll supply pictures to help with the troubleshooting
3. I understand that the jointer is used to square one edge and one flat surface, and the opposing edge and surfaces would be completed on the table saw and planer.
4. The fence is square to the jointer surface

[Matt Day]

4. The fence is square to the jointer surface

That’s only one part of the machine setup.

Are the tables flat? Are the tables coplaner? Is the outfeed table set TDC of the knives (inserts)? There are some good YouTube videos about setting up a jointer.

[Randy Heinemann]

Jointing both faces and edges on the jointer will usually get the sides and edges flat, but not parallel to each other. As others have said, the only way get a board that is both flat and with two faces or edges parallel is:

Faces - Joint 1 face flat and run the board through a planer to get the other face both flat and parallel to the other side (or hand plane it flat and parallel).

Edges - Joint 1 edge square to the first previously jointed face, rip the board to width to get the second edge parallel to the first; then run the second edge over a jointer to remove any remaining saw cuts (or again hand plane it).

When a face or edge is run over the jointer repeatedly, the board tends to get out of parallel.

In addition, the jointer should be checked to determine if the infeed and outfeed tables are set properly. There are a number of videos online. If, after viewing those videos, you find your jointer to be way out of whack, I would contact the company for warranty support. Jointers should come from the factory set up correctly or at least very close.

[Matt Day]

If ... you find your jointer to be way out of whack, I would contact the company for warranty support. Jointers should come from the factory set up correctly or at least very close.

For Felder level tools I agree with that to an extent. Not for Cutech or entry level machines.

[Myk Rian]

Make sure the OUTFEED end of the fence is square to the outfeed table.

[Don Jarvie]

If you have manual follow the set up. If you don’t have one this jointer is probably similar to a Grizzly model so you can get one of theirs.

[michael langman]

Gerry, before you begin to joint the surface of the board examine the widest surfaces of the wood along it's length, and determine which side of the wood is convex and concave along it's length.
You want to start surfacing the side that is concave. The side that starts out high at the ends of the board and is shallower in the middle.
On your beginning cuts through the jointer you will be cutting the ends of the board only. Your final cut on the jointer will finish up the center of the length of the board last.
If you start cutting on the convex side of the board the board will teeter back and forth on the high part in the center of the board. This will cause you to cut more on one end of the board then the other, and you will end up with the condition you describe.

[michael langman]

Also, if you try to joint a board that is too long, because the the jointer has short beds, you will find it hard to joint the ends of the board more evenly.