Making A Hammer Jointer Table Slicker

[Julie Moriarty]

I was just running a 5" wide piece of white oak taking 1mm per pass. This my the first serious use on the A3-31. As the rough sawn board started flattening it got pretty hard to push it through. I sprayed it with Felder Supergleit and rubbed it in. No difference in resistance. I'm thinking about wet sanding it smooth. Bad idea? Good idea? Leave it alone?

[Dan Friedrichs]

I've tried dry sanding it with ~320 grit - didn't seem to make any difference.

I've never used Supergleit, but notice an ENORMOUS difference between a freshly-waxed (using Johnson's paste wax) and not.

[Jamie Buxton]

I haven’t tried that Feldee stuff on my a3-31, but Johnson’s Paste wax works for me.

[Jim Becker]

Even with the Blanchard grind on my MM J/P tables, a wide board that starts to get truly flat takes a lot more effort to move through the jointer. "Smoother" would actually make it stick more, so that's not your solution. I'm not familiar with the preparation you sprayed on but you could use paste wax or any number of woodworking-oriented "slick" spray on coatings to help move things along.

[Greg Parrish]

I’m thinking the rougher, non ground, non polished surface on these is supposed to help resist the grab. Paste wax helped on mine too but seems like it has to be done very often.

Shame you can’t buy some of that late night Gotham steel pan coating in a spray can. Othing seems to stick to or scratch it according to the commercial. LOL

[Mick Simon]

I use paste wax on mine, too. My planer table was noticeably rougher than the jointer tables, so I hit it with some maroon Scotchbrite (dry), wiped it down and waxed it. No issues since, but I wax it often.

[John Kee]

I was just running a 5" wide piece of white oak taking 1mm per pass. This my the first serious use on the A3-31. As the rough sawn board started flattening it got pretty hard to push it through. I sprayed it with Felder Supergleit and rubbed it in. No difference in resistance. I'm thinking about wet sanding it smooth. Bad idea? Good idea? Leave it alone?

Julie I started with Supergleit when I got my A3-31 with Felder straight knives, in 2008, tried waxing too but was a big time waster when in production mode with no difference. I stick with the supergleit now, especially useful when running a couple hundred BDFT. Just a light spray and go. Typically I don't even shutdown the machine when applying. I installed a Hermance insert head in my AD951 last year and noticed a lot more push is needed with the insert head. Glad I installed a powerfeeder. This is a fairly well known fact with any insert head because of the different cutting angle needed. You will notice how much it works when you are planing wide boards and they stop feeding and need to be pushed through to finish the cut because the Supergleit wore off. I personally wouldn't sand the tables it will make the wood suck down even more a the push harder. The tables on the Felder units are alot smoother with no real benefit IMHO.

[Jacob Reverb]

Yep, the smoother it is, the more stiction you get. This is, in part, why a roast beef slicer with grooves across its blade cuts easier than a smooth knife, and why stepped hulls have less drag on their wetted surface.

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[Derek Cohen]

I was just running a 5" wide piece of white oak taking 1mm per pass. This my the first serious use on the A3-31. As the rough sawn board started flattening it got pretty hard to push it through. I sprayed it with Felder Supergleit and rubbed it in. No difference in resistance. I'm thinking about wet sanding it smooth. Bad idea? Good idea? Leave it alone?

Hi Julie

I wipe down the beds with Renaissance Wax. And that's it. Smooth and slick, and no stickiness.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Richard Coers]

I prefer paste wax, but have also used talc powder. Shop smells like a nursery if you use baby powder! LOL

[William Hodge]

I was just running a 5" wide piece of white oak taking 1mm per pass. This my the first serious use on the A3-31. As the rough sawn board started flattening it got pretty hard to push it through. I sprayed it with Felder Supergleit and rubbed it in. No difference in resistance. I'm thinking about wet sanding it smooth. Bad idea? Good idea? Leave it alone?

I use Gulf wax, and make wax stripes on the infeed and outfeed tables. It smooths out fast, and there is no toluene in the mix. Hit the fence, too, if you bear on it during a pass.

You haven't mentioned technique. Using push pads with good grip helps. These push pads are for doing something to wet concrete. The rubber grips wood very well. Also, start the board, joint 12", then push only on the outfeed table. Bearing on the infeed table or the tail end of the wood will make life harder.

https://whiteheadindustrial.com/qlt-...CABEgJrtfD_BwE
Marshalltown 38 Rubber Float 9 X 4in - Fine





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[Julie Moriarty]

Julie I started with Supergleit when I got my A3-31 with Felder straight knives, in 2008, tried waxing too but was a big time waster when in production mode with no difference. I stick with the supergleit now, especially useful when running a couple hundred BDFT. Just a light spray and go. Typically I don't even shutdown the machine when applying. I installed a Hermance insert head in my AD951 last year and noticed a lot more push is needed with the insert head. Glad I installed a powerfeeder. This is a fairly well known fact with any insert head because of the different cutting angle needed. You will notice how much it works when you are planing wide boards and they stop feeding and need to be pushed through to finish the cut because the Supergleit wore off. I personally wouldn't sand the tables it will make the wood suck down even more a the push harder. The tables on the Felder units are alot smoother with no real benefit IMHO.

Thanks, John. I have been wiping the Supergleit off because I didn't want it to stain the wood. It seems from what you are saying you just spray it on and start working. No wiping off necessary. I'll give that a try and see how it goes.

[Julie Moriarty]

I just ran 9" wide 8/4 white oak through the jointer spraying Supergleit down first. Again taking 1mm passes. Still a lot of drag but I don't have enough experience with a quality jointer (my old one was a 6" Craftsman I gave away many years ago) or with straight edge vs. spiral cutters.

I can say the finish on the white oak is pretty impressive. And I'm loving the relative quiet. It's probably the quietest machine in the garage part of the shop. No more ear plugs with noise canceling headphones needed to tolerate the bone shaking scream of the DW735.

[Erik Loza]

I’ve never used supergleit but here is my standard prep for any cast iron jointer or planer table:

1.) Flood the tables with WD-40 or some other fluid suitable for cutting metal.
2.) Scotchbrite pad (grey is best, red #2 choice, green will get you by) under an R/O palm sander and buff the tables out that way. It’s always amazing how much “grain” you can knock off the tables by doing this.
3.) Once done, clean (it slings grey liquid all over the place) any PAINTED surfaces with simple green or one of the citrus cleaners. Clean the actual cast iron tables last (they will “haze over” with rust in a humid shop very quickly) with denatured alcohol, then immediately wax with Johnson’s or something equivalent. This time of year, you may need to keep the paste wax inside the house so it’s not like trying to spread cream cheese on your machine and also, possibly go over the freshly waxed surfaces with a heat gun to aid the wax liquifying and penetrating the cast iron table’s pores if your shop/machine are cold.

Lastly, a lot of this may be technique. One thing I’ve seen with folks who are using a bigger jointer for the first time is white-knuckling or forcing the board across the head. Too much downward pressure. With spiral heads, let the cutterhead do the work for you.

Hope this all helps,

Erik

[Patrick Walsh]

I use supergliet on all my machines to oth protect them from rust and aid in feeding material. I love the stuff. No more paste wax needed..