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Thread: Delta 8" dovetail jointer table removal

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
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    Modesto, CA, USA
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    Delta 8" dovetail jointer table removal

    I have a rockwell/Delta 8" jointer with the standard dovetail ways. I can not figure out how to remove the tables. I cranked it all the way to the end both up and down. Up travel hits the bearing before the dovetails are close to being free.
    All the info I found was for lever type jointers not screw adjust.
    It has a single gib so removing it will not let it lift off.
    Down travel goes until it hits the handle support boss. The only way I can see to do it is to unbolt the handle support boss from underneath. But there is some sheet metal in the way so a socket extension will not work. It would be very awkward to do it with no extension. I can not see any bolts holding the main base down to the base cabinet or I would flip it upside down and grind clearance for a wrench.
    Bill D

    JA 127 IN THE ATTACHED DIAGRAM
    http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/1141/492.pdf
    Last edited by Bill Dufour; 06-19-2022 at 5:26 PM.

  2. #2
    I think you'll find you need to remove the adjustment handle and unbolt the boss. next loosen up the knob on the front for that section and the table half should slide off the bottom of the frame. You may have to remove the jointer from the base if there's interference.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
    Location
    Mid-Michigan
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    You must first remove the cutterhead by unbolting the two pillow blocks and carefully withdrawing it from the front or from the back. If from the front (easiest), you must first remove the rabbetting ledge. If removing from the rear you have to take the whole fence assembly off. Then you temporarily remove the handwheel from one end and remove the lock collar. Next loosen the table lock knob. Then reinstall the handwheel and crank the table up towards the void left by removing the cutterhead. Be careful as the tables are heavy! If things aren't moving smoothly, apply penetrating oil to the adjusting rod threads and loosen the gib screws slightly. The adjusting rods and the threaded inserts are unobtainium so treat them as such. Once you have cranked the table to the end of the threads on the adjusting rod, remove the handwheel and withdraw the table from the ways (again, towards the center), pulling the rest of the adjusting rod through the hole in the stop block.
    Last edited by Marc Fenneuff; 06-19-2022 at 11:18 PM.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
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    Marc I think you are correct. I looked a little deeper and found three bolts holding it to the base. The one at the outfeed end is a bit hidden by a pinch weld and not easy to find if you expect two bolts at each corner like the other end.
    Due to time constraints I will put the gibs back in and try to unbolt it from the base tomorrow. Once it is flipped I can get to the cutterhead bolts.
    Honestly, I will just put it back together and clean it another time. I will loosen it from the base and slip lifting straps between the base and the jointer so I can hoist it into a trailer to move to the new house.
    Bill D

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
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    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
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    Are you taking it apart just to move it? I moved mine over thirty times, and it's never been taken apart.

  6. #6
    geez Tom are you a Gypsy?

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
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    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
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    I built one new spec house a year for 33 years. A shop was set up in each one of them. I hadn't used it for 15 years, but moved it out of a storage building a couple of weeks ago to use here.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  8. #8
    ah makes sense. Pretty amazing thing to do.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom M King View Post
    Are you taking it apart just to move it? I moved mine over thirty times, and it's never been taken apart.
    It needs to be moved and it needs to have the dovetails cleaned. I can barely crank the infeed up or down. If it was easy i was going to kill two birds with one stone and take it apart and clean it while I moved it.
    Now I have tio figure how to clean the dovetails without taking it apart. Normally I would use my rifle cleaning brush kit but I do not think there is enough room for the brush or rod. I will probably make something out of wood to push in there with solvent.
    Bill D

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
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    Mine wouldn't budge this time after sitting for 15 years. I put Blue Creeper all along both sides, and some in the top of the ways up near the cutterhead. The little needle tip works great for such things. The next day, it moved as easily as a new one, but I still let it all the way down and oiled the ways good.

    I don't know that this is anything different than Acetone and Auto Trans Fluid, but I like the little applicator tip. It's never failed to free anything up, including on old tractors that sit outside all the time.

    https://bluecreeper.com/

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
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    Modesto, CA, USA
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    I got the dovetails cleaned up without table removal. In was able to pull the gibs then get some tools in to clean them out. The outfeed table was the worst I kept getting fine grit on a pipe cleaner soaked in alcohol. I had to lift the far end to open up the gib slot enough.
    Note: do not use brake cleaner it lifts the paint.
    i am impressed with the Dupont Chain saver spray I used after it was cleaned up. I could not touch the adjusting screw threads where they went into the nut. Sprayed it to soaking and it looked cleaner and moved much smoother. It goes on wet and dries to a dry wax coating. Supposed to be self cleaning. What ever that means.
    Bill D

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