When I had my dovetail style jointer tuned in I rarely adjusted for fear of losing calibration. But with the parallelogram jointer I change it all the time and it stays parallel and square. It’s nice to take off what is needed which can be a lot sometimes and just a little sometimes.
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Was it made by KTel?
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I must have missed the post about light cuts for fear of getting hurt. I take light cuts to not produce more chips than necessary. I'm sure is I was running production I would view that differently. Because I'm retired though and have a taxi service to run for the grandkids and their ball games to enjoy. I will admit though now that I have my shop air conditioned I usually get there at least a little while nearly everyday.Originally Posted by Mel Fulks
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There are times where a deep cut especially edge jointing a crooked board that is significantly longer than the outfeed table is the way to get the job done, otherwise you will be making expensive crooked firewood.
I keep my infeed set at 1/16” as a home base reference but often adjust the depth of cut deeper or shallower for situations like above or the other way to 1/32” or less if just needing to lightly clean up an edge or sometimes to dial in door edges to avoid saw marks from the sliding table saw/track saw.
If edge jointing a particularly heinous or crooked, long board I will set the depth of cut to match the amount of crook (up to 1/2”) and straighten it fully in one pass easily. You run the risk with long crooked boards of just removing material and keeping it slightly crooked no matter how many passes as the front end slides down off the end of the outfeed table gives you a curved cut...depends on how much crook and how long of course, but it’s not hard to do if taking light cuts on such a board and not realizing what’s going on.
Still waters run deep.
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There's no substitute for paying attention, but I normally run the convex edge down on a crooked board and the convex face on a bowed one.
I adjust the depth setting frequently depending on the task. I would not expect that to result in slop on a dovetail way jointer that could not be cured by tightening the gibs after a long period of use. If you're worried about it, lube the infeed ways periodically.
Last edited by Kevin Jenness; 08-18-2022 at 4:14 PM.
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Yeah, I have done that as well...just kinda depends on the board. You have to be mindful to keep the convex from rocking on the outfeed side obviously, which really kinda depends on how bad it is and how much is being cleaned up per pass. More than 1 way to skin a cat for sure.
Still waters run deep.
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- I still don't know on what Unicorn Ranch people are finding good, used woodworking machines for good prices. For years I checked all the web sites and always saw the same thing; ho-hum tools at high prices and a few nice tools at almost full MSRP. So why bother? I didn't
- Years ago I bought a Shop Fox 8" jointer. This was right when Grizzly launched their Shop Fox line which was intended for brick & mortar stores. Ironically, I ordered it online. :-) It's been a great jointer. All the guys here recommended not even bothering with a 6" jointer. Boy were they right! Almost every time I have flat planed I had just enough width. If I had a 6" jointer, I'd be a doing a lot more ripping. By all means buy the widest jointer you can afford and you can find. (I'd love to have an "aircraft carrier" like David Marks.)
- My jointer is a parallelogram. I honestly don't recall why I opted for that. Probably because that's what was available
- I also never change the depth setting on my jointer. It has literally been a set it and forget it
- Here in 2022 it's all about availability. Supply lines are starting to get better, but there are still a lot of problems. If I was looking for a jointer today, I would look at stores far and wide to see what they had in stock on the floor or in the back room. Order it? Forget about it. Right now any machine in the hand is worth two on back order
Last edited by Pat Germain; 08-18-2022 at 5:18 PM.
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I looked and hunted for my jointer for more then a year. The quest for used machinery can take a long time .
Almost settled for a machine but glad I didn’t.
I’m a starving woodworking artist so I cannot afford s2s or anything but rough even even air dried come take what you want isn’t free. Without a jointer to flatten gnarly twisted wood would be nearly impossible.
There no free lunch
Aj
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It takes a long time and lots of depth of cut adjustments for the ways to wear so much that shimming is required. So long that it isn't worth worrying about. The supposed ease of adjustment advantage is not an advantage at all because 1) realignment is rarely if ever needed, 2) realignment of a parallelogram jointer is not so trivial as some suggest, and 3) shimming a wedge bed jointer isn't as difficult as some suggest. Also, if your jointer falls out of alignment so often that ease of realignment is a valuable feature then you need a new jointer.
I also take issue with the alleged speed of adjustment advantage. It is also irrelevant because wedge bed jointers with lever arm adjustment are available. I have one and actually prefer the adjustment wheels on my old jointer. As to speed of adjustment, there is very little difference and either way the time is trivial in comparison with most setup tasks.
I also take issue with the alleged constant gap advantage. There is a larger gap between the cutterhead and the infeed table at extremely deep cut depths with a wedge bed jointer but most users probably don't use those settings and I've never heard of anyone having a problem because of that gap anyway.
I will grant you that parallelogram jointers tend to have longer infeed and outfeed tables but the tables on a long bed wedge style jointer are plenty long and considerably longer than the tables on the J/P combo machines that so many woodworkers on this forum advocate. Parallelogram jointers also tend to be heavier, which is nice in the shop but not so nice when moving them.
To be clear, I am not suggesting that there is anything wrong with the parallelogram design. It seems to me that it was designed to be easier to manufacture because less precise machining is required. But why would pay a price premium for an advantage that only benefits the manufacturer? I suppose there is additional steel and cast iron that may add to the cost, but does that justify the price premium to the woodworker? Right now there is a $1k difference between the PM PJ882 and the 60C.
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Andrew, there's zero chance I would joint that board as is; you'll wind up with toothpick stock. Crosscut that sucker into pieces that'll let you retain some of the thickness.
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Craigslist, FB Marketplace, woodworking FB groups (too many to list), WoodWeb, OWWM.org, Vintage Machinery Classifieds, GovDeals, IRS auctions, HiBid, Machinery Max Auctions, Machinio, eBay, posting want to buy ads on sites like this or more local woodworking forums are all places that I have either looked consistently and found or actually purchased all of my woodworking machines (except one) from for what I consider good deals.
It is effort and you need to educate yourself about what you need, what you’re actually looking for, relative values, etc in order to separate the wheat from the chaff.
The more mainstream the avenue is (FB marketplace) then the more crap you don’t want will be in your face, but also the higher the chance of finding something of high value at a low price (selling off grandpa’s tools - need them gone make me an offer - kinda thing)
Many folks probably don’t have the persistence, patience, and desire to find good deals on quality used machinery and be willing and able to drag it back to the shop safely, which of course is totally fine and good, especially if you can afford new. Some of us can’t afford new / prefer buying used and punching up a few weight classes in quality for less $. I have built my entire shop around good condition “used/industrial” for a fraction of the price of hobby - mid level new imported.
Even these days with the market being still pretty hot for used machinery there are deals, you just have to be diligent and put in the effort to find them and be willing and able to strike when the iron is hot.
Still waters run deep.
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When the chips are down …don’t count them , or weigh them ! Faster to just sweep them up ! One of the little known woodworking
secrets that “Old Timers” selfishly hoard !
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Like most things when it comes to woodworking there's no shortage of different ways to make a project. I'm always adjusting the infeed table. I have no doubt that cast iron wears and that American cast iron isn't the same as Chinese or Taiwanese cast iron. Most likely a hobbyist will never wear out a dovetail or T slot but it does happen. Before switching to my PJ882 I had a PM60. It was an older green one and it was just too fiddly to get it right. It had to be shimmed to get it to work well and because it was on wheels I would check it monthly. I would say once a year I had to set it up (most likely from someone thinking they could slide it sideways by lifting up slightly on one of the tables.
As far as setting each one up goes, it's like the blade vs insert argument. You will have people on each side saying one is better than the other. All I know is, for me, I no longer have a tool with straight blades and will never own one in the future. I've spent too much time sharpening and setting up blades vs actually making chips. After dealing with a worn dovetail jointer vs a parallelogram jointer I wouldn't go back. Te parallelogram is just too easy to adjust. I respect those who feel differently just like I respect those who say you should get a vintage 2000lb jointer. I just know that's not for me or my shop.
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I have had the Grizzly GO490 for a few years now. I picked it up off the classifieds here. It was originally the straight knife head but the previous owner added the segmented head to it. it has been an excellent jointer for my hobbyist needs.
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This. Used industrial is still cheap (relatively speaking) I looked yesterday and saw a bunch of 12" plus jointers available at less than new 8" import prices.
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