Steel City Granite Jointer Fence Rocks

[John Thompson]

I got the "itch" to "Wood-work in 1972 and since then have seen 3 jointers come and go through my shop with the 4th currently in place. I have examined, shopped or used at about every jointer on the market in the past 35 years with few exceptions.

Regardless of the price, quality or manufacturers design they all came up short of 3 significant features in their fences that I would prefer over the majority of what is currently offered. An average of 5000 linear feet of S1 or rough stock passes over my jointer each year as I quite often surface for others. Before stock goes to the planer, I expect a "flat" edge and surface from a jointer or surfacer as known in Euro circles. Life is simple..

The 3 key things I felt that most jointer fences would be benefited by to get better table-fence registration (especially on long stock) are:

(1) Taller Fence.. (2) Longer Fence.. (3) Flat Fence

The thinner nature of fence design has it own set of problems if the cast iron was not stress relieved under extremely tight quality control examination during the long, expensive stress relief process. And if not ground flat from the factory, this becomes a lame horse out of the starting gate.

Consequently... I have never seen a totally flat jointer fence in 35 years on any make or model. There may be one and maybe someone has it, but I have not seen or heard of one to date.

************************

My new Steel City Black Granite jointer fence arrived by "very special courrier" the Wednesday morning after the Steel City unveiling of their Black Granite line at AWFS in Las Vegas the previous week. It sits proudly black and polished on top of my SC 8" jointer.

It sits tall at 5 1/2" and it sits long at 48". It sits "monumentally dead flat"... and I mean Dead Flat! A 6' Starrett machinist straigth edge and a Starrett 12" machinist square insured me of that fact as I checked from every angle known to man before attached it to the jointer itself.

Precision laser cut to within .000,000,001 of an inch with extremely high-grade Chinese black granite I was told. I can't physically see 1 millionth, so.. I will take the Steel City's Tool-guys word for it. I can tell you that the .0001 feeler gauge I brought home from work (YEAR ONE where we restore older "muscle cars" and their engines) couldn't be forced between the fence face and Starrett machinist edge. That's good enough for an old "Georgia boy" as me without further high tech investigation.

So far.. in it's short history, the black granite jointer fence has seen only 150' linear feet of white oak.. 300' linear feet of red oak.. and a little over 1000' linear feet of pecan (hickory family). There's another 1000' of rough pecan to do today.

I did purchase 80' linear feet of birds eye maple to see how the Steel City fence and jointer would handle it's squirrely grain when skewed with HSS knives. The two attachment bolts on the fence of the SC jointer turned will "skew" the fence with ease and the results were good on the bird's eye... very good and better than any I have seen without going to expensive cutter-heads.

In conclussion... the fence was flat the day it arrived. It was flat this morning when I checked it and I expect it to be flat 30 years from now when my son checks it as he is already eyeing the "black monument".

Black granite brittle..? My dad's Georgia granite tombstone is 48 years old and as stable as the day it was planted. Tombstones that are over 200 years old stand monumentally in the same cemetary.

Would I or any machinist build an automotive crank-shaft with black granite and expect it to stand the rigor of that task? Absolutely NOT! But.. then again cast iron WON'T be seen or used in that role either as anyone that knows the properties and characteristices of grey cast iron knows it will break also under the same gruelling conidtions.

Someone suggested hitting the black granite hard with a ball peen hammer. Would they care to slam their cast iron top with a ball peen hammer as if it is some "new ritual" that WW machines "must" be subjected too to prove their worthiness? I suggest those that try that look for a good replacement top before they commit the foolish act.

Cast iron is definitley not "kryptonite" as some believe it to be. Superman knows what I mean and will eat cast iron layered between black granite in a sandwich for lunch. ha.. ha...

From what I have experienced and know about the granite fence and BS-TS tops... things look like they might continue to come up "in the Black" around my shop. This old country boy is on the verge of feeling very comfortable surrounded by all the good things that come from the City..

STEEL CITY to be exact!

Sarge.. john thompson

[Larry Crim]

Thanks for the review john I thought it interesting when they first came up with the idea, glad it works you have the same complaints I have with my fence longer, taller and straighter is a good thing. I might have to look into getting a new jointer wish they would offer it by itself for other jointers.
Larry

[Grant Davis]

John, a very nice review.

I would like to see some information on your router table if that would be possible.

[John Thompson]

Afternoon Larry...

You're quite welcome.. and you're quick as I just opened the thread.

"I might have to look into getting a new jointer wish they would offer it by itself for other jointers"... Larry

******************

That was mentioned in a long conversation two weeks ago by Scott Box, VP and co-owner of Steel City Tool-works when he delivered the black granite fence to my shop. Fourteen joiners have already been looked at to see what it would take to retro-fit a fence on them.

But.. I will add that that won't get heavy priority for at least a year as Steel City's priority is still laying their foundation strongly in each state with qualified distributors. Not just retailers.. but qualified machine folks that know more about a machine than the customer who shows up. Finding those distributors is not as easy as one might think.

But.. adding a line of retro-fit fences is definitely a consideration that will be looked into much deeper in the future after the proper founddation has been established, according to Mr. Box.

Trust me.. these guys and gals at SCTW "do listen" to what the customer has to say and their needs. Ten months ago I suggested larger thumb screws on their 18" Band-saw roller guide bearing and replacing the set screw under the table that leads to adjusting the bottom bearing altogether with a thumb screw as it was a PITA to locate and get an allen head wrench on as light is cut off by the table.

I was speaking to Jim Box (Scott Box's brother) when suddenly I was on speaker phone with Scott Box and the their head design engineer. I was asked to "hold". They went to the show-room 18" BS and crawled under their machine to have a peek under the hood at my suggestion.

When they got back on speaker phone.. they said the plant in Taiwan would be notififed to "make the needed change" the following Monday morning. And that indeed did happen as they listenened to what the customer had to say.

I mentioned to Scott Box's two weeks ago about adding a Red Line (as a auto tachometer has) on the new black granite TS top to warn you where not to pull the tip of the miter gauge bar beyond. His response was "that's an excellent idea, why didn't I think of that".

So.. maybe.. just maybe.. the new TS that will come out around late December or January just may have a Red Line on the miter slot to remind you that black granite (and cast iron) will break if extremely heavy weight is riding the miter gauge and you with-draw too far.

It has been tested to stay intact until 2" from the front of the table. The BG miter slot is standard, but a 2" long BG tip has been added for further stability. At that point the bar will bend before the granite slot breaks. But... beyond that point, you flirt with danger!

So... wait and see if the tool guys listened to the customer on that point?

Regards...

Sarge.. john thompson

[John Thompson]

John, a very nice review.

I would like to see some information on your router table if that would be possible.

****************************

Afternoon Grant...

Thanks. I'll try to make this quick as the other 1000" feet of pecan await!

Built around 5 years ago, he router cabinet is a box of ply. The table is laminated MDF with one layer of 3/4" and the other 1/2". That core is sealed with kitchen top laminate. Phenolic insert with a "hoss" Milwaukee 3 1/2 HP above table adjuster on board. Angle iron re-enforce under the top around the insert plate.

The fence is home-made with birch ply also and 3 coat sealed with poly. T blots and knobs ride in cut slots for in and out face adjustment.

After 5 years the table and fence remain flat. Cheap at under $70 with mostly scrap and it gets er done.

That's about all she rode.. any further questions PM is available as I gotta go take care of business in that shop I own and the lovely lady upstairs controls the flow of. ha.. ha... ha..ha. ha...

Regards...

Sarge.. john thompson

[Carl Crout]

I got the "itch" to "Wood-work in 1972 and since then have seen 3 jointers come and go through my shop with the 4th currently in place. I have examined, shopped or used at about every jointer on the market in the past 35 years with few exceptions.

Regardless of the price, quality or manufacturers design they all came up short of 3 significant features in their fences that I would prefer over the majority of what is currently offered. An average of 5000 linear feet of S1 or rough stock passes over my jointer each year as I quite often surface for others. Before stock goes to the planer, I expect a "flat" edge and surface from a jointer or surfacer as known in Euro circles. Life is simple..

The 3 key things I felt that most jointer fences would be benefited by to get better table-fence registration (especially on long stock) are:

(1) Taller Fence.. (2) Longer Fence.. (3) Flat Fence

The thinner nature of fence design has it own set of problems if the cast iron was not stress relieved under extremely tight quality control examination during the long, expensive stress relief process. And if not ground flat from the factory, this becomes a lame horse out of the starting gate.

Consequently... I have never seen a totally flat jointer fence in 35 years on any make or model. There may be one and maybe someone has it, but I have not seen or heard of one to date.

************************

My new Steel City Black Granite jointer fence arrived by "very special courrier" the Wednesday morning after the Steel City unveiling of their Black Granite line at AWFS in Las Vegas the previous week. It sits proudly black and polished on top of my SC 8" jointer.

It sits tall at 5 1/2" and it sits long at 48". It sits "monumentally dead flat"... and I mean Dead Flat! A 6' Starrett machinist straigth edge and a Starrett 12" machinist square insured me of that fact as I checked from every angle known to man before attached it to the jointer itself.

Precision laser cut to within .000,000,001 of an inch with extremely high-grade Chinese black granite I was told. I can't physically see 1 millionth, so.. I will take the Steel City's Tool-guys word for it. I can tell you that the .0001 feeler gauge I brought home from work (YEAR ONE where we restore older "muscle cars" and their engines) couldn't be forced between the fence face and Starrett machinist edge. That's good enough for an old "Georgia boy" as me without further high tech investigation.

So far.. in it's short history, the black granite jointer fence has seen only 150' linear feet of white oak.. 300' linear feet of red oak.. and a little over 1000' linear feet of pecan (hickory family). There's another 1000' of rough pecan to do today.

I did purchase 80' linear feet of birds eye maple to see how the Steel City fence and jointer would handle it's squirrely grain when skewed with HSS knives. The two attachment bolts on the fence of the SC jointer turned will "skew" the fence with ease and the results were good on the bird's eye... very good and better than any I have seen without going to expensive cutter-heads.

In conclussion... the fence was flat the day it arrived. It was flat this morning when I checked it and I expect it to be flat 30 years from now when my son checks it as he is already eyeing the "black monument".

Black granite brittle..? My dad's Georgia granite tombstone is 48 years old and as stable as the day it was planted. Tombstones that are over 200 years old stand monumentally in the same cemetary.

Would I or any machinist build an automotive crank-shaft with black granite and expect it to stand the rigor of that task? Absolutely NOT! But.. then again cast iron WON'T be seen or used in that role either as anyone that knows the properties and characteristices of grey cast iron knows it will break also under the same gruelling conidtions.

Someone suggested hitting the black granite hard with a ball peen hammer. Would they care to slam their cast iron top with a ball peen hammer as if it is some "new ritual" that WW machines "must" be subjected too to prove their worthiness? I suggest those that try that look for a good replacement top before they commit the foolish act.

Cast iron is definitley not "kryptonite" as some believe it to be. Superman knows what I mean and will eat cast iron layered between black granite in a sandwich for lunch. ha.. ha...

From what I have experienced and know about the granite fence and BS-TS tops... things look like they might continue to come up "in the Black" around my shop. This old country boy is on the verge of feeling very comfortable surrounded by all the good things that come from the City..

STEEL CITY to be exact!

Sarge.. john thompson

But your dad's tombstone is just sitting there. If I drop something on my cast iron it's probably not going to break AND if it does I can weld it back together and you won't be able to tell that it was broke. What are you going to do? Use JB Weld????
This country boy thinks that Granite is a stupid idea

[Bart Leetch]

But your dad's tombstone is just sitting there. If I drop something on my cast iron it's probably not going to break AND if it does I can weld it back together and you won't be able to tell that it was broke. What are you going to do? Use JB Weld????
This country boy thinks that Granite is a stupid idea

I'm not sure about it either but a little country time will tell.

So I guess you'll just have to hurry up & wait.

[Gary Keedwell]

I think granite has alot of possibilities because of the stress factor. I think granite is more stable then cast iron.
Gary K.

[Michael Schwartz]

Just don't hit the thing with a hammer. I think the idea is great. Every cast iron fence I have seen is so warped and twisted, that it isn't even worth the bother to try to get them anywhere near square.

[John Thompson]

But your dad's tombstone is just sitting there. If I drop something on my cast iron it's probably not going to break AND if it does I can weld it back together and you won't be able to tell that it was broke. What are you going to do? Use JB Weld????
This country boy thinks that Granite is a stupid idea

*********************

Evening Carl...

The first thing I would do is rely on the Ten Year Warranty offered on the top! If the incident occured beyond that point, I would use epoxy which is the same substance used to bind the stainless steel suppport beams inside the 2" thick granite table top. I could really care less what if looks like as long as it's flat.

The top has been through testing and a hard hit with a ball peen hammer will crack it. But.. in 35 years of wood-working, I don't recall ever having an object that would recreate the force of a hard hit with a ball peen hammer hovered over my table top. I don't think anything that I would allow above my tops is going to generate anywhere close to terminal velocity with a foot or so drop.

But.. that's just what I think. We all have thoughts and opinions as too how this will pan out. I will give you a more complete view of what my thoughts are as I dig a deeper foot-hold by testing as I am currently doing now.

You might say that I have become tired over the years of left or right tilt table saw.. which is best? This is something that intriqued me from the moment I found out about it.. and I intend to know more when I've satisfied my own curiousity!

Sarge.. john thompson

[Gary Keedwell]

Just don't hit the thing with a hammer. I think the idea is great. Every cast iron fence I have seen is so warped and twisted, that it isn't even worth the bother to try to get them anywhere near square.

I've had cast iron for my major power tools for over 20 years and don't recall hitting it with a hammer.

Gary K.

[Rich Schneider]

I wasn't aware that anyone was making a machine with a granite fence....if this cathes on I know what I'll be doing with all those odds and ends pieces of granite left over from making countertops and islands that we first sit on in hopes of using, then try to sell/auction off, and utlimately end up dumpstering when the warehouse gets too full...... Is this fence being sold as a upgrade over a cast iron fence? I wonder if it is simply a cost thing and the manufacturer is simply using granite that would otherwise be dumpstered?

[Les Spencer]

I worked in the manufacturing industry for 40 years. The only equipment I saw use granite was inspection equipment. Granite replaced cast iron for surface plates long ago. Reasoning being not that it was more stable, it was easier to rework back to tolerance. Granite is lapped. Cast iron is scrapped. Quality cast iron, with proper support, is extremely stable. My bet is Steel City has found it cheaper to manufacturer a granite fence than mess with the cast iron. I certainly wouldn't rush to replace my cast iron fence with granite unless it was proven to be junk. Don't forget there are many machine shops capable of regrinding your fence cheaper than a replacement fence.
If you have one of the early model imports, '80s, more than likely you have junk. I did. Sold it. Love my Delta DJ20.

[Gary Keedwell]

I wasn't aware that anyone was making a machine with a granite fence....if this cathes on I know what I'll be doing with all those odds and ends pieces of granite left over from making countertops and islands that we first sit on in hopes of using, then try to sell/auction off, and utlimately end up dumpstering when the warehouse gets too full...... Is this fence being sold as a upgrade over a cast iron fence? I wonder if it is simply a cost thing and the manufacturer is simply using granite that would otherwise be dumpstered?

I think they have different tolerances for kitchen applications then they do for "surface plate" type applications. I put a precision ground straightedge on my granite countertop and I can tell you for certain that it is NOT flat. Believe me....that was the first thing I did when I read about Steel City's granite top TS. LOL
Gary K.

[Wilbur Pan]

I don't think that this is a cost savings measure. The part of China where the factory that makes Steel City equipment is well known (in China, at least) for granite quarries and working granite. Also, the granite from this area is of very high quality. Not all granite is equal. Most likely this granite is being quarried specifically for this purpose, rather than being remnants from another purpose.

Actually, there's some incredible stonework that is done in China. It's not usually done to Western tastes, so it's not exported out very much, but if you have a Chinese furniture store near you, you'll be able to see some examples.