How flat is your jointer ?

That can be cured with some shim stock.

As far as being dished .003 – .004….........that isnt a big deal IMHO.

I had to shim my outfeed table to get it flat.

You will need a good straightedge to check it, and fix it.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

ok, sounds like I have to shim the outfeed table in the area close to the cutterhead to make the outfeed end go down. Somehow I’m not looking forward to that..

-- Nick, Fremont, CA

Your cut depth may be to small. I set mine at 1/16”. Also, if you outfeed table is not set at the correct height you might see that problem. I’m assuming that when you finished the initial pass that you checked the piece and it was not flat yet?

-- Dave Herron, Boise, ID -- How hard can it be? It's only wood!

I had to shim mine because it was sagging. Get a straightedge and a feeler gauge to verify it before you do
anything.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Hi Banick;

What size and brand is your jointer.

Just curious, what type of adjustments are on the jointer for setting the beds?

Are they dovetailed key ways, or cammed bushings?

Lee

-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com

Lee,
This is a brand new Jet 6” with the long bed, JJ-6CSDX. The tables slide on dovetailed ways.

I spent more time on it this evening and it looks like my straightedge is not that straight.. I also checked the knives and they are not really flush with the outfeed table so before I start shimming it, I will get the knives set properly. That may help.

Thanks all for your comments.

-- Nick, Fremont, CA

You need to get the tables even first.

Once they are level to each other across their entire surface, then you adjust the blades to the outfeed table.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Gary,
Ok, I will try that, but what I was using as straightedge turned out to be not that straight. I just found an article on FWW.com about jointer tune-up with a cool tip on how to make test bars to check table flatness. I’ll give that a try, see if I still see the gaps.

-- Nick, Fremont, CA

Good luck!

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

check the knives first. lower the outfeed table a little and see if that doesnt help. for flatness 3-4 thousanths is within specs for this machine I believe. when I set mine up It was good out of the box. I ran a checklist and was happy but it did not cut like I thought it should. after raising and lowering the outfeed table I found the just right spot. make some ajustments and try some scrap…. repeat…. repeat… and repeat till it does right. they can be a little finnickey! good luck and let us know how it works out.

fred

-- hey honey! watch this!

well, I spent a good chunk of my night in the shop but it was worth it, I think I got it right.
First, I used the FWW article to make a test bar, it’s only 3 aligned points of contact but that was enough to show me that the outfeed is not as bad as I measured last weekend. The end portion is sticking up a little but only by maybe a couple thousandths, so I decided not to shim it. Then, I carefully aligned the knives with the outfeed table using a dial indicator, they are within a thousandth of the table’s edge. The only thing left was to give it a try, and I ended up with nicely jointed surfaces that looked pretty flat. The last test I did was to edge-joint 2 boards of the same length and see if the 2 surfaces would mate properly. I ended up with a very slight gap on the first 5” or so but the rest is completely gap-free. This is good enough for me for now, so much better than what I was getting last weekend. I think the reason for that was probably the knives being out of alignment and a bit of bad technique as well.
Thanks all for your help, I’m a happy man again!

-- Nick, Fremont, CA