# Jointer table adjustment help



## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

So here's the gig … bought a jointer off CL, derusted, painted,lubed, and put back together. Now heres the part im a little confused on. The tables are out of whack a little bit .. not a ton but theres a noticable bow from out feed to infeed with the cutter head being the high point. I check with a level (i know its not a real straight edge but its what i gots)

The jointer is a rockwell 37-220 6" with 44" of table. There are 4 allen head set screws at the rear of both the infeed and outfeed table. 3 of the 4 appear to push on the dovetail slide. When i tighten them up snug the tables dont want to raise or lower.

I watch the wood whisperers jointer set up vid, and while it was super informative he was asjusting an 8" powermatic which has completely different adjustments. Am i going to have to shim the dovetails or am i missing something?

Whatcha folks think?


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

dont make me google this ….


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## timbit2006 (Jan 6, 2012)

If you have access to Fine Woodworking, I used http://www.finewoodworking.com/FWNPDF/011142038.pdf to tune up my jointer. It works perfect albeit the dull blades.

You have to tighten the screws differently. The one closest is the tightest while the farthest one is the most loose.


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

Thanks Ty … ill look into it.

Heres pics of what im talking about.

Outfeed table









Infeed table


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## buffalosean (Feb 15, 2009)

what do you mean as far as "bow"?.... is your table smiling at you or are your tables (in-feed & out-feed) co-planer? more info on where exactly its bowing would be nice.

If your cutter head is your high point, there is your first problem. Your cutter head, at its apex, should be at the same hight as your out-feed table.


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## timbit2006 (Jan 6, 2012)

Is there any way for you to take a picture of the whole jointer?
On the outfeed table, what's the circle for? It looks like where the guard goes.


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

sean .. its frowning at me basically. Seems like infeed and outfeed tables have sagged at their respective ends. Ive got the outfeed table a scosh higher than the blades i just didnt want to nick a knife with the level. See pic below.

Tyrone - its the back of the jointer i honestly have no good idea what that circle in the rear is for. Ive got a parts breakdown, manual, advertisements .. all the goodies … decorative i presume. Or maybe there was originally a rod to hold the outfeed table when angled?


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## buffalosean (Feb 15, 2009)

I now understand what your saying. If you can loosen that allens. you might have to pull on the circle knob in the rear to release your adjustment. If anything sticks hit it with wd-40, or my personally favorite PB Blaster(its like wd-40 on steroids). I'm not sure if that knob is a release on your rockwell, but thats how my 6 inch powermatic tables come off/adjust. I'd try cleaning it real good after that, reassemble and see what you have.

You may be forced to shim…. thats if your your castings are flat, and the bow is product of the way the tables are sitting on the machine base, causing a splay.

If there are bows in the castings themselves, you may have to have a machine shop mill them flat.


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

When i put a smaller straightedge on the outfeed table only its dead on flat and the same for the infeed table, dead flat. But when i lay a longer straightedge across both surfaces i get the frown. I dont like frowns. Ive cleaned and lubed this hog up with everything i got. Ill give it a tug and see what happens (that was bad). All the allens move nice n free.


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## WoodKutter (Nov 27, 2008)

Hey Chris,
The 3 screws you are referring to are the gib screws. The gib is the small piece of metal that slipped into the dovetail of the ways. The ways are the dovetailed parts which the infeed and outfeed tables ride on. The gib screws will not level the tables. They are there to keep the tables aligned and to eliminate slack between the table ways and the ways on the bed of the planer.They are tightened only enough to allow the tables to be moved up and down in a smooth manner. But with no side to side movement.

The wear is normally on the infeed table because the outfeed table is set to the height of the cutterhead and left there. The infeed table is the one moved to set depth of cut. So it sees the greatest wear.


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## buffalosean (Feb 15, 2009)

yeah,
you might have to shim. I'd try to get away with only shimming your out-feed table, mainly because it is typically never adjusted after your machine is dialed in.

maybe someone else might come up with a better solution, but thats the best I can personally think of at the moment.

good luck


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

Thanks for the explanation kutter, its not only my first refurb itll be my first jointer as well, hopefully i can get it into workable condition. I know that currently some are tight some are loose so ill look into whats really going on there. Im also yet to adjust and set the knives.


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## WoodKutter (Nov 27, 2008)

I just reread your posts and I would suggest removing the blades until you have everything else setup and aligned. The blades would be the last thing to install. Less chance of an accident. Both to the blades and to your knuckles.


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## WoodKutter (Nov 27, 2008)

That way you can remove the cutterhead guard and get it out of your way.


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

roger that on the knives. Ill be digging in tomorrow so just gatherin up some info .. i certainly appreciate the help.


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## Grandpa (Jan 28, 2011)

I have read what the other LJ's are saying and I think they are dead on. I believe you will not need to do anything to the outfeed table. I know it seems to be sagging now but if you raise the back end of the infeed table far enough I think it will line up with the outfeed table. If not then you might need to adjust or shim it also. They are absolutely correct when they say the knives should be the exact same level as the outfeed table. If not it will not cut the board straight. the infeed is most likely the problem. Like they said it is adjusted all the time and it gets the wear. Good luck on this thing. It can be done.


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

Grandpa - Im itchin to get started. Im gonna remove the knives and work on the infeed table, then install the knives, and give her a test run. Ill get it licked yet.


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## Grandpa (Jan 28, 2011)

I think so. I really think you need to make the infeed table co-planar to the outfeed table. working on both tables could get involved. Too many things get to moving. the only way I would want to mess with the outfeed table was if I dealt only with it and left the infeed table alone. It might be the best one to adjust since the ways on the infeed table are worn from adjusting. Just a thought.


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

ive got my coffee and im about to head to the shop to tinker with the old beast. Now if i do go ahead and shim the infeed table would i be shimming it at the ways? I havent taken the tables off and would rather not if i can avoid it.


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## 489tad (Feb 26, 2010)

Chris, everyone seems to be on the right track. Being it was a schools jointer, it probably never was adjusted so the gib and ways are not worn. With your level across the tables, make note of where there is connection and gaps. Adjust the infeed table all the way up then lock it down and see if the conditions change or if they are the same. If you can change the conditions you should be able to find a happy medium. shim if you have too. My infeed is set 1/32 below the outfeed. I havent changed it in seven years. Good luck.


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

I just got done adjusting the knives and setting them, took me about 2 hours. I used a 4' straight edge across both tables at top dead center of the knives and they were out less than .014 .. i think i can live with that. As soon as im done scarfin down some leftover pizza im gonna head out on the maiden voyage.

Thanks for all the advice everyone, wish me luck.


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## andy81563 (Feb 23, 2012)

chrisstef, I have enjoyed reading this thread, as I too have a Delta jointer I am trying to tune-up. Good luck with it.


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

andy, thanks for following along. Without having the fence tightened down i noticed it liked to sag the infeed tale a little bit but once locked in place it was substantially less. I set the knives using a straight edge from my combo square and gave it a test run. No problems … ran 2 boards and put them side by side and no day light! If youve got any questions feel free to ask .. im by no means an expert but i do play one in my shop.

Here's a link to an inexpenive way to set your knives. http://woodcentral.com/bparticles/knife_adjustment.shtml


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## buffalosean (Feb 15, 2009)

hey chris,
glad to see you got working well and up to a tolerable level.

"im by no means an expert but i do play one in my shop"

.....nice!!!


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## 489tad (Feb 26, 2010)

No daylight, you nailed it. Whats next?


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

Sean - thanks for all the advice bud, im yet to give it a real workout but in time ill get there.

All ready pushing me on the next project huh Dan. Up next is hot rodding my HF dust collector which is still in the box, installing a lumber rack, and making about 6 mobile bases. Ive got the boys on the hunt for some angle iron for the bases and some 1" sprinkler piping for the lumber racks. Somewhere in the middle ill be finishing up my change box made from purpleheart strips. I just picked up some deft spray lacquer and ill be trying my hand at that on the box.


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## guitarchitect (Oct 28, 2011)

So I'm here to ask for some help… I've got the same jointer as you chrisstef, right down to the red blade guard… I ended up building my own stand for it, though 

Here's my problem. Tonight I was trying to finish off a hand plane I am making, and I decided to run a test board through the knives to check my cut depth. Planing a 3/4" board seemed just fine, right up against the fence… once I got the depth set I tried the face of the board, which was 4" wide. Usually I would start cutting but it would sit vibrating on the cutterhead, hard to pass through. I adjusted the cut deeper and deeper until it would actually pass over the blade. Strange. When I found the "sweet spot", i scribbled pencil all over the board… and I figured it was mighty strange when half the board would get smeared pencil, and the other half would get cut away.

Eventually what I figured out, after a few hair-raising edge passes out from the fence, is that the infeed table slopes up slightly as it moves away from the fence. So what is a decent thin cut up next to the fence is a board-burnishing RATTLERATTLERATTLE on the outside of the table. I suppose it's possible that the blades are dull on the outside of the blade, but I'm not sure how that would happen… it's seeing the most use right up next to the fence.

So how the heck does one adjust the cross-slope of the infeed table on this jointer? To be honest I haven't used the jointer a lot, so this is my first real setup of it. I *thought* I had got the tables fairly parallel, even though the infeed droops a bit, but then I haven't really used the full width of the thing yet. I more or less went through the wood whisperer setup guide, but as you noted his adjustments are quite different than this one. Hopefully you or someone reading this thread knows what to do!


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

Hmmm .. so youre saying that the table slopes from left to right toward the fence? Kinda tilted like?

Im no expert here, or even smart for that matter, but have you put a square or a level on the table to confirm that, using the fence for reference to 90. It could be that your knives are worn or simply out of adjustment. I can see how knive could wear right up against the fence from using it more for edge jointing. I would imagine that the Cross slope adjustment would be made at the knives and not the tables.

Here's what i would try …

Unplug the jointer.
Remove the guard
Lay a thin strip of wood over the cutterhead without the knives touching.
Make markings on the wood where it originally started (say at the opening of the infeed table).
Manually roll back the cutterhead which should pick up the strip of wood.
Mark the spot where it lands on the outfeed table.
Work that strip of wood from the fence out seeing if there is any variations as to where the marks land.

If the marks dont line up it will be a problem with the setting of the knives. If they dont, id refer you to someone that knows what they're talking about


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## guitarchitect (Oct 28, 2011)

Funny you should mention that Chrisstef! I took a deep breath after my post and thought "hey, do i even know if the KNIVES are straight?!" - I went out and did something very similar to what you suggested, using my straight edge. and lo and behold - out of the 6 points I tested (3 knives, next to fence and next to edge of table), only one of them actually moved the straight edge 1/8". The rest missed it!

Sooooo, I have some knife adjusting to do tonight 
Thanks!


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

Wow, something i said made sense … hooray for that!

Im glad you got it figured out brother. Thats how i ended up setting my knives, using a strip of wood and a pencil, making sure that the marks lined up on every "roll" i made with the cutterhead.


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