# Does anyone else find this kind of silly?... NOT ANYMORE!!



## alanealane (Oct 1, 2007)

I got an email from Sunhill Machinery (who deals with Oliver equipment) and saw an ad for their new products showcased at this year's IWF:

Joint-Mate Power Feeders

AF-114 fits 12"-20" Jointers

Feeder to help your jointing operation. 


Regular $1,495 Show Price $1,295

*Does this seem to defeat the purpose of face-jointing a board before you put it through the planer?*
It looks like it will smash the board down as it pulls it through like a planer does, leaving any twist or bow in the wood.

What do y'all think??


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

Unless there is some magic spacers that hold the twist away from the blade.

You are right it seems that it would hold the board down at the cutter heads.


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## alanealane (Oct 1, 2007)

If anyone buys this, let me know how it works!!!


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## ChicoWoodnut (Dec 15, 2007)

If the feeder is on the outfeed side of the cutters I think it should work, unless the board is really bad. The part leaving the cutters should be pretty flat depending on how much twist or bow there is in the board.


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## SCOTSMAN (Aug 1, 2008)

isnt this the way the used to fit an attachment to jointers to turn them into thicknessers or what you guys call planers.Alistair


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## ChicoWoodnut (Dec 15, 2007)

Nope Alistair, it is simply a device to automatically feed wood through the jointer. It would only be practical for a really high production shop where really big runs were needed and time was of the essence.


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## alanealane (Oct 1, 2007)

Let me fill everyone in on a conversation that I had with our fellow LumberJock "socalwood" *who actually worked on the development of this product*!!!

*I sent this PM: *
"I just read one of your posts on how you use a 20" jointer with power feeder. How does that work? I thought it might prevent you from ridding defects like bow, cup, and twist from boards by pressing them down to the table.

I'm really curious to know how the jointer w/ power feeder works….

Thanks!!

-Lane Custom Guitars and Basses"

*The reply: *
"Hi alanelane,

Several months ago we bought a Comatic joint-mate power feeder and totally destroyed it within 1 week. I called back to the co. and they had me test fly some new design pieces for them. We did, resulting in their new powerfeeder they debuted at AWFS. We ran boards as thin as 1/8" thick and 4" wide up to boards 6" thick and 10' long and 36" wide, hardwoods, softwoods, etc. in our test for them, along with documentation. The feeder will easily pull out defects up to 1/4" rapidly and we ran boards with 3/4" of twist in multiple runs and in conjunction with a thickness planer. One man can easily reduce rough lumber for resawing or thicknessing in very quick order. It is probably one step slower than a double sided planer, but much more versatile, which is our goal. 
Last week, we produced some wide plank oak flooring for a La Jolla house using this machine and it wasn't too bad. 
The trick to how it works is that little steel studs grab and pull the lumber over the cutter head with very little down pressure. On a 20" planer you can continuously have 2-3 boards simultaneously going at all times, basically as fast as a guy can throw them 
We also modified the planer and the powerfeed mount to make it even quicker. 
Let me know if this helps. 
Rob"

*I replied: *
"Thanks for the detailed explanation. That sounds like a great product. When I first heard of it, I started this forum topic: 
http://lumberjocks.com/topics/4259

But now it sounds like it works very well indeed.

Could you clarify whether the feeder contacts the wood before or after the cutterhead?

I'm really curious, because I've never had a jointer that could face joint long, wide lumber, and this feeder would make having a large jointer feasible. 
Thanks again!!

-Lane Custom Guitars and Basses"

*Rob replied: * 
"it contacts after the head. *the picture in the sunhill ad is of the machine i had put a LOT of input and testing into*. richard at comatic listened to my comments, and i think the machine now works very well.

-rob"

I THINK THAT PRETTY MUCH EXPLAINS IT. *Now* I think that this is a really awesome accessory for any face jointing operation!! I'd sure love to have one…


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## alanealane (Oct 1, 2007)

If you don't believe it would be a wise investment for the shop, see this post!!! You might change your mind.


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