# Jointer Guard



## 280305 (Sep 28, 2008)

I resawed some 5/4 rough cherry to get 1/2" material. After the resaw, the resulting pieces moved a bit, but I have enough extra thickness to spare. My question is about face jointing these pieces to get one flat side before using the planer. I should only have to take about 1/64".

I have a Delta 8" jointer model 37-380. The minimum thickness is listed as 1/2". But, the distance between the infeed table (set for 1/64" cut) and the bottom of the guard is about 9/16". I am concerned about the stock getting jammed under the guard, which seems possible from doing some dry runs. None of my pieces are thinner than 1/2", but some are right around 9/16". Of course I will be using push blocks, but I can't count on them moving the guard because once the front block is past the guard, it could spring back and jam over the top of the stock.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Should I not be trying this?

Thanks.

- Chuck


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## doyoulikegumwood (Jun 21, 2007)

ok this may be wrong but heres what i do i joint one edge first then i cut some plywood and use double sided tape to thickin the boards then pry the thickening boards off and then the planer takes away the tape.


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## 8iowa (Feb 7, 2008)

You've done exactly the right thing here. Whenever I'm uncomfortable or unsure about an operation on a power tool, I don't do it! Fortunately in woodworking there are many other avenues and ways to work wood.

I would probably clamp the board on my table and hand plane the surface with my #4 or #5. Using winding sticks and a straight edge, I'd have the surface I need in short order.

You could also consider using double stick carpet tape and stick your 9/16" board to another board of the same size.

Good luck, and be careful.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

Another thing you could do is build a european style blade guard for the jointer. you can make an L shape part that will clamp on the jointer fence, and cover the blade area from above - and your jointed lumber will pass UNDER it, so it will not have to rotate like the american jointer guards do.

something like this:


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## patron (Apr 2, 2009)

when i make stips as you dicribed i first joint the edge of board and proced to sawing ,and after a few cuts the tension in board recurls it so i have to re joint . mostly i saw all strips 3/32 to 1/8 over and run both sides though planer , taking down as little as you need in passes until your desired thickness .
the alternate is to joint the board after each sawing and then planing them the same , this way wastes more wood ,
however . good luck stay safe

david


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## patron (Apr 2, 2009)

sorry i must have missed the first part . i modify my tools all the time i would screw a face board to jointer fence ,
you have about 1 in. to drill and tap to ( which is already higher than cutters )then turn on jointer and slowly swing fence open there by planing bottom of new fence to exact cutter height . can still be removed for other works .

luck and safety

david


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## Catspaw (Dec 15, 2007)

Take the guard off. (yea, I know….somebody is going to have a cow.)

My hands are over the wood, not the guard. If my hand slips the guard will do nothing. You're only talking about an 8" jointer. Put it back on when you're done with the thin stock.


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## patron (Apr 2, 2009)

no dont take guard off , just srew wood (3/4×2 )to leading edge of guard , then swing guard open slowly , 
will have new guard that goes down to cutter head . can remove board later if neccesary.

david


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## 280305 (Sep 28, 2008)

Thank you all for the suggestions. I decided to take the low-tech approach suggested by 8iowa and use hand planes to get one flat face. Since I recently acquired my jointer and planer, my hand tools have been gathering too much dust anyway. I have 12 such pieces of various sizes to work on. I finished up eight of them this evening and the results are good.

On another topic, I had a near-miss with a woodworking celebrity last week. I was picking up a new pair of eye glasses and the optician who was helping me said that Norm Abram is a patient of a doctor in the office and he left 30 minutes before I got there!


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## 8iowa (Feb 7, 2008)

Chuck:

As you mentioned Norm, have you ever seen him use a hand plane for a project like yours?


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