jointer what am I doing

[tomthumbtom8]

Hello all
I'm quite embarrassed to ask this question but I just can't get the hang of using it.

I start out with the Jointer plaining a lot (correct) amount of stock but after about quarter of the way down my length of wood I seam to be planning less stock and end up with a wedge in stead of a parallel cut.

What am I doing wrong ??

 

[CHJ]

Output table tilted up? lifting wood off the cutter block.

 

[dzj]

Check whether your infeed and outfeed tables are parallel.
(There are a lot of how to videos on YT about setting up a planer/ jointer)

 

[deema]

There are three possible causes.
1. The infeed and outfeed tables are not co-planner. Check with a straight edge when the tables are at exactly the same height. (Already suggested)
2. The blades are too low, they should be just above the outfeed table. A flat short piece of wood placed on the outfeed table should be ‘walked’ c10mm when the blade is rotated and the blade catches the wood.
3. Pressure when planning should only be applied to the stuff downward on the outfeed table. No pressure should be applied to the wood on the infeed table after initially starting the plane.

 

[MikeG.]

........ Jointer.......

What am I doing wrong ??

Watching too many American Youtube clips. :lol:

 

[MikeG.]

Check your outfeed table, but this problem often arises when the cutters aren't properly sharp.

 

[Cordy]

Tom
What is the make and model of your jointer planer ?

 

[tomthumbtom8]

Make of Jointer is Rexon J1560 The infeed bed is the one that moves up and down so shouldn't the feed pressure be on the infeed ??

 

[deema]

Nope, only ever on the outfeed side. The outfeed is the straightened and flattened stuff, this is the reference you want the stuff not cut to be cut against.

 

[MikeG.]

Make of planer is Rexon

Fixed that for you.

The infeed bed is the one that moves up and down so shouldn't the feed pressure be on the infeed ??

Absolutely not. You only put pressure on the work on the infeed table before there is enough of it on the outfeed table to be able to push down on. Once there is 6 inches or so on the outfeed side, you are pushing down there, and along (not down) on the infeed side.

 

[tomthumbtom8]

Ok I've sat down and looked at some ytube videos and I think I have worked out what is wrong with the planner.

if I under stand it right there should be about 3mm of blade showing from the outfeed side of the bed ??

at the moment the blades are below the out feed side.

set up

 

[deema]

Nope, 3mm isn’t correct. I’ve stated the test in my first response you use to see if they are the correct height. Can’t remember the exact height, but its circa 0.2mm.
If the blades are below the outfeed table you definitely will cut a taper.

 

[tomthumbtom8]

Nope, 3mm isn’t correct. I’ve stated the test in my first response you use to see if they are the correct height. Can’t remember the exact height, but its circa 0.2mm.
If the blades are below the outfeed table you definitely will cut a taper.

Thankyou I have now replaced the blades with new set (2 blades) nothing is catching I just have to check the travel to see if the blades are at the correct height as I've only just see the above quote.

I have set the blades at the moment 2mm above the out feed table at there apex I will double check travel tomorrow. By the way Jointer was second hand and the blades have never been sharpened by the look of them as they are the same size as the new ones.

would you lock tight the fixing bolts ??

 

[Trevanion]

I mean no offense, but it is very clear that you don't know what you're doing :lol:. Which is fine, everyone was a beginner once. Having your knives projecting 2mm above the outfeed table is a recipe for disaster in a few ways, namely the timber will become bowed because it won't be registering with the outfeed table until you put pressure onto that part of the board, this will cause bow (really it's more of an accidental concavity than a bow) and it will snipe on the end of the cut each time as the back end of the board drops off the infeed table into the cutterblock by 2mm, which could result in a kickback which could be very dangerous if your hands are near the cutterblock or if the piece decides to break up and send a massive splinter into some body part. It happens.

There aren't many good videos that cover the surface planer solely, but I can recommend this one from Matt Estlea, he's got a bit of a heavier duty piece of equipment and it's a P/T combination but the principles are the same on the surfacing tables as a standalone machine. It goes over the H&S aspects as well as setting up the machine and knives etc, although it's got a helical cutterhead rather than a straight knife, but again it's the exact same principles in use and setup.

[youtube]lUCb-J8zP8U[/youtube]

Colin Knecht's (Woodworkweb) video that you linked is also pretty good but it seems you misunderstood the 3mm / 1/8" part of the video, look at 2:14 onwards to 2:26 in that video to see exactly what Deema is trying to explain.

If videos aren't your thing and you prefer paper-based information I'd recommend picking up a copy of Nigel Voisey's "Wood Machining: A Complete Guide to Effective and Safe Working Practices" which will go over the surface planer and any other machines you might have or decide to get in your workshop.

........ Jointer.......

What am I doing wrong ??

Watching too many American Youtube clips. :lol:

You know, some of the real old-timers still call them a "Jacker" which was one of the earliest names for the surface planer, obviously because of it's ability to remove large amounts of a material like a jack plane.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

Should there be a tool/jig to help you get your blades to the correct height? This is the relevant page from the manual for my erbauer planer/thicknesses: https://www.manualslib.com/manual/88800 ... =22#manual

3mm sounds alarmingly high: i can envisage your workpiece being torn out of your hands and fired across the room at insane speed. I hope it is not aimed at anything you are emotionally attached to, such as the wife, for eg.

 

[marcros]

Are you confusing height of the blades from the block- 0.2mm sounds about right, and is tested using a drag method if you don't have the means to measure the protrusion. There are various jigs for setting them- some good, some not so good.

Then, when the blades are set correctly, the infeed table is offset to give you your cut depth. I would go for about a mm here, even if it takes a bit longer. Each pass removes a mm of timber. You may get away with a bit bigger bite, you will see when you do so what the finish is like.

 

[MikeG.]

Ok I've sat down and looked at some ytube videos and I think I have worked out what is wrong with the planner.

if I under stand it right there should be about 3mm of blade showing from the outfeed side of the bed ??

at the moment the blades are below the out feed side.

set up

My goodness, that's how to completely misinterpret an instruction. Did you not watch the video through? The idea is to have the blades as level as possible with the outfeed table, and that is measured by putting a ruler over both and turning the cutter block around by hand. It should move the ruler horizontally as little as possible, and the guy on the video plucked 3mm out of the air as the maximum it should move.

Let me be very clear. If you have the blades set 3mm above the level of the outfeed table you will have a catastrophe. If you don't have an accident you will suffer vibrations so severe that'll you'll struggle to hold the wood, and you will have the worst possible result in terms of shape and finish. Oh, and once again, you have a planer, not a jointer.

 

[MikeG.]

.........Then, when the blades are set correctly, the outfeed table is offset to give you your cut depth..........

You mean the infeed table.

 

[marcros]

Yes. I will edit the post incase somebody else doesn't read all the way through.

 

[tomthumbtom8]

O'my God how stupid am I feeling at this moment.

I'm Not a stupid person and am very aware of the damage anything sharp can do.

Right the blade's are set to move a piece of flat timber 3mm towards the infeed table when the blade and holder is moved clock wise.

As some one Said " only cut about a mm or so at a time" this is me all over I would rather make twice as many passes to plain any thing.
Trevaion really good link/video thank you