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Jay’s RamblingsAugust 2010 Well I’ve
run into a problem with my scratch & dent, somewhat, kinda, not quite new improperly setup Jet jointer I bought at General
Industrial. Getting the tables coplanar is a real hit and miss trick. The jet technical support said just keep playing with
the gib screws and checking it till you get the right combination. Well that means the screws are not tight and loose somewhere
between snug and falling out. When you do get the tables coplanar they won’t stay coplanar throughout the range of depth
of cut on the in-feed table. Also when you tighten the locking screws the outboard end of the tables raises about .005”.
I had it working pretty well for a while till I tried to face joint some 6” - 4/4 hard maple and it kept tapering my
boards. Softer woods like bass wood and sassafras jointed fine. A little research told me that taper can be caused by - dull
knives, too aggressive a cut, bad technique, out-feed table at the wrong height in relation to the cutter knives or tables
out of coplanar. Step one was to get the knives sharpened since I was using the original knives. I’ve seen a lot of
articles on sharpening your own knives but (3) 6” knives sharpened correctly for $8 is my kind of deal. I installed
the knives at TDC (total dead center) and flush and parallel with the surface of the out-feed table. Articles I read indicated
that the best cut was 1/32” and to leave the out-feed table fixed at this height. I did my coplanar
adjustments with the in-feed table 1/32” lower than the out-feed table and locked it there. You notice that I didn’t
suspect my technique! I had to replace the
wood on one of my yard benches, you know the kind - wrought iron frame and really cheap wood slats. Don’t make the mistake
of buying the one with the curved wood framing the back. Curves with compound angles are not fun in 95 degree heat. Straight
slats are the way to go. Don Rounsavill, Joe Simon, Doug Pelren and I went to McMinville and I bought some white oak from
BRC as I read that white oak does pretty well outdoors where as red oak is a disaster. Stanley Dunn made us a deal on a bunch
of Sassafras and we loaded up Don’s truck. If you get the chance to go down there and see Stanley you should jump on
it. As a jointer test I face and edge jointed about 6 boards 6” wide before ripping and band sawing my bench pieces.
The jointer did an excellent job on the oak but I’m unsure exactly what cured my problem. My guess is the dull knives
were my biggest problem. I jointed and planed my 8/4 hard maple and it came out flat and 4-square. It’s still too hot
in the shop so I’ll finish the 4/4 maple this fall. Jay
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