Woodworking Tools Equipment and Machines

Basic Wood Jointer Tips

Jointers are sometimes misunderstood as to the exact functions they preform in the shop.

Most people know it is used to get straight edges on wood and also for glue joints.

Many of today's jointers have a rabbeting ledge built into the table (don't buy one without it). This allows you to cut a ledge in wood up to 1/2" deep. This could be used for recessing glass in a door or window pane also as fast decorative edge etc.

Some pros put their wood through a jointer before they plane it. The reason for this is if the wood has a bow or crown in it, the wood will still have that bow or crown when it comes out of the planer. The planer just presses down the wood with the infeed and outfeed rollers cuts a flat surface than when the wood comes out it remembers that it had a bow or crown and resumes that shape. The only way to get rid of that imperfection is to take it off. The jointer will take the bow or crown out. This procedure of cutting the high spots down on the jointer takes some patience and experience but that is why they call the pros. CRAFTSMAN. Safety first always keep yours and your loved ones hands and fingers away from the jointer knives.

Hand pressure on wood that is put through the jointer can effect the out come. Hand pressure must be consistent if you unconsciously put more hand pressure on one side of the board the jointer knives will cut deeper thus the board will not be true. If you are having trouble keeping a board true or getting a wedge shape, try reversing the direction board each time you put it through the jointer. This will help make up for some uneven hand pressure.

Features to Look For

Just about every manufacturer (including JET and Delta) offers models with dual table hand wheels for adjusting the in feed and out feed tables and less expensive models with bars or lever adjustment on the infeed table. The problem as I see it with the bar or lever adjustment on the infeed table especially on inexpensive models, that it has no feel for fine adjustments so if you want to take some very light cuts, it is almost impossible to do with the lever. With the hand wheel it's much more precise; light cuts are easy.

Next pay attention to the fence on the jointer. Many manufacturers (Delta, JET, Powermatic) offer two way tilting fences on certain 6" models. These fences not only tilt out or back like older fences, but also tilt in or forward. This tilting IN or forward feature gives the operator the flexibility of wedging the work between the fence and the table, which helps in equalizing the pressure on the wood the full length of the fence.

Also on the fence look to see how the fence is mounted. You will find the fence on some models has a one mounting point bracket and some have two mounting points. The two mounting point fence bracket is stronger and will give you more stability over the cutter head by not letting the fence flex as much.

Last, only buy a center mounted fence jointer. You may find some jointers especially cheap ones that have fences mounted on the end of the table. This is an old Delta / Rockwell design, that is no longer viable. The reasons are:

The mounting point at the end of the table has much less stability over the cutter head than a center mounted fence. Sometimes this long cast iron fence is prone to warp.

Some of the end mounted fence models I have seen do not have a guard for the cutter head on the back side of the fence. So when you do cuts with the fence all the way forward such as a rabbet cut, the knives are exposed on the back side of the fence. This set-up without a backside fence knife guard is potentially very dangerous.

Basic Jointer Knives Adjustment

The Jointer outfeed table should always be adjusted exactly the same height (within a few thousands of an inch) as the tip of the jointer knives. Once the out feed table height is established, lock it in and don't touch it till you resharpen your knives.

Again safety first!!! Always keep yours hands and fingers (and those of your loved ones) away from the jointer knives.