Jointer/Planer mystery solved....

[froglips]

After years of wondering, I've found the "answer" to an annoying planer dilema I experienced at a woodshop class at Durham Tech.

I hope this tale can save someone a bit of the grief I went through.

I ran some rough stock over the jointer, just happy as a clam.

I jointed it on both faces. Yes, I know that was a mostly pointless extra step. Newbee mistake.

But, every time I took my board from the jointer to the planer, I had all sorts of problems.

Well, just this very morning, while reading a book on tool setup, I got my answer.

In essence, I had created 8 foot long tapered wedges.

When using the thinnest end of the wedge, the stock would bog down the further along it went. A few times it stalled out the planer. This was a big old 20" Rockwell beast too!

Conversely, when I'd start with the thickest end, the planer would work for a bit, then stop cutting and even stop pulling the wood through.

Lesson learned? I sure hope so. In hindsight, I'd have checked the thickness of the board in a few places to determine the thickest section and set the depth of cut from there.

FWIW, my planer probs confounded the instructor and the head of the program..

Jim

 

[dancam]

Jim,

Thanks for the info. Also, it doesn't say much for the instructor and the head of the program at Durham Tech!!!!!!

Dan C.

 

[froglips]

Well, thats a different topic. They just didn't know what I did with the jointer.

I think they knew too much

Never understimate my ability to try things for no good reason......

As me about steamed spaghetti sometime......

Jim

 

[DavidF]

Making wedges on the jointer is easier than most people realise! it doesn't take much of a setup error or operator to start one off and from there on it's all down hill (no pun intended)

 

[Bas]

Making wedges on the jointer is easier than most people realise! it doesn't take much of a setup error or operator to start one off and from there on it's all down hill (no pun intended)

Ha! I tried to make a tapered caul once. Kept coming out flat! But you're right in that it does take a certain amount of feel. Not quite as much as using a hand plane, but the subtle weight/ pressure changes as you feed the board take a while to figure out. I plan on achieving that skill sometime in 2011.

 

[DavidF]

If the machine is set right it's normally the operator trying too hard. Just enough pressure on the front end of the board to hold it to the table and just push with the other hand - easy!

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

Check and reset the height of your jointer's outfeed table, it's likely too high.

I bet if you had swapped ends when you jointed the second side, there would have been no problem- two tapers starting and opposite ends and therefore parallel surfaces!

Then again, maybe the boards were tapered from the getgo, and a jointer won't fix that! :icon_scra:icon_scra