Jointer setup question

[windknot]

I am loving the new jointer; however, I continually get a little kickout, scallop out, extra 1/64-1/32 more cut out of the last 3/4-1" of the board as it comes off the cutter head. What is causing this and how can I correct it. I will post a picture if I need to, but it will be later on. My wife and daughter carried my camera to the zoo this morning on a school field trip.

 

[Monty]

What you've got there is called "snipe". Now what you've got to do is go snipe hunting... ah nevermind! ;-)


Snipe just means that the blades dig a little deeper right at the end of the cut - which can be a problem for jointers or planers. On a jointer, the first thing I would check would be the level of the outfeed table. You might try raising it just a hair to see if the snipe gets better. If so, keep raising it about 4 atoms at a time and making test cuts until the snipe goes away. Keep in mind that if you raise it too far (ie, above the level of the knives), then the wood will bump into it -- that's too far!

I'll bet that will fix the problem, but if it doesn't you may have other problems (such as the infeed/outfeed beds being out of parallel).

 

[D L Ames]

How about technique? Could that be a possible cause of the snipe? I have a jointer but by no means claim to being a guru with it. Hopefully someone will chime in if they think it could be a technique issue and offer a possible cure.

D L

 

[fivestring]

Also, be sure once the leading edge is on the outfeed table, keep your weight on the outfeed side.

 

[Steve D]

Probably not technique with what he's describing. My guess would be more that there is an issue with the parallelism. That can be checked with a good striaght edge if you have one. I saw a post somewhere recently describing a similar condition and it was caused by woodchips built up in the dovetail ways. In that case there wasn't even much cleaning to do, they just ran the tables all the way down to the lowest point used compressed air on the dovetails and returned the tables to their proper position. The outfeed should be set even with the highest point of rotation of the knives. Too low and you will never get a straight edge, too high and the board will hit the outfeed as soon as it crosses the blades. A special note of caution, snipe season does not open for another 2 weeks so only hunting on private snipe ranches would be feasible at this time.

 

[chris99z71]

Windknot -
I believe that THIS is the thread that SteveD is talking about.