Yep, there's definitely some religious fervor in these responses!

True, a dial indicator isn't absolutely needed. But, if you had one,
and had used it to check the alignment of your jointer, then...

1. You wouldn't be so unsure about your jointer knife alignment.
2. You would have found and accurately corrected any possible infeed
table misalignment.
3. You wouldn't have wasted a whole bunch of time and wood trying to
learn "Jointerese" by trial and error.
4. You wouldn't be so frustrated trying to "feel the force" because you
would be able to measure it with a reliable instrument.

People do it both ways successfully. It all depends on how you want to
approach the problem. You can spend $15 on a dial indicator and get
your jointer aligned quickly without any test cuts, trial and error, or
doubts. Or, if your time is absolutely worthless to you, then you can
continue to spend hours (maybe even days) doing more test cuts, making
more adjustments based on what you think the machine is saying to you,
and hoping that the results eventually show some improvement. I think
you've already spent a fair amount of time trying to learn
"Jointerese". How about taking a more intelligent (and less religious)
approach?

Ed Bennett

http://www.ts-aligner.com