I have had my jointer for about 3 months now and have not yet had to change
the blades. When do you decide it's time to make a change (replace/flip
them)? About how much wood does a blade handle (feet of material)? I
realize that the hardness of the material will make a difference. I am
using Ulmo (sp?) which is softer than maple I believe. Do I look for
certain marks or shininess on the surface?

Brian

"T Clapp" wrote in message
...
| I think you didn't need to buy the magnet. The springs do the same
| thing...keep the blade pushed up against an object that is flush with the
| outfeed table. You put a straight steel rule on the outfeed table and
let
| the blade touch it at specified distance from the edge of the outfeed
table
| which represents TDC. You're probably right, though...since ya already
| spent those bucks, can remove the springs if you want.
|
| Did you plane a board yet? I can usually tell if the blades are alligned
| just by the nice smooth sound of the machine. Unalligned blades make more
| noise and vibration even when newly sharp.
| The board test is not always accurate since the blade can slip on the
board
| a bit .
|
| "Mike in Idaho" wrote in message
| ...
| Hello,
|
| I spent the weekend tuning up my shop and I purchased a the polycarb
| jointer
| jig with magnets from Woodcraft to reset my knives. I have a Sunhill
| jointer (like Jet/Grizzly, etc) and the knives are held in place with a
| magnet piece that has screws that bind the knives/magnet into place in
the
| cutterhead. The two pieces sit on a couple of springs (I assume to
help
| align the knife).
|
| One thing I noticed is that the springs were so strong that the knife
| assembly pushed up on my magnet jig. So I ended up lining up the jig
| first
| (on TDC - true dead center) and then putting a block on top of the jig
to
| hold it down, sliding the knife assembly underneath so the tip of the
| knife
| lined up with the mark on the jig and then secured it.
|
| Once I installed all 3 knives I did the board slide test (as described
in
| the archives). I put a mark on the board, set the board on the outfeed
| table, over the cutterhead as well, and lined the mark up to the end of
| the
| table. As I rotated the cutterhead (using the belt) I found that one
| knife
| moved it about 1/8", the 2nd knife about 1/16" and the third just
barely
| touched it. Oh, I should probably point out that I aligned the outfeed
| table to the first knife before checking the other three (hoping they
| would
| match). So at this point I do get nice flat boards when run through
the
| jointer, but logic says one of my knives is working harder than the
other
| 2.
|
| So, since I'm not really using the magnets to set the knives (I have to
| push
| down on the jig to keep the springs from pushing the jig up), it's
acting
| as
| more of a flat hold down. Ugh.
|
| Here's my question: Is it possible to remove the springs without
| affecting
| the performance of the jointer? By removing the springs it seems that
the
| jig would perform as it was designed -- to hold the knife assembly UP
not
| push it down -- thus I would be exerting less pressure on the knives
and I
| assume I would be able to align them more precisely.
|
| Or do I just keep aligning them over and over until they match with the
| push
| test? I'm I dreaming that that's possible?
|
| Thanks,
| Mike
|
|
|
|