I just acquired an old, belt driven Craftsman Joiner and tried using it
for the first time. To my dismay, it cuts the board thicker on one end
than the other. When I eyeball it, I can see that the infeed table
slants downward away from the fence.

I turned it over to look for easy adjustments, but it looks pretty
complex. Has anyone had any experience with this problem? Can it be
fixed or is it even worth it? I have $75 into the joiner at this
point.... should I abandon it and buy a new one or is this something I
will ned to learn to do to maintain any joiner?

Thanks in advance for any help/advice!

John

On 3 Jul 2006 14:56:43 -0700, wrote:

I just acquired an old, belt driven Craftsman Joiner and tried using it
for the first time. To my dismay, it cuts the board thicker on one end
than the other. When I eyeball it, I can see that the infeed table
slants downward away from the fence.

I turned it over to look for easy adjustments, but it looks pretty
complex. Has anyone had any experience with this problem? Can it be
fixed or is it even worth it? I have $75 into the joiner at this
point.... should I abandon it and buy a new one or is this something I
will ned to learn to do to maintain any joiner?

I don't know if it's a systemic problem or if it was unique to me, but
I had a Craftsman joinTer at one time that had exactly the same
problem. In the alignment process, you could get the infeed table
coplanar with the outfeed table, or you could get the height
adjustment wheel to work, but you couldn't do both.

At first I thought it was the table and got another infeed table from
Sears under warranty, but it exhibited the same behavior. I tried
every trick I could think of, including shims on one or more of the
four bosses on the underside of the table to which the dovetail gibs
attach.

I tried to think of other methods, and at one time I thought of taking
it to an engine machine shop to have the infeed table reground while
adjusted properly on the rest of the machine, but never followed
through with that.

In my opinion, the problem is unfixable. There are ways to make the
machine function after a fashion. Find a compromise adjustment that
allows you to set the table height as desired while getting the table
reasonably coplanar. That's not hard to do. Then make sure the fence
is square to the outfeed table--also not hard to do. You now have a
jointer that will mill board edges flat and square well enough for
most any work that you will do. Just be sure you register the work
tightly against the fence.

The jointer is hopeless for face jointing. Don't even think about it.

You may not realize it, but the outfeed table is integral with the
body of the machine, which, while probably cheaper to build, actually
somewhat compounds the problem, as with an adjustable outfeed table
you might have been able to adjust both tables coplanar (and reset the
knives) and still be able to move the height adjusting wheel. That's
still a mickey-mouse arrangement, though.

For $75, you can have an okay edge jointer. For $75 you can toss it,
inflict it on an acquaintance (you wouldn't do that to a friend), or
put a $150 tag on it at a garage sale and sell it for anything you can
get over $30 and the buyer will think he scored.

I'd shop around for something else (which is what I did--first a DJ15,
now a DJ20).

--
LRod

Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite

Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999

http://www.woodbutcher.net

Proud participant of rec.woodworking since February, 1997

email addy de-spam-ified due to 1,000 spams per month.
If you can't figure out how to use it, I probably wouldn't
care to correspond with you anyway.

wrote in message
oups.com...
I just acquired an old, belt driven Craftsman Joiner and tried using it
for the first time. To my dismay, it cuts the board thicker on one end
than the other. When I eyeball it, I can see that the infeed table
slants downward away from the fence.

Regardless of whether you jointer is set up correctly or not, nor is any
other jointer designed to keep the top and bottom sides of your wood
parallel. After flattening one surface the opposite surface should be made
parallel by going through a thickness planer or a TS. If you are trying to
achieve or maintain parallel sides by only using the jointer, GOOD LUCK with
that.

Hi John,

Actually, there are times when you want to cut a taper and the Jointer
is a handy machine for doing it. To avoid taper you do need to make
sure that the knives are at the exact same height as the outfeed table
and that the tables are parallel. You also need to make sure that your
technique is proper. You might find this video helpful for proper
jointer alignment and setup:

http://www.ts-aligner.com/jointer.htm

If the tables of your jointer are mounted using dovetail slide ways,
then adjusting them for parallel isn't going to be a simple matter.
They should have been ground flat after assembly and for them to be
non-parallel is considered a major defect. It could be that the cast
iron wasn't properly seasoned and there has been some post-grinding
warpage. Or, it could just be that the gibs are loose and need to get
tightened up. I would try this first. If this doesn't work you can
try to shim the gibs. This can be successful only if a small amount of
correction is needed. Otherwise, it will take a trip to the machine
shop to have the tables re-ground. Not just any machine shop will have
a grinder big enough for the job so you will likely end up paying top
dollar. I'm guessing that this particular jointer isn't going to be
worth it. Perhaps a large chain can be connected at one end and you
could re-sell it in a marine application?

If the tables of your jointer are mounted using a parallelogram with
eccentric pivot bolts, then you're in luck. You just adjust the
eccentrics to correct the problem. An accurate and long precision
ground steel straight edge can come in very handy for the task. This
isn't a job for one of those big aluminum "rulers" that you find at
hardware stores and don't even suggest something like a yard stick! To
obtain accurate results from your jointer, you'll need to be making
adjustments in the thousandths of an inch.

Please feel free to pick my brain for more info or help.

Thanks,
Ed Bennett

http://www.ts-aligner.com
Home of the TS-Aligner

wrote:
I just acquired an old, belt driven Craftsman Joiner and tried using it
for the first time. To my dismay, it cuts the board thicker on one end
than the other. When I eyeball it, I can see that the infeed table
slants downward away from the fence.

I turned it over to look for easy adjustments, but it looks pretty
complex. Has anyone had any experience with this problem? Can it be
fixed or is it even worth it? I have $75 into the joiner at this
point.... should I abandon it and buy a new one or is this something I
will ned to learn to do to maintain any joiner?

Thanks in advance for any help/advice!

John

I've adjusted mine with no problem. I think it's a great tool for the money
and I've made many glue ups with noards from mine. Give it some real
thought and patience and I think you'll get it.
Start with a good metal straightedge. With the infeed level with the
outfeed right by the knives, set the other end of the infeed to make the
tables parallel, then reset the knife end. Of course you have to do it all
at each end of the knives, to get the crossways dimension too.
Do you have the book?
Wilson


wrote in message
oups.com...
I just acquired an old, belt driven Craftsman Joiner and tried using it
for the first time. To my dismay, it cuts the board thicker on one end
than the other. When I eyeball it, I can see that the infeed table
slants downward away from the fence.

I turned it over to look for easy adjustments, but it looks pretty
complex. Has anyone had any experience with this problem? Can it be
fixed or is it even worth it? I have $75 into the joiner at this
point.... should I abandon it and buy a new one or is this something I
will ned to learn to do to maintain any joiner?

Thanks in advance for any help/advice!

John

wrote in message
ups.com...
You might find this video helpful for proper
jointer alignment and setup:

http://www.ts-aligner.com/jointer.htm

That's a cute video for selling the ts-aligner tool, but it does not show a
thing about setting up the infeed/outfeed to be coplaner (critical for
jointer performance), something the ts-aligner won't help with.

Bob

Hi Bob,

Actually, the video wasn't made for selling the TS-Aligner. It was
made for people who have already purchased one. So, yes, it's not
comprehensive on all the possible adjustments and alignments that can
be done on a jointer - just the ones that can be done with a
TS-Aligner. I offered it because I thought it might help the original
poster. See below for why. I've been wanting to do a comprehensive
video on the jointer but just haven't had the time.

Using an accurate straight edge is probably the easiest and least
expensive method for checking table alignment on a Jointer so that's
what I suggested. It can be done more accurately with other methods
(using an autocollimator is my favorite!) but I figured that the
practical solution was the best. Even so, there's little that can be
done to correct this kind of problem on a machine with dovetail ways
(short of a re-grind).

Jointers with "coplaner" infeed/outfeed tables don't perform very well
at all. The best performance (for which the machine was designed) is
obtained when the infeed table lies in a plane which is parallel to and
below the plane of the outfeed table. "Parallel" and "coplaner" are
two completely different conditions.

Another critical adjustment is the height of the knives - which needs
to be the same as the height of the outfeed table. If the knives are
higher than the outfeed table then you're likely to see snipe. If the
knives are lower than the outfeed table then you get a tapered cut (
the original complaint). The TS-Aligner Jr. featured in the video
facilitates this particular adjustment but is not necessary for the
task. Many people accomplish the task with a simple dial indicator and
magnetic base setup. And, some are even successful using archaic trial
and error methods.

Thanks,
Ed Bennett

http://www.ts-aligner.com
Home of the TS-Aligner

Bob wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...
You might find this video helpful for proper
jointer alignment and setup:

http://www.ts-aligner.com/jointer.htm

That's a cute video for selling the ts-aligner tool, but it does not show a
thing about setting up the infeed/outfeed to be coplaner (critical for
jointer performance), something the ts-aligner won't help with.

Bob

On 4 Jul 2006 10:28:43 -0700, wrote:

Jointers with "coplaner" infeed/outfeed tables don't perform very well
at all. The best performance (for which the machine was designed) is
obtained when the infeed table lies in a plane which is parallel to and
below the plane of the outfeed table. "Parallel" and "coplaner" are
two completely different conditions.

Actually, in the case of a jointer, coplanar is a specialized subset
of parallel. In the case of my old Craftsman (and I presume the kind
the OP is talking about), coplanar is where the adjustments begin.
Once that special condition is achieved, moving the infeed table up
and produces a parallel condition at every height, which is the
desired end result.

Because the Craftsman jointer's outfeed table is an integral part of
the whole machine base, it's easiest to begin the adjustment for
parallel with the coplanar condition. It could certainly be done by
use of a spacer block, but what would be the point when it's
theoretically so much easier with the two tables in the same plane?

In my other post I detailed why it wasn't worth it to even try on this
jointer in the first place.

--
LRod

Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite

Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999

http://www.woodbutcher.net

Proud participant of rec.woodworking since February, 1997

email addy de-spam-ified due to 1,000 spams per month.
If you can't figure out how to use it, I probably wouldn't
care to correspond with you anyway.

Thanks for all the advice! I may just look for something a little
newer and turn this into the anvil I always wanted but never had.

John
LRod wrote:
On 4 Jul 2006 10:28:43 -0700, wrote:

Jointers with "coplaner" infeed/outfeed tables don't perform very well
at all. The best performance (for which the machine was designed) is
obtained when the infeed table lies in a plane which is parallel to and
below the plane of the outfeed table. "Parallel" and "coplaner" are
two completely different conditions.

Actually, in the case of a jointer, coplanar is a specialized subset
of parallel. In the case of my old Craftsman (and I presume the kind
the OP is talking about), coplanar is where the adjustments begin.
Once that special condition is achieved, moving the infeed table up
and produces a parallel condition at every height, which is the
desired end result.

Because the Craftsman jointer's outfeed table is an integral part of
the whole machine base, it's easiest to begin the adjustment for
parallel with the coplanar condition. It could certainly be done by
use of a spacer block, but what would be the point when it's
theoretically so much easier with the two tables in the same plane?

In my other post I detailed why it wasn't worth it to even try on this
jointer in the first place.

--
LRod

Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite

Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999

http://www.woodbutcher.net

Proud participant of rec.woodworking since February, 1997

email addy de-spam-ified due to 1,000 spams per month.
If you can't figure out how to use it, I probably wouldn't
care to correspond with you anyway.

replying to gaineyz, steve wrote:
I had the same thing. I messed with it , adjusting it from the bottom side. It
some time but got it square. Works great. I paid 100$ at a hospital sale.

--
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