advice on using a jointer

Hello Frank (and others)
I mistated that first question. I know that the guard covers the
cutterhead but what I meant to ask is that the fence be set back just
wide enough to allow only enough cutterhead for the width of the board.

Marc

What's a necktie? I have not worn a collared shirt in at least 6 years
and, except for a few rock and roll performers, not too many people
look "credible" wearing a necktie and a t-shirt.

Marc (who makes a feeble apology for this slightly off topic and weakly
humorus reply)

Actually, you want to vary the fence setting so that you distribute the wear
on the knives across the entire cutter. If you primarily edge joint, say
4/4 stock, and leave the fence in one place you get a dull strip where you
run the wood through, and the rest ofthe blades are still sharp.

On 2006-01-21 01:43:48 -0500, David <[email protected]> said:

> marc rosen wrote:
>
>> Hello Group,
>> I have minimal knowledge on proper jointer use so I want to get some
>> advice from those who use them a lot.
>> 1.Do you adjust your fence according to the width of the board so that
>> only the minimum about of cutterhead is exposed? Or,
>> 2. Is your fence set all the way back, regardless of how wide your
>> workpiece is? Or,
>> 3. Do you index the fence along the cutterhead throughout a project so
>> that you get even use of the entire blade width?
>> Thanks in advance for your comments,
>> Marc
>>
>
> I set the fence for max width. If one were always jointing edges
> excusively, they could move the fence forward periodically to place
> "fresh" edges near the fence. I do face jointing along with edge
> jointing, so that's why I leave the fence set back all the way. I
> leave about 1/8-1/16" of the blade under the fence.
>
> dave

I second what Dave and others have said.

Also, DON'T WEAR A NECKTIE when jointing! ;-)

"marc rosen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hello Frank (and others)
> I mistated that first question. I know that the guard covers the
> cutterhead but what I meant to ask is that the fence be set back just
> wide enough to allow only enough cutterhead for the width of the board.
>
No, you can use it all the way back, or partly forward so you are using a
sharper part of the knives.
The only time you would set it to fit your work is if you were using it to
cut rabbets, if your jointer will do that.

"marc rosen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hello Group,
> I have minimal knowledge on proper jointer use so I want to get some
> advice from those who use them a lot.
> 1.Do you adjust your fence according to the width of the board so that
> only the minimum about of cutterhead is exposed? Or,

No, the cutterhead guard covers the rest of the exposed cutterhead.

> 2. Is your fence set all the way back, regardless of how wide your
> workpiece is? Or,

Yes

> 3. Do you index the fence along the cutterhead throughout a project so
> that you get even use of the entire blade width?

No, not while doing a project. I move it forward when the blade starts
getting dull from the edge jointing. After a few moves of the fence, the
blades need to be sharpened.

On Sat, 21 Jan 2006 11:44:19 GMT, – Colonel – <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Also, DON'T WEAR A NECKTIE when jointing! ;-)

Putting on a tie is the first step in my shaving ritual.

marc rosen wrote:

> Hello Group,
> I have minimal knowledge on proper jointer use so I want to get some
> advice from those who use them a lot.
> 1.Do you adjust your fence according to the width of the board so that
> only the minimum about of cutterhead is exposed? Or,
> 2. Is your fence set all the way back, regardless of how wide your
> workpiece is? Or,
> 3. Do you index the fence along the cutterhead throughout a project so
> that you get even use of the entire blade width?
> Thanks in advance for your comments,
> Marc
>

I set the fence for max width. If one were always jointing edges
excusively, they could move the fence forward periodically to place
"fresh" edges near the fence. I do face jointing along with edge
jointing, so that's why I leave the fence set back all the way. I leave
about 1/8-1/16" of the blade under the fence.

dave

On 20 Jan 2006 17:31:56 -0800, "marc rosen" <[email protected]> wrote:

>3. Do you index the fence along the cutterhead throughout a project so
>that you get even use of the entire blade width?

Yes. When I want the jointer wide as a planer, I set it right back.
When I want it as a jointer, I move the fence randomly to a suitable
position. I never deliberately move the fence around to even out wear,
but if I'm moving the fence anyway, I try to even things up a bit.

I also use a UK jointer with an adjustable (but not sprung) "bridge"
guard. This is set up before making the cut, but doesn't move on a
spring as I pass the timber through it. It means that I tend to be
making a small adjustment before different operations anyway.