More jointing woes- making wedges

[jussi]

Man I must suck at jointing. Now I'm starting to make wedges when I joint from end to end. It seems like the knives only make contact on the front end. This is what I'm doing. Let me know what I'm doing wrong. I put the board down on the infeed and push the end of the board. I use my push block and put a very small amount on pressure on the end going to the outfeed. Once past the knives I put much more pressure on that end and use the push block to drag the piece through. I also stop pushing the other end. I then grab my other push block and alternate hands pushing the piece through.

It seems though as if the back end is making little to no contact to the knives. I'll double check how parallel the knives are to the outfeed but last time I check they were good.

[cgallery]

Jointers to make parallel edges. The entire purpose is to make one surface flat, and to make an edge flat and perpendicular to that surface. It isn't unusual for pieces coming from the jointer to be tapered.

[SARGE..g-47]

Re-test with a straight edge to make sure the out-feed table is not lower than the knives. They can be a hair (and I mean a hair) taller than the knves but.. not lower. Your technique sounds good. You should transfer most weight to the out-feed side as soon as you have passed enough stock through to maintain balance on the out-feed side.

"It seems though as if the back end is making little to no contact to the knives. I'll double check how parallel the knives are to the outfeed but last time I check they were good"... jussi

Are you "cupped in" side of your stock down toward the stock or.. by chance turning the bow up. If you are turning the bow up... you are "running against the wind" and even Bob Segar ain't gonna get one straight.

But.. if that rear out-feed talbe is not low.. I suspect you are putting to much weight on the in-feed side and the out-feed side that has already been run through must be kept firmly down on the out-feed table.

Edit to note something CG said... is this edge jointing you refer too?.. if so what he said is very true.. If you haven't ripped the stock so it is the same width over the lenght... you will get wedge. In other words if the width is not standard before jointing.. it was a wedge to start with and you will continue to make a wedge until you whittle the stock down to a tooth-pick. :>)

Good luck...

[cgallery]

Here is an article that talks about tapering a little bit:

http://www.newwoodworker.com/jntrtaprs.html

Now, if you are jointing the flat of a board and it isn't coming out flat and straight, there is another problem. But if you can run stock through a few times and flatten/straighten the board, and then the edge, then the next step is to take it to a planer and table saw to get the other surfaces parallel.

[jussi]

Face jointing. When there was a cup I jointed with the cup down |--| . But some of the boards were warped rather than cupped and had the most problems with those. I never could get them flat.

[Tom Miller]

You're doing the right thing by transferring pressure to the outfeed side as soon as you can, but make sure you're not pushing down on the outfeed table too far from the knives. You can continue to push the stock from the infeed side -- just be sure to be applying horizontal pressure and not downward pressure. A push block with a hook end can help with this.

I'm guessing you've checked your infeed/outfeed table alignment, but don't neglect to recheck, and perhaps figure out what you haven't checked that you should....

Regards,
Tom

[Rich P]

Gary Rogowski has a good short video at FWW on getting four square (if that's what you are trying to do). Not sure if you need membership to view it. It is here. If you are going to do a glue up, he also has a good technique for marking so adjacent edges are complimentary.

[jussi]

You're doing the right thing by transferring pressure to the outfeed side as soon as you can, but make sure you're not pushing down on the outfeed table too far from the knives. You can continue to push the stock from the infeed side -- just be sure to be applying horizontal pressure and not downward pressure. A push block with a hook end can help with this.

I'm guessing you've checked your infeed/outfeed table alignment, but don't neglect to recheck, and perhaps figure out what you haven't checked that you should....

Regards,
Tom

Good tips Tom. Putting pressure too far from the knives maybe my mistake. I'll give it a try. And thanks for the links guys.

[poolhound]

As the OPs have said it sounds like your technique is correct. It seems like your jointer is probably not setup quite right.

IMHO while proper technique is required to get the best from any tool it must be setup correctly. For example a lot of folks have issues with hand planes but when you get one with a perfect sole and a sharp blade set at the right depth it virtually does it all for you. Its the same with a jointer if its all setup right then you dont need undue pressure and multiple light passes simply remembering to transfer the balance to the outfeed table will produce a perfectly true face.

Somebody else may already have mentioned this but you should beware of applying too much pressure as this can work against you.

as cgallery mentioned given what a jointer does it is not uncommon for a workpiece to come off the jointer tapered depending on what it was like beforehand. The question is, is the face flat or not?

Do you mark your boards with pencil or chalk before you run them through the jointer? this helps to identify exactly where the high and low spots are so you can make sure you get them all.

[shoottx]

A minor point, but make sure both the infeed and out feed tables are waxed well. You want the lumber to glide across the blades and not have resistance causing improper pressure.

Johnson's Paste wax works great. Oh and watch the blades as you are waxing.