Jointer problem--need new belt?

[bdk5]

Recently, my 6" Grizzly jointer has been causing me problems while face jointing (no problem with edge jointing). As I feed the stock through, I get a lot of resistance to the point where I'm fighting against the blades to move the stock forward. My first thought was that the blades were dull, causing them to push the stock back toward the infeed table rather than cut the fibers. I changed the blades out for new ones, which seems to have helped a little, but not much. My next guess is that maybe the belt is slipping or something related. Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Bryan

[ragswl4]

Recently, my 6" Grizzly jointer has been causing me problems while face jointing (no problem with edge jointing). As I feed the stock through, I get a lot of resistance to the point where I'm fighting against the blades to move the stock forward. My first thought was that the blades were dull, causing them to push the stock back toward the infeed table rather than cut the fibers. I changed the blades out for new ones, which seems to have helped a little, but not much. My next guess is that maybe the belt is slipping or something related. Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Bryan

If the belt is slipping you should hear a noticable reduction in the speed of the blades. I assume that you are not feeding the stock too fast? It should be fairly easy to check and tighten the belt. Check out the manual for the procedure and MAKE SURE you unplug the jointer while adjusting.

[Navycraig]

trying to take too big of a bite at one time?

[LarryG]

Navy beat me to saying the first thing I was thinking ... when face jointing, you need to take a really light cut. The denser the wood and the more the width of the workpiece approaches the width of the cutterhead, the more critical this becomes.

The second thing is to make sure you're not working against the grain (not always easy, given the variations along the faces of many boards). The idea is to stroke the cat's fur so that you're smoothing it down, rather than ruffling it up.

If the workpiece is short enough, a push block that hooks over the trailing end of the board helps, too. Sometimes it difficult to maintain sufficient traction with the usual kind of pads.

[LCHIEN]

Need to tighten the belt?
Need to clean or replace the rubber/foam pads on your feed blocks?
and as others said, need to reduce th cut when face planing, I usually use 1/32nd or less.

[AlanWS]

Waxing the bed of the jointer might help.

[Tom Slick]

are your knives and table heights adjusted/aligned correctly? are you getting snipe?

[bdk5]

I don't take too heavy a cut (probably in the 1/32 range), and I'm always careful to check the grain direction. I'll try re-waxing the tables and tightening the belt. Hopefully one or both of those will solve the problem. Thanks.

[cgallery]

Whatever you do, make sure you use some push blocks to protect your hands in case the jointer kicks the board out from under your hands.

I never really knew this was an issue, but I've recently seen some posts from people that jointed their fingers when the board kicked out.

[eddy merckx]

Hey Bryan

Any chance you're using a long or undersized extension cord to your jointer? It sounds kind of like your motor isn't getting enough juice.

Eddy

[bdk5]

I don't use any extension cord, and I always use push blocks. I'll try tweaking the belt and waxing the tables tonight if I get the chance.

[tewilk]

Whatever you do, make sure you use some push blocks to protect your hands in case the jointer kicks the board out from under your hands.

I never really knew this was an issue, but I've recently seen some posts from people that jointed their fingers when the board kicked out.

I hate to say this but it almost happen to me because of being new to woodworking and new to a jointer. I was using the push block but I was planning a board about 5" to 6" in length. The blade grab the tip of the board and flipped it out due to the board was not 100% straight due to it being short and feeding it in poorly. Since it scared the crap out of me, I'm only going to plan boards longer than 12". I'm not looking to get flamed but wanted to share how easy it is to happen.

[LCHIEN]

Not flaming, but that's just a really good safety point, I think my jointer recommends nothing shorter than about 10".

[bdk5]

Well, I had a chance to work on the jointer last night. After waxing the tables, I removed the panel to access the motor and belt. As soon as I did, I could see that the belt was loose. I guess it must have stretched a little. I loosened the bolts holding the motor, slid it down about 1/2 an inch or so to take up the slack in the belt, and retightened the bolts. Ran a test piece through, and had no trouble whatsoever. Thanks for all the input.

-Bryan