Franken-Jointer

[Richard in Smithville]

Today I picked up this old jointer. Very heavy and came with a rolling stand complete with catch box underneath. The only problem is the make. It seems that for the most part it was home made. Looks like I will have a small restoration project on my hands. It worked well and certainly shaved away some wood. The only thing I'm not happy with is the lack of guard over the blades. I can't see if there is an adjustment for the tables but there is a crank that looks to adjust the blade height. I made a hole for it in the shop today and I'm not too sure when I'll get to mess with it. First thing is running a straight edge over the top to see how level the tables are. I would like to change the on/off switch too. The mounts for the motor needs a little work as well. Anything else I should look for would be appreciated. Oh yeah; the price....A buddy bought a mig welder at a yard sale and after some haggling, the seller dropped the price as low as he would go, so my friend said to make the deal, toss in the jointer! Then he gave me the jointer for helping him out in the past.

[phrog]

Is the fence perpendicular to the tables? When you adjust the infeed table down, does it stay parallel to the outfeed table? The lack of a guard would scare the daylights out of me. Is there any way to add a blade guard?

[jdon]

The angle iron mounts for the cutter head bearings, along with the belt "guard" are *ahem* creative. Did your buddy buy this from Red Green, by any chance? All it needs is some duct tape. The whole thing looks scary to me- might be time for a new set of friends

[phrog]

If the infeed and outfeed tables are at the same height, with the blade simply sticking up between them, you are not going to get a proper cut. On most jointers, as the wood clears the cutter head, that part of the board that has been cut will be less thick than the part of the board that has not been cut. Therefore, the outfeed table should be set higher (even with the top of the blades' circular path) than the infeed table. The difference will be the thickness or amount of wood removed by the cutters. If the infeed and outfeed tables are the same height, there will be a space between the bottom of the board and the outfeed table until you press down on the outfeed portion of the board and then you are going to get uneven cuts. In fact, it may be dangerous. Just sayin.'

[TB Roye]

Clean it up, paint it Harbor Fright Green and sell it for twice what you paid for it. LOL Looks like a good project for you spare time, but it does look a little dangerous.

Tom

[jussi]

You could probably make an adjustable euro style guard and mount it to the table.

[kramer katt]

The fence looks like it might be from a legit jointer but the rest is ho-made. Pretty good metal work but doesnt appear to have right adjustments.

[capncarl]

As iffy as the guard looks, if it had a back on it then it would satisfy osha. I've seen plenty of guards that this one would be an improvement. Expanded metal guards give the advantage of being able to see if the belt is too loose, missing or out of align, and you don't have to take them off just to check these things. Now for the rest of the jointer. It looks like someone had good intentions and some nice thick steel. Too bad it is so short.

[LCHIEN]

Looks like it imitates a jointer. But A real jointer has angled "Ways" which are able to be driven up and down the ways precisely to make small vertical changes in both infeed and outfeed height.

I see some angled supports but they don't seem to have any means to adjust them for infeed or outfeed height.

Is it just window dressing or a truly adjustable jointer?


Note the infeed and outfeed are both riding on an angled slope that can be driven up and down the slope to make small changes in height.

Also the infeed and outfeed tables are a little short?