6" Jointers

[Brian]

James,

Is there something about that rack and pinion fence that makes it easier to square up than the standard dual pivot fences? The article mentions the ease of use from being able to adjust it with one hand, but that isn't a huge selling point for me.

It seems like a nice fence design for sure, but it also does take up more room behind the unit, and I'd like to keep mine (in my space constrained "shop") flat up against a wall. However if the rack and pinion is leaps and bounds better from a squaring standpoint, I would consider it.

Thanks!

Brian.

[James T. Kirby]

I can't answer the question adequately, since this is my first "real" 6" jointer. Well, I did have a Craftsman that I got from my Dad. That had a fence that was so bad it was almost inconceivable.

The rack and pinion fence seems to be robust. I would worry about excess rotation about the center compared to a two-point support system, but the mount is heavy duty and seems to maintain allignments well enough. I have not checked it to the extent that I checked parallelism for the infeed and outfeed tables, however.

I'm happy with the machine. It is alligned well, finished well, and runs quietly. There is indeed a lot of hardware on the back side of the machine - it doesn't get particularly close to a wall when parked.

JK

[George]

Anyone who has a jointer and does not recheck for square after moving the fence is asking for trouble anyway. The Delta is more consistent than the one on my JET and similar, however.

[Rob]

I really like the Delta fence - stays square as far as moving back and forth across the table which I do regularly to try to keep the wear on the knives even - but I always check it whenever I change the angle back and forth from 90 deg.

Bob

[B a r r y B u r k e J r .]

My Ridgid's been great in that respect.

Barry