Install Ridgid jointer knives

[RJDurkee]

Has someone come up with a better way to correctly install knives on a Ridgid jointer than the method in the manual? According to the manual you have to loosen the four bolts holding each knife, hold a straight- edge along the outfeed table and slide the knife up so that it just touches the straight-edge, and while doing that tighten the bolt. Then do the other side which is impossible to do because you tightened the bolt on the other end of the knife. There must be some sort of jig that can hold the jointer knife at the correct height while I tighten the bolts. The way mentioned in the book seems inaccurate and difficult to do. Rich

[Lew Hodgett]

------------------------------------- Don't know what's in the manual but I use a magnetic jig that holds blade at correct position while gibbs are tightened.

Rockler, Lee Valley, etc should have one.

Lew

[Dan Coby]

I have the Ridgid 6 inch jointer (model JP6101). It has two sets of screws for adjusting and holding the knives. There are jackscrews underneath the knives. These are turned to adjust the height knives. Once a knife is in the proper position then there are lock screws are tightened to hold the knife in place. See figure 40 on page 29 of the manual.

I tried both the procedure recommended in the manual and also a magnetic jointer alignment tool. I actually like using the jackscrews better than the alignment tool.

BTW: I have only been using the jointer for a few weeks. I did have to correct the alignment of the knives and the infeed/outfeed tables. There were alignment problems with both. One of the knives was about 0.005 inches above the others. Once the knives were set properly and the tables aligned, I have been very happy with the results. Boards are coming out that are dead straight. The tables are within a few thousandths of an inch of flat. The best part (and why I bought the Ridgid) is that I only paid $107 plus tax. Since the jointer lists for $428 I was surprised at the price. It was a 1/2 price sale where they seemed halved the price a second time. A couple of people verified the price before I left. One clerk even asked if I wanted the second unit that they had.

Dan

[allen476]

What model do you have? I have the JPO600 and there is a jig that came with it to set the knives. Did you buy this used or new?

For what it's worth, go to the library and find "Jointers and planers : how to choose, use and maintain them" by Rick Peters. It is pretty informative and gives a good step by step to replacing knives.

If you don't have a jig, you might want to get a magnetic knive holder.

Allen