Hi all -
I have a Ridgid 610 jointer (no chuckles please, it was a deal), and I am trying to tune it for maximum precision.
Last night, I was checking the tables with a straight edge, and I cannot get them exactly co-planar. Instead of droop, it would seem that the outside end of one table is actually too high. With a straightedge dead flat on the outfeed, and touching the far end of the infeed table, I have about .004 under the straightedge at the infeed table right before the cutters. Both tables are dead flat individually. The problem worsens slightly as I lower the outfeed table, so I have adjusted the knives to the table's highest setting and locked it there.
I have tried loosening the gib screws, and I even gave a good tap on the ends of the tables with a dead-blow hammer. This got me to the current point from a start of about .010
Is this the best I can hope for, or are there any other tricks short of machining that I can try? Is .003 close enough that I can now blame my poor results on technique instead of the machine? I haven't tried it since these adjustments, but I was getting a concave edge with a high spot about 2" from each end.
Thanks for any insight - Gary