I have a general 8" Jointer. When I joint long pieces of wood the machine cuts the first few inches and not the rest of the piece. With multiple passes it continues to take off material but only at the front or first end through the machine. Is my jointer out of line? Can you have a problem with the infeed or outfeed table on a angle? Any advice would be appreciated.
First thing to check is to make sure that the infeed and outfeed tables are parallel -- sounds to me like yours might not be, specifically that they form an angle less than 180 degrees.
Next check the height of the knives: they should be at exactly the same height as, or just slightly higher than, the outfeed table. "Just slightly" means not more than 0.002" (0.05 mm).
Finally, check your technique. Initially, all downward pressure should be applied to the board on the infeed side. As soon as there is enough of the board on the outfeed side to hold one of your pushblocks (you *do* use pushblocks, don't you, not your bare hands? If not, then we need to have a separate discussion about safety.) then transfer pressure to the outfeed side and do not apply any pressure over the infeed table. And never, ever apply pressure over the cutterhead.
Your board is bowed. Try flipping the board over and starting at or near the center.
Or you can cut the board in half to reduce the amount of waste created to straighten the board.
Not sure I agree with you here, Leon -- seems to me that if the board were bowed, he'd be taking material off of *each* end, not just -- and always -- the leading end.
I think his tables aren't coplanar, but they're close enough that the problem shows up only when he's jointing something long enough to hang over the end of the infeed table at the same time that several inches of it are on the outfeed as well.
That's a good point. To the OP: unless you *need* the full length, you're better off cutting the board into shorter segments. For example, if you have an 8-foot board, and your project calls for 42" pieces, don't try to joint all
8 feet at once. Cut it into two 4-foot sections and joint them separately. The benefits are:- less waste, hence thicker stock when you're finished
- takes less time, since you're not removing as much material
- shorter boards are easier to handle...
- ... especially if you have a small or crowded shop (DAMHIKT)
- because they're easier to handle, you get better results too.
Ahh! I stand corrected, I incorrectly understood both ends. I thought the problem was a bit too simple to cure.
You are probably right.
Yep, I do that all the time.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.