I have always been very safety conscious during my 20 years as a furniture maker: tablesaw guard, hearing and eye protection, no rings or watches, etc. But I have to say I hate using the blade guard on my jointer. I have an 8" Grizzly and hate using the guard as much as I did on my 6". At the risk of getting many (probably well deserved) lectures, does anyone else occasionally take their jointer guard off?
Dave
OK, I'll bite. Sure, I take the guard off if the task can't be accomplished with it on. But the guard on my Powermatic is not a problem for edge jointing, only for face jointing.
DonkeyHody "I'd rather expect the best from people and be wrong than expect the worst and be right."
Yup. I use my hands not paddles too. I feel that I can control the workpiece better with a tactile grip and no obstrutions. In my mind, better control is safter.
And many would probably say that only proves that I'm a moron.
It's your call, (and your fingers).
-Steve
I'm not surprised - I think those US style sprung swinging guards are pretty clumsy. I prefer the Euro-style bridge guard, where it slides sideways and is set before use. Doesn't guard fully when the timber isn't present, but it's easier to use.
I'd only remove my guard for rebating, which I don't do on the jointer anyway.
Indeed it is -- which is exactly why I use pushblocks.
I don't know that I'd go quite that far, but I definitely would say that it proves that you don't appreciate the risks.
I still have all mine. I hope you keep yours.
I recommend keeping the guard on. It's amazing how much blood can come out of a finger end thats just been quickly removed from a spinning cutter head. To make matter worse, blood will rust your cast iron surface if you don't get it up immediately. Something you might not be in the mood to do. Don't ask me how I know. Stubby
Not to mention that when it happens you'll be working with the best piece of curly maple that you're ever going to see in your life and you're _never_ gonna get the stain out.
I hope you are either trolling or talking about edge jointing. Face jointing with your hands would strongly suggest you are a moron, if not outright proving it. Even I've never done that.
I always keep the guard on when face or edge jointing (and I use push pads or sticks for most operations unless my hands are above the height of the fence) but I was getting quite annoyed when the guard would slam into the fence as the board cleard it. I think I had the spring too tight but instead of trying to loosen it I simply padded the contact area with some foam. Marc
I can't bring myself to say anything insulting, but I've got an 8'' griz too, and have never considered not using the guard or not using the push paddle things. Not because I always play by the safety rules but because 1. that spinning sharp thing in there scares me more than the table saw blade for some strange reason and 2. I've never had trouble with the guard or the paddles and the wood always comes out with nice reference edges.
So I guess I don't understand. I often work without a tablesaw guard because it's junk and gets in the way, but the jointer guard never gets in my way or I probably WOULD consider removing it now and then. I may be safety conscious but I'm not above temptation.
I find those paddles useless. Guess I need to go to paddle school. What I use instead, is a board about 4 inches wide and about 28 inches long. At the back of the board, I have a 5/16" lip glued on that points down to grab the back end of the wood I am going to joint. On the top of this board I have glued on two handles that are about 12 to 15 inches apart. I find this method of face jointing better then using paddles.
The paddles are great for the board ahead of your pusher. Helps stabilize and keep it in contact with the desired surface. Short stock certainly wants a push stick.
No one has mentioned it, but there's a certain convergence of board thickness, fence location and the slope of the guard on my JET 6" jointer where the piece jams rather than gains enough leverage to rotate the guard outward. Annoying, but just a touch of fence adjustment is all it takes to avoid it. Which leads me to the question of why I always seem to find it....
Well, the guard on mine is broken and I can't get any parts for it. I haven't taken it off, but it doesn't really do much. The jointer is an old Rayco I got for $50. I had to do some tuning and cleaning, but now it joints as well as it probably ever did.
JD
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.