old jointer questions

[ken]

About 10 years ago my father (no longer with us) gave me an old jointer. Made by National Woodenware Co. St. Thomas Ont. There is no model #, it has three 4" blades and an "input" and an "output" table ( I hope these are the correct terms). Each table is adjustable for height, but not straight up and down, but on an incline. I decided to make this operational again and sent the blades for sharpening whilst I made a small bench with wheels and mounted a motor and got it all going okay. When I put the blades back in it and tried it a problem arose (I don't know if its me or the machine, having never used a jointer before). I adjusted the input table to take about 1/16 cut and the output table to the same height (almost) as the blades. The blades cut beautifully, but when putting a piece through the tables it is obvious that the output table is not level with the other table, you have to be very careful or the wood piece seems to drop down and then take no cut off the wood right at the end. It seems like the output table does not rise to in a level position, so that your piece of wood will "rock" almost at the end. I don't know if I have adjusted the tables incorrectly (although there is only on knob on each table) or if the machine is out of wack. The cut from these new blades is very nice and I have some upcoming projects that really would make use of the jointer. I hope that I have explained this enough so that someone who is familiar with jointers can maybe shed some light on this for me or maybe offer some suggestions. Tnx , Ken

[Nova]

Hi Ken,

This may help:

Novak Buffalo, NY - USA

[BUB 209]

I don't know how old your machine is but before you go to the trouble of trying to fix anything else on it, make sure the cutterhead runs in ball bearings and isn't the old babbit type, with brass shims.

[My Old Tools]

Babbit bearings aren't that much of a problem. The only thing I would really worry about is a square cutter head. They can be quite dangerous. Babbit can run for many years if kept lubricated and can be re-poured.

[Andy Dingley]

Babbit is OK on a big machine, but it limits the rotational speed. On a "domestic" size machine, then this means either poor planing quality (low knife speed) or the temptation to run it at the same sort of rpm as a modern ball-raced machine.

Has anyone actually _seen_ one of these ? We've all heard the horror stories, but when did they disappear ? I've got a WW1 military handbook that describes tham as obsolete and not ever to be used, and that's for the military !

-- Smert' spamionam

[Unisaw A100]

A'yup. Those who traffic in this sort of thing see them from time to time. There's even some poor slob on the OWWM forum who's actively looking for them.

Me? They send shivers up my spine.

UA100

[Don Mackie]

Maybe a silly question, but what was wrong with square cutter heads?

[George]

Big, finger-grabbing gaps between the cutter and the infeed table. If you think the cylindrical types are quick to nibble and drag, you ought to see one of these. Friend up town has a 12" he uses for surfacing white cedar for picnic tables. Scares me every time I see it.

Maybe that's the medic, rather than the woodworker, though.

[Joe Gorman]

Someone donated one to the tall ship project I volounteer for.

We're in the process of getting a new webmaster so it should be updated soon. Might even have a pic of the 24" wide 2 cutter monster. Bed is about 7' long. Looking at the cutter head, no motor on it, and turning it by hand wothout blades is kind of scary. I've trimmed a small chunk out of my thumb witha normal jointer and shudder to think of the chunk this one could take of in one pass. Not that you'ld be able to pull back the stub before the other blade comes by for it's share. Joe

[Larry Jaques]

On Tue, 30 Sep 2003 22:33:10 +1200, Don Mackie pixelated:

Because of the wide gap they leave between cutting blades and the bed, they're known to be able to gobble off entire hands and arms in half a second flat, pulling more in as it goes.

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[My Old Tools]

I have a great diagram in an old Oliver catalog showing the geometry and danger of the square cutter head. Oliver sold round heads to update the old jointers in this catalog. It was a big deal to come out with a 'safety' cutter head.