Rojek Combination Tool?

[Toller]

Some troll below asked about whether measurements he couldn't possibly have made were adequate, and someone else provided a link to the distributor's site.

They have a Saw/jointer/planer/shaper/mortiser that "looks" great. I am extremely limited on room and have crappy tools on wheeled bases; better quality tools are just too heavy and big. To use anything I have to rearrange all the tools. My problem is much more space than budget. It would possibly be easier to set up the Rojek each time than to move my tools around, and then I would be using a (presumably) much better tool.

So, has anyone actually used this machine; or any other Rojek tool? Are there any other similar machines made? I would rather have a somewhat smaller 10" saw for instance. (My wife let me move a wall and expand my shop 50% last year; any more seems unlikely. I am almost desperate enough to move my wood to a shed outside.)

[LKB]

OK, care to explain how I "couldn't possibly have made" the measurements in my post? (Heck, it's only the same basic methodology that you can find in any basic work on maintaining / refurbishing machines, and is certainly doable with the equipment identified in my post.)

Or perhaps you have some particular knowledge of my experience in taking precision measurements . . .

Or perhaps, just perhaps, it is clear who the "troll" actually is . . . .

LKB

[Toller]

Oh get off it. You don't measure woodworking machinery to 10,000ths of an inch. If your jointer is flat to .01" you are doing fine; no way even the best technique won't induce more error than the jointer at that level of precision. It is better for you to be a troll than the obvious alternative.

[CW]

Your last statement nailed it. Toller spends a lot of time with his head in a dark smelly spot. He really doesn't mean to be an ass, he just is some times.

[CW]

Toller, you have no idea what you are talking about. Just because of your inability, don't assume that others have the same handicap.

[cm]

I think Toller has some valid points.....

[cm]

Toller,

I believe Charlie B. has a Rojek X31 combo machine.

cm

[CW]

The only thing that he was right about is the statement below. We did find out that he can touch type. How else could he have written something coherent with his head up his butt?

If your jointer is flat to .01" you are doing fine;

[A.M. Wood]

Dude you don't have a clue. Jointer tables need to be "dead" flat. No variation is acceptable. From what I've read here and elsewhere, I was lucky. My tables are perfect. Tested them myself with a yardstick I picked up at the fabric store while SWMBO was getting material to recover the new dining room chairs I made.

Toller is being cranky because he spent a bundle on his Rojack machine and the tables way out of whack. Now he's gotta send it back and get a replacement.

0.01" ppfftt

A.M. Wood (Morning)

[Toller]

Gee, I don't know about a yardstick; is it long enough?. The "bible", White's Care and Repair of Shop Machines says to use MDF with drywall screws in it. My jointer gave good results when I bought it, so I have never bothered to check.

[CW]

Toller, I knew you had it in you. That was the right thing to do. I have said for some time and will stand by it. The dial indicator is one of the worst things that ever made it into the home woodshop. Mine stay at work were they are useful. No indicator will ever be used on one of my woodworking machines unless.

[A.M. Wood]

My infeed & outfeed tables are only about 24" each so the 36" stick works great.

Don't have a copy of White's. Have to check it out next time I'm at the BORG. How does one arrange the mdf & drywall screws to set up the test?

AM Wood

[R. Pierce Butler]

"CW" wrote in news:7vFRg.2133$ [e-mail]:

I have made it so far without a dial indicator but I should get one. Sure I can make do with my straightedge, feeler gauges, micrometer, and vernier caliper, but as far as I am concerned good basic machinist tools are essential for quality woodworking. If it were up to me, here is what I would have in my shop.

6 or 8 inch dial caliper 24 inch dial or vernier caliper 0-1 inch digital micrometer (mechanical counter type) feeler gauges dial indicator with magnetic base and assorted points numbered (1-80) and fractional drill sets. Tap and die set Band saw blade tension gauge Good 12", 24", and 48" t-squares. The 48" square would be cheap to make. 6", 12", and 36" rules.

Belive it or not I use my 6" vernier caliper a lot. I need a dial caliper as my eyes arent as good as they once were.

I used to make do and accept gaps in joints, etc, but now I want everything to be as close as I can possibly make it without a lot of hand fitting. Stuff looks better, fits better, is easier to glue up, etc. I don't have to make as many "corrections".

How one sets jointer and planer knives without a dial indicator is a complete mystery.

Pierce

[Toller]

Its kinda neat actually. You get three pieces of MDF and put three drywall screws in each at the same points. You then take two at a time and adjust the screws so that they meet when the MDF is on its side and the screws are head to head. When the screws are touching on all three pieces, then they have to be exactly in line. Obviously that only gives you three points, but it is enough. If it doesn't make sense (and my synopsis might not) get the book. It tells you how to adjust everything. Maybe not to a 10,000th, but close enough.

[Toller]

Well, my planer knives are disposable. They go in the machine one way, and are "set up"; no way to adjust them. I pretty much do my jointer knives by eye; setting them as closely as I can against a straight edge and then running some wood, and adjusting until the wood is perfectly flat. It might sound (heck, it might be) Micky Mouse, but it works; my wood comes out flat. Never have any gaps in my joints, except a mortise joint a month or two ago where I hit some oversized biscuits; once I sorted them out all was fine.

I would love to at least borrow a band saw tension gauge. I don't doubt I would have much better luch there if my tension was proper. I suspect I have them too loose, but don't want to do any damage by overshooting.

[CW]

They said that a hundred years ago too and they had them. Steel rule and spring calipers. Same things I have in my shop. I leave the micrometers, calipers, dial indicators ect at work.

I set up to fifty tools a day using a piece of paper as a feeler gage. It's a rare occurrence that I'm off by more than .0003.

[CW]

A variation on the three plate method of producing a flat surface. It would work.

[R. Pierce Butler]

"CW" wrote in news:u6IRg.5927$ [e-mail]:

How do you know when you are off by 3/10,000 of an inch?

It must be nice to be able to say "that's good enough". I am not afforded that luxury at work. We demand that stuff be measured precisely and that it be documented. Eye-balling something and stating that it is "good" doesn't cut it. Everything is measured, set, tagged, inspected, etc. Nothing leaves without everything being as nearly perfect as is possible. People's lives are at stake.

Maybe it overkill to have one's table saw accurate +-.001 or better, but I do it. I view woodworking and machining metal the same. The only difference is some of the tools and the materials involved. Both tasks are best performed when as accurate as possible. Now if all you are building is birdhouses then maybe +-.040 is ok. I want to look at a piece and be reminded that it is built with the highest quality I can muster, not look at it and remember that I filled in a joint with putty because I was off by 1/16th or more.

Cheers.

[Toller]

[CW]

Haven't been at it long, eh? I build heavy jets.