Jointer Fence Problem

[jlyates777]

I was curious if the article or detailed instructions were written on how to fix this issue which was stated in this thread:

jointer fence problem

i bought a G0656PX 8" x 72" Jointer a month or so ago and haven't been able to get the fence stable. It has a fair amount of play in it and I think i have isolated it to the small bracket block but all the bolts seem to be secure. I assume that i am just missing something and will call tech...

ncwoodworker.net

I have a general international 6 inch jointer and the fence is skewed (shear cutting). It is square but the fence on the infeed table reads 6inch from front of table to fence and the outfeed table reads about 6.5 inchs from the front to the fence. Tables are flat and coplanar. Everything is setup good. It is just the fence is skew or slighted. Same issue as the previous post.

 

[Oka]

I do not know this particular unit. However, I have restored a few similar jointers and most of the older units are similar. If you can, find the year it was made.

What I have found is these units often have shims or washers that were part of the assembly and often (actually all the ones I have encountered), those were missing.

If you can find the exploded diagram of the unit showing all the parts (or better the original manual), that would be my 1st step. Get rid of the possibility of missing minor parts. Then, check the interfaces where these units come together and are straight and are not burred, dirty or twisted. This is machine so think in a standard of 1 to 3/1000ths is what you want, not with in a 1/100. That is the general stuff to 1st look at.

The next thing is often, these fences have a radius cam that is slotted that nests in an opposing socket that allows the fence to be tilted and then cinched into position with one bolt with a handle tightened. If this is sloppy or the radii interface ball n socket is worn, this could allow the unit to tighten crookedly causing problems with alignment. The work around for this is to scribe a perfect 90° line on the table to assist in assuring the table is set straight and 90° to the cutting head. Do this by measuring from the cutting edge off the cutting head and squaring from that to the fence. Once you have that exact, then use a pointed carbide scribe to scribe a line on the table to align to. If you scribe the line do it carefully and accurately, you only really get one try to do this right, scribe lightly, then repeat several times.

Bit of a cheesy fix, but it does the job, and unless you have a complete shop with a whole arsenal tools & equipment at your disposal, the only exotic tool I mentioned you will need is a carbide scribe. That costs less than 10 bucks. And you can get what you want.

If the unit is older than 10-15 years old there are websites that offer free downloads of old machine manuals. Enter the brand type and serial number and search.

This is one of those sites The original web archive of game manuals - replacementdocs

Hope that helps.

 

[bob vaughan]

Many jointer fences I've seen were skewed slightly out of square with the cutterhead. That condition has no down effects that I know of. Even on a stopped cut, a couple of degrees one way or another isn't a big deal. Many of the full sized professional jointers from back in the day had fences that could be locked down at a diagonal to the beds if the operator deemed it necessary. Below is an Oliver 8" jointer that allows the user to skew the fence.

 

[jlyates777]

Many jointer fences I've seen were skewed slightly out of square with the cutterhead. That condition has no down effects that I know of. Even on a stopped cut, a couple of degrees one way or another isn't a big deal. Many of the full sized professional jointers from back in the day had fences that could be locked down at a diagonal to the beds if the operator deemed it necessary. Below is an Oliver 8" jointer that allows the user to skew the fence.

View attachment 230952

Yeah I haven't noticed any problem woth it. And after doing research I have found that yes the skew is fine and can be done. When I first posted I reinstall didn't have my lock setup correct and once I set that it is only a skew of 1/4 inch instead of half like I stated. But than you

 

[jlyates777]

I do not know this particular unit. However, I have restored a few similar jointers and most of the older units are similar. If you can, find the year it was made.

What I have found is these units often have shims or washers that were part of the assembly and often (actually all the ones I have encountered), those were missing.

If you can find the exploded diagram of the unit showing all the parts (or better the original manual), that would be my 1st step. Get rid of the possibility of missing minor parts. Then, check the interfaces where these units come together and are straight and are not burred, dirty or twisted. This is machine so think in a standard of 1 to 3/1000ths is what you want, not with in a 1/100. That is the general stuff to 1st look at.

The next thing is often, these fences have a radius cam that is slotted that nests in an opposing socket that allows the fence to be tilted and then cinched into position with one bolt with a handle tightened. If this is sloppy or the radii interface ball n socket is worn, this could allow the unit to tighten crookedly causing problems with alignment. The work around for this is to scribe a perfect 90° line on the table to assist in assuring the table is set straight and 90° to the cutting head. Do this by measuring from the cutting edge off the cutting head and squaring from that to the fence. Once you have that exact, then use a pointed carbide scribe to scribe a line on the table to align to. If you scribe the line do it carefully and accurately, you only really get one try to do this right, scribe lightly, then repeat several times.

Bit of a cheesy fix, but it does the job, and unless you have a complete shop with a whole arsenal tools & equipment at your disposal, the only exotic tool I mentioned you will need is a carbide scribe. That costs less than 10 bucks. And you can get what you want.

If the unit is older than 10-15 years old there are websites that offer free downloads of old machine manuals. Enter the brand type and serial number and search.

This is one of those sites The original web archive of game manuals - replacementdocs

Hope that helps.

Thank you. I looked into everything and no missing parts and I realized the set lock for the fence wasn't correct and after that it is only skewed by a quarter of inch. So not bad