View Full Version : Jet Planer/Jointer


Saltheart
07-02-2013, 03:21 PM
I finally got to use my Jet planer/jointer. I did some planning. Thing worked great on hard maple.

Two things I would like to improve are
1) I wish the thickness adjustment had a finer adjustment. It feeds up .094 inches per turn of the crank. So about .023 per 1/4 turn. I suppose I could try to go an eigth of a turn but that seems to be pretty iffy. Now certainly the finess of the adjustment is not an issue getting down to thickness but I would like to just feed say 5 to 10 thousandths for the last pass to get the best finish. Finish is good now but if running over an area with a knot on the back side (can't see it on the finished side) the area over the knot can get a little (very little) tear out. Its pretty miniscule but I want it free from any imperfections if possible. Where there are no wood grain issues , the finish is absolutely perfect.

2) I get just a little snipe on the infeed side of the board I am planning. The tail end is perfect. Now I tried lifting as I feed it in but no mater what I do I get that little bit of snipe on the infeed end. The machine has an outfeed extension table but not an infeed extension table. Anyway , the amount of snipe is small and will sand off easily but of course no sanding for that problem would be better! :)

Any ideas/suggestions to solve these two issues?

Jackbass
07-02-2013, 04:17 PM
Build a detachable in feed table out of MDF put it on hinges for stow ability. Let it lay down the height of the planer and finish it with good urethane. Wood will feed across it quite nicely.

As far as the fine adjustment goes it is what it is. To get perfection and ultra fine tuning on knotty stuff and thickness you really need a drum sander.
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Slipknot
07-02-2013, 04:38 PM
sounds like great results if you are getting smooth planing on maple. In order to take a fine finish pass , you'd need or use a finish planer or a wide belt sander even better.
The grainy spots in wood is always gonna give you some trouble, try tiger maple you'll see.

as far as sniping, many causes and usually it's on the way out not in.

read this, maybe the infeed roller is out of adjustment a slight amount
or the bed roller is high.
Thickness Planer Setup (http://www.majorpanic.com/thicknesser.htm)

the settings he describes and shows in the picture are spot on

This is more in depth of the same thing

http://wiki.vintagemachinery.org/Getting%20Peak%20Planer%20Performance.ashx

Jackbass
07-03-2013, 06:44 AM
The belt sander was kind of what I was getting at with the drum sander comment. I meant a horizontal drum sander not an upright job.
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Saltheart
07-03-2013, 12:01 PM
Thanks for the input. The snipe is always on the first end in and always the same length from the end. I think this does point to a problem with the first roller. The rollers are hard to get at and I hate to pull it apart because the rest is working fine. I mayhave to though. One thing in the trouble shooting directions is to feed in a short sacrificial piece ahead of and behind the good piece and butt the good pieceright up tight against the piece ahead of it. In theory this may work although I hate to condemn myself to a future of always having to have extra pieces around to pull this off. If I am doing multiple good pieces I guess its an easy thing but if doing just one board it seems like a PITA.

Grapenuts
07-05-2013, 05:22 PM
Just cut the boards longer before you put them through the planer...then cut off the bad parts to get your useable lenght....don't think there's a planner alive that doesn't chatter on the leading edge or the tail end.

ProfessorM
07-06-2013, 06:48 AM
Believe him he knows all about chatter.


Sorry Steve couldn't resist
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Grapenuts
07-06-2013, 08:25 PM
after thousands of brd feet you'd think...chitty..chitty.. pop.. snap....Bang! dam knots.