Will appreciate hearing, from those who have replaced blades on the bigger Grizz jointers and planers.
I have the 8 x 75″ jointer and the 15″ planer, both came with knife setting jigs, and this was my experience so far, but will appreciate feedback from those who have done this before.
1.) First boards I jointed and planed were Cherry and they came away from the machines with a superb shiny smooth finish, resembling what can be expected from a smoothing hand plane.
2.) This did not last too long though, although I have to confess, I worked with wood from Almond trees, which is very hard and wears out blades like nothing I have ever seen before.
3.) I removed the blades and honed them by hand on two diamond stones, starting with 350 and finishing with 750 grit. This was not too difficult and I could shave some hair with these after honing. I tried to maintain the original bevel, although this is not easy by hand. I honed a very slight bevel on the back side of the blade, you can hardly see it.
4.) I re-installed the blades for the first time on these machines and they have two options, being springs or adjusting screws. I chose using the blade setting jig, using the springs and this was real quick, took me less than 10minutes on the jointer.
5.) Finally, I checked with a dial gauge on the jointer, and found the worst tolerance to be about 0.005″. Is this good enough? If not, I would have to redo this with the adjusting screws and the dial gauge, which will take a lot more time. The out feed bed on the jointer was around 0.010″ below the blades, I set it to 0, at top dead center. Was this the right thing to do?
6.) I will only be able to test within about three weeks as I’m in finsihing mode (spraying) and the shop is cleaned and packed away.
By the way, one of the gib bolts (Holding the knives in place) on the new planer, was so tight, I broke two wrenches, trying to loosten it. Finally the bolt head was damaged, not suitable for a wrench and I had to drill a hole in the bolt to collapse the shank. A bit annoying, but other than that the two machines have behaved well.
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I just bought a used Grizzly 12" x 76" jointer. It came with disposable blades. I changed the blades and it works great. It was very simple to change the blades. Each blade is reversable so you get double duty before tossing them out. It costs $30 for 3 blades. That's probably less than sharpening because you get two edges out of each one so it's comparable to having them sparpened twice.
There are more old drunkards than old doctors. Ben Franklin
How do you like that jointer?John
I have no complaints about the G0500.
Set-up is easy, no vibration, smooth. I'm not sure if the two table extension pieces were really necessary, but they align with ease.
I had to work a bit with the fence to get it 100% square across it's length, but once true, it remains true. Were it me, I would probably have designed the fence holding mechanism a little different.
I have nothing to compare with though, as the last time I used a jointer, was 30 years ago, it was a European jointer/planer combination machine in my fathers workshop, in a different country. Can't even remember the brand name.
In contrast, the Grizzly is a heavy bulky machine, compared to a European 8" jointer.
If I recall, the GO500 is an "old style" machine as opposed to the parallel machines. I need to go bigger on my jointer and the Griz seemed like a wise alternative. I was curious about quality. Where did you ever find one used?Thanks,John
The G0500 is the new machine, latest from Grizzly. I purchased mine new, about six weeks ago.
Can't fault the quality, very good value, although I see the price is now at $953 delivered.
I got the 12" Grizzly jointer a week ago yesterday. I had tried it out where I bought it, at a used equipment reseller, and it worked fine. I had to do a couple things to improve it though. I had to plug up some places in order for the dust collection to work properly. Up under the tables and next to the blades on the sides. I also had to add a longer cord which was easy. I changed the blades, which was pretty simple due to the fact it uses disposable blades. I ran some test pieces that came out perfectly flat and square edged. I have not had to run it hard yet. The tables are flat, the fence is at 90 degrees, it has a 3hp motor, and now collects dust properly. That is all I need it to do. My only complaint is that it should have a better set up for dust collection from the factory without having to retrofit. Before I blocked up all the holes there were shavings going into the motor cab under the tables. I only paid $1,000 in total including delivery so I think I got a very good deal.There are more old drunkards than old doctors. Ben Franklin
Must say, on the 8" G0500, the dust collection is excellent and I did not experience the same problem. After using it for about a week, I cleaned shop, disconnected the dust hose and moved it. No saw dust in or around this machine.
I probably have the exact same pair of machines although mine are now five years old. I think the 0.005 is a bit much. There is probably some advice in the manual. I shoot for 0.002 but don't always make it.
I believe that the way to set the outfeed table height is by trial and error starting from where you are. You want the height so that there is no snipe to about a 4 foot board when you edge joint it. I recall that John White suggest using two such boards and viewing the jointed edges against a light. I found his book on machine maintenance to be really helpful. If you do a search, you should find many threads on this topic. A Google search probably will turn up whole articles on it.
Enjoy your machines.
Rod
Sounds like you are on the right track. I would suggest you do some more reading on the subject. wwwcambiumbooks.com
I've been setting machines for many years and can do a 20" jointer in about 20 minutes within .0005"...yes, half a thousandth. .005" is a bit much but on the other hand as soon as you start using the machine the edge begins to break down so if a few thousandths off it will reach the same level as the other blades soon enough. I've actually measured the dull blades to see how much the edge was knocked back and typically on our machines it dulls back about .020" by the time we change the blades as we do mostly antique recycled lumber. I see no reason to hone the blade to the point of being able to shave with it. Waste of time and effort. The first few feet of wood will knock the razor edge back anyway.
I never bother with the adjusters. I always work the blades down rather than up by tapping with a small block of wood. This is because I've done many machines like Crescent jointers where there are no springs or adjusters so it's just easier to approach it this way. I also recommend a 1/2 convex button type tip for your indicator.
Slot mortisers rule!
Rick,
Thanks that was good information.
I suspect my 0.005, is partly from hand honing.
Do you send out your blades for grinding, or do you grind your own?
How do you finish your lumber after jointing or planing, do you scrape, sand, hand plane...?
Can you point me in the right direction, as to where I can get a different tip for my dial gauge?
I send them out for sharpening. We have four planers and two jointers. We do unusual types of jobs so the finishing could be fake adze work, wire brushing, hand planing or sanding.Both of those sites carry extra tips. http://www.wttool.com has a set for $9.95My indicator works best with the 1/2" convex button type but if you can be sure your indicator is mounted perfectly perpindicular a flat tip will probably be easier.
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