I just purchased an old 16″ jointer from a plant that was closing. The jointer appears to run well, and it is very heavily built. The biggest problem is that it only has a makeshift wooden guard that is basically worthless. I want to make sure it has a reasonable guard before I start using it, so I am considering a couple options.
1. Attempt to build a custom wood or metal guard that would be adequate.
2. Purchase all the components of the guard assembly for a Grizzly 20″ jointer (<$100), and have a custom bracket fabricated to mount this guard to my jointer. Although the cutterhead on my jointer is 16″ wide, the table is ~22″ wide, so the Grizzly 20″ guard would probably be the best fit.
I am leaning toward option # 2, but I would be interested in feedback. If anyone else has encountered a similar problem, please let me know what type of guard you added and whether you are happy with the decision.
As a side note, I knew that it was old, but I just found the manufacturers name on the jointer and looked it up on owwm.com. Based on the information I found, it appears that the jointer was probably built sometime before 1897. I have attempted justifying the purchase to my wife by explaining that this was definitely the cheapest tool I have ever purchased when measured in $/Lb. Unfortunately, I am currently having problems with my digital camera so I cannot post pictures. If anyone is interested, I will hopefully be able to get some pictures within a few days. Thanks.
Craig
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We had a shop made swinging guard made of cherry wood for years and it worked fine.If it swings into the knives it is wood so no real harm is done.If it is wide enough it is always running mostly on the tables so it cannot touch the knives
I would love to see a pic of this baby if you can manage it. Can you tell us the brand, and a little about it? Babbitt or ball-bearing? Square head or round? Direct drive, or separately mounted motor? Does it have a big pulley where it may have , at one time, been hooked up with a leather belt?
The jointer was made by Rowley & Hermance in Williamsport, PA (the name is cast into the frame). I was able to find some information on this company on owwm.com. Apparently, R & H was one of a few companies that merged in 1897 to form American Wood Working Machine Co.
It has a round cutterhead with 4 blades in SKF bearings (I believe they are ball bearings). When I bought the jointer it had an old Westinghouse 3HP 3 Phase motor connected to the cutterhead with a triple pulley. The motor was mounted to a wooden platform under the jointer. This wooden platform was obviously not part of the original jointer, and there is no obvious place to attach a motor to the frame. I think it is reasonable to conclude from this design that it may have been connected to some other type of drive earlier in its life.
I also have an old lathe from the late 1800's that still has the leather belt pulley system. The leather belt pulley was connected via another set of pulleys to an electric motor. It is not as obvious that the jointer had a leather belt at some point, but I wouldn't be surprised. I will try to post pictures in the next week or so. Thanks.
Craig
Wow, nice score. Please post some pictures on OWWM.
Pete
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