This weekend I spent several hours setting up my new Delta 6″ jointer.
I set the outfeed table even with the knives at their highest point.. then set to work jointing the face of a 6″X6′ board and several shorter ones of various stock.
This is the first time I have ever used a jointer.. so I don’t know what’s normal.
As I ran the boards through.. especially the shorter ones of 12″ to 15″.. I noticed quite a bit of “chatter”.. and difficulty holding the shorter boards down on the tables as I fed them through. (I had the infeed table set for a light cut.. 1/8 I think.. the first “locked in” setting.)
The end result was okay, save for a big of machining marks which smoothed out nicely on the planer (which I also set up and used for the first time this weekend.)
Is “chatter” normal? Or have I done something wrong in the set up? I guess I was expecting an easier, smoother operation as the boards moved over the knives.
Thanks for your comments.
Bill
Replies
Bill:
First of all 12" is a little short, make sure you use push pads or guards. Secondly an 1/8" cut is not really a light cut, depending on the type of wood you jonting. I suggest you reduce the cut down to as low as a 1/32" and work your way back up to where you are comfortable and there is no heavy "chatter". If you still have problems, come back and ask again. Take care, "nine fingers Willy" isn't a great moniker......L
Len.. the manual said not to joint sticks under 10".. but I was right in the marginal zone to be sure.
Thanks for the advice to take lighter cuts.. I'll do that from now on and see what happens.
Yeah, you want to take off like 32nds and 64ths. A 16th is a huge pass! Take off thinner amounts, the result will be like glass.
Regards,
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934
I can't wait to try it with lighter passes. Gotta go buy some wood first.
Thanks, Boris
You might want to be mindful of the speed you're feeding at. No doubt 1/8 is heavy but speed - I've found - is also a factor. Good luck.
Yeah.. with all that chattering and jumping around I was in a bit of a hurry to get the board through the cutterhead.
By the way, how much pressure should you put on the board as it moves from table to table?
Just hold it down against the infeed table. Firm pressure, nothing fancy.
Regards,
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934
In addition to all above (and please, please be careful!) make sure each of the knives is the same height. Any discrepancy will add to the chatter.
forestgirl Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Yeah, it's a bit hairy turning the cylinder and checking all three knives.. but I did do that and fiddled with them until they were all level across their length. Took a while, too.
On the plus side was working with my new Delta planer. Loaded with great features and works great. Joy to use. Also got a Delta dust collector which made the whole operation with both machines relatively clean and dust free.
I agree with forestgirl., aside from 1/8" being a very heavy cut I would definitely check that all the blades on the cutterhead are the same height. also, when blades get dull you will get some chatter. it may be passable that the blades were shipped a little on the dull side.
Custom Cabinetry and Furniture
http://www.BartlettWoodworking.com
On the true confessions side of things.. I had a 4/4 length of red oak that was a bit cupped along it's 6' length and took 1/8 on the first pass.. and then not realizing that it would take an eighth on each pass.. I lowered the infeed to 1/4 and made another pass. Imagine my shock when I suddenly had a 6' board closer to 1/2 inch than an inch.
You live and learn I guess.. it's just that I have to live longer than most to learn the same lessons. LOL
just a curious question here from another newbie - is there EVER any reason why you would want to take 1/8 off in one pass???"Well-behaved women rarely make history." from the Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love
Well, I've come to learn in the past couple of days that there probably isn't a reason to take 1/8 off in one pass.
I just didn't know that until now.. if you can believe that.
My learning curve is trial and error.. mostly error.
>>just a curious question here from another newbie - is there EVER any reason why you would want to take 1/8 off in one pass???
I can think of a couple:
Edge jointing a badly crooked board.
Tapering
Rabbeting, if the jointer is built for it.
There has to be more..........
Michael R
the only reason I can think of taking off that much material in one pass is to save time. which is not a very good excuse when it means getting poor results. I also tend to think it might be a bit unsafe to remove so much material in one pass.
Custom Cabinetry and Furniture
http://www.BartlettWoodworking.com
Initially you should apply pressure to the infeed side while feeding a board through. As soon as possible you should apply pressure to the outfeed table. This is the side the board will be mirrored against, so to speak. It would seem to me that taking 1/8" or more is dangerous. Try to take as little as possible with the jointer. You can remove more with the planer later, which is a safer operation. Be mindful to try to remove the same amount from each side of a board because of moisture content. For example, if you remove 1/4" from one side and 1/32" from the other there may be a tendency to cup or warp.Keep away from people who belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.-Mark Twain
>>the only reason I can think of taking off that much material in one pass is to save time. which is not a very good excuse when it means getting poor results. I also tend to think it might be a bit unsafe to remove so much material in one pass.
I don't believe I would want to take much more than 1/8" off the face of a wide board at one time, especially with a small jointer. But for truing the edge of a board with a bad crook, or tapering a 1 1/2" square leg, I've never had any problem at all. If I've got a board with 1/2" crook in it, I'll run the edge twice at 1/4" and then clean it up with a light cut rather thn run it eight times at 1/16". Also as Richard mentioned, a heavy cut works fine for truing badly twisted or cupped boards, going to a lighter cut as the width of the cut increases.
Rabbets, too, can be cut 1/2" or more deep in one pass without any apparent risk.
Where is the virtue in wasting time on something that doesn't improve quality? If you are making a living, time is money, and it's the quality of the finish cut that counts; rough cuts are just that: rough.
Michael R
I too can think of a scenario where a heavy cut is required, Michael. A fairly long badly warped, in winding, or cast board often needs a lot removed quickly at both the beginning of the cut and the end of the cut to create 'in plane' flats quickly for the board to be brought into true successfully.
It does require a powerful machine, which usually means wide beds-- 400- 500 mm capacity and usually a heavyish plank with a certain inertia of its own, but from time to time I'll set a 4- 6 mm depth of cut for the first pass or two. After that I don't usually go more than about 1- 3 mm at a time. Even a big machine will baulk at too big a bite and it gets hard to physically overcome both friction and the backwards force of the rotating cutter head. A bit of candle (which every woodworker would find handy in their pinny pocket) slathered over the tables reduces the friction factor, ha, ha. Slainte. Website
Richard.. I was in talking to Steve at the cutting edge recently and learned, or rather had confirmed, that you have moved back to the civilized world.
Good for you. A loss for us.
My woodworking is slowly evolving. I have now acquired a jointer and planer and want for nothing at this stage but a bandsaw.
I was down to Hardwoods of Houston today where I purchased five 5/4, 8' lengths of rough cut walnut. When I plunked down the $168 I realized how important it is to improve ones craft before knifing up goods of this caliber.
Hope all is well with you, Richard. I know for certain you're quaffing a better brew these days!
Best regards,
Bill Balleza
Thanks for the good wishes Bill. I hope all goes well for you in your development as a woodworker. The Cutting Edge is a good resource of information as well as machinery near you. Slainte.Website
Sgian,
Your last post raises a question for me.
I have heard several woodworkers talk about using candle wax on the surfaces of their machines, as you describe. However, regarding jointing, isn't the goal to make a glue-up-ready surface? If you run your boards over a layer of candle wax, doesn't that affect the quality of the glue edge? I'm assuming wax and glue don't mix too well, but maybe I'm missing something (after all, I'm just a beginner compared to you and others here).
You'd think so wouldn't you Matthew? I can't say I've ever had a problem, but on thinking about it, in practice I use the candle wax trick more often when flattening faces rather than squaring and straightening edges. It's wide faces that have more friction I suppose, so a smear of wax there doesn't usually matter.
Still, there may be some candle wax residue on the planer tables when it comes to straightening the edges, and this could affect a solid plank glue up, yet I can only repeat that I've not experienced a problem. This may be because I also seldom rely on the edge created by the surface planer (jointer) and I usually take a few additional shavings with a handplane to ensure I've created a sprung joint prior to gluing up.
However, I'll also rub candle wax on the sole of a handplane every now and then to reduce friction during the polish preparation period, and during general planing jobs, and I can't say I've ever had a problem there either, but after planing there's usually a bit of scraping and sanding to follow. Hmm? Interesting point you raised. Slainte.Website
Maybe candle wax makes the glue surface even better!
Eureka!!!!
Matthew,
I've read where some use wax paper on their iron....have not tried it yet...but if it helps ...it certainly couldn't leave much of a residue. Probably works even better if you wrap it around something solid...like a tuna fish sandwich...lol
Edited 2/3/2004 2:59:50 PM ET by BG
Richard: It`s good to see you posting again.
I like your brand of humor.
Work safely ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬PAT¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
Pat, I'm boring when I take this wood whacking malarkey(sp?) too seriously. Hope you are keeping well. Slainte.Website
Richard,
I don't think you are capable of posting anything even remotely approaching the definition of "boring."
Good tip about using candle wax to lubricate the jointer bed. To answer the logical, but unnecessarily concerned questions about the wax getting on the wood in a way to interfere with gluing, finishing, etc . . . it doesn't.
At least not in my experience or that of several generations of workers I have known. That chunk of candle is always in their pocket or tool box or apron or whatever and is used on hand saws, planes, jointer beds, table saws, auger bits, screws, etc. I know some who use a bar of soap! Any theoretical residue simply isn't a factor in the final work.
VL
Richard: I guess I do purty good fer an auld codger. I celebrated my 84th. birthday yesterday .
My wife of 64 years told me that today I could do anything that I wanted to do.She wouldn`t have said that a few years ago. I am blessed to be able to work a few hours each day.When I get shakey,I shut everything down and go upstairs.I still have all my fingers and I would like to keep it that way.
It may be unnecessary,but I`ll say again
Work safely¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬PAT¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
Well,
Congratulations and best wishes Pat.
Ken
Also, don't run the board through the jointer against the grain.
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