Replies

1. 
   Rich14 | Jan 18, 2007 12:40am | #1

   Tom,

   8" Planer? Do you mean a jointer?

   http://www.woodcentral.com/bparticles/knife_adjustment.shtml

   Rich

1. 
   user-226997 | Jan 18, 2007 12:49am | #3

   Absolutely. it is a jointer.

   Sorry I must have been half asleep.

1. 
   cadiddlehopper | Jan 18, 2007 03:04am | #7

   I knew exactly what you meant and enjoyed seeing you use the term. It is actually a jointer/planer. It does both. Then there is the thickness planer which is now called the planer. Thanxx!!Cadiddlehopper

1. 
   tinkerer2 | Jan 18, 2007 08:51am | #8

   I think the term planer means something different to different people depending where they grew up and when they grew up.  I don't know if there is a universally accepted definition.  ie. I grew up in the fortys.  We called the machine a jointer/planer.  I think most Americans now call it the jointer.  Europeans tend to call it the planer.  We almost have to describe the machine to be understood.

1. 
   cadiddlehopper | Jan 18, 2007 06:24pm | #9

   Unfortunately, you are correct. You probably missed the thread in which "face" and "edge" were used to mean "plane" and "joint" respectively along with a lecture that we must be very careful always to use the correct term in order to clearly communicate directions to subordinates. I can understand that a document such as the Bible (KJV) is difficult to understand some 400 years after translation. In the field of woodworking it seems that the same condition exists after only one generation. Do we owe this situation to computers or the Internet? I wonder.Cadiddlehopper

2. 
   tinkerer2 | Jan 19, 2007 04:29am | #10

   Ahah, that takes me back to HS almost sixty years ago.  Yes, we planed the face and jointed the edge.  Then we planed the face to a given thickness in the thickness planer.  What I can't understand is how to determine the correct term and when to change when the term changes.  To me, it will always be a jointer/planer and I think it is more easily understood.  But what do we call a machine that does both jointing/planing and thickness planing.  I don't know if they existed back then.

2. 
   pins | Jan 18, 2007 12:43am | #2

   There are jigs available to set the blades but you can do it with your own 'jig.'

   The first thing you do is rotate the cylinder (cutter head) until you have determined the point at which the tip of the blade is at the maximum height (which should be the same height as the outfeed table.

   Them make a mark on the fence so you will be able to locate the same point for each of the blades.

   Then when you are ready to replace the blade set the head at the appropriate position, insert a wooden wedge in a place where it will hold the head in place and insert the blade.

   Just snug the bolts a little so you still have a little play. Then place a straight edge on the outfeed table and press it down on the blade on one end or, and lightly tighten the bolt. Do it on the other end and lightly tighten. And then 'jiggle' it until it is at the same height all the way across.

   An alternative, better I think, is to make your own jig like an "H" with the two verticals touching each end of the blade, holding the it down.

   The commercial jigs are like this but they use magnets to hold the jig flat on the outfeed table. You can to it by just holding the jig flat with one hand or put some weight on it.

   The small rare earth magnets that LV sells would also assist in holding the jig flat to the outfeed table.

   pins

1. 
   user-226997 | Jan 18, 2007 12:54am | #4

   That helps alot.

    

   Thank you

1. 
   pins | Jan 18, 2007 02:02am | #5

   You're welcome, my pleasure. The other post from Rich should also help you visualize the setup of the height of the blades in the head.pins

1. 
   Rich14 | Jan 18, 2007 02:24am | #6

   Tom,

   I have a Magnaset, a device with magnets to set the knives a precise distance above the outer circumference of the cutter head. In theory this should work well. It should, but it is not as useful as the one I linked to.

   In practice, the method I posted the link to is the one that gives the most accurate results and is used by almost anyone who has extensive experience with a jointer. It is very fast to use, once you do it a few times. It's quite possible to replace a set of 3 or 4 knives in 15 minutes.

   The ruler can be replaced simply with a straight edge of made of wood, at least an inch wide so that it is stable sitting on the jointer beds and blades. Read the article a few times to get a good sense of what is happening. If you use a wood stick, put a mark on it and set it so that a knife touches it as it first engages the stick. Then mark where on the jointer bed where that mark falls when the stick has moved forward and the knife has rotated away from it. Make the other end of that blade and the other blades move the stick the same amount. Very low tech. Very, very accurate.

   Essentially, the knives are set precisely, when each of them moves the straight edge the same distance, measuring the effect at each end of each knife.

   Rich