I am resurecting an old Crescent jointer (circa 1951). I need to find a good switch for it. The one I have may or may not be origional to the unit. It is however designed for a three phase motor which was origional. I could probably rig the wiring on the switch but it has a rather small stop button. I would like something large to stop the unit when I’m in pain. Any suggestions? The motor I plan to use is a single phase 2 HP motor running 220 volts.
Thank you
Dan
Replies
wes ,
Sounds like a fun project , besides a standard Cutler or Double D you can get a magnetic switch for normal control . Also there are some foot / knee operated emergency type called cat whiskers . Probably available at industrial supply houses .
A few months back I picked up an old Davis and Wells long bed 6" jointer about 63" long bed and heavy too !
Post some pictures if you can.
dusty , an old iron junkie
Dan,
Get a conventional magnetic switch, which will also give you the needed motor protection. The ones from Grizzly work well and are reasonably priced.
John W.
Is the original switch a mag starter? You can mount a paddle over it to increase the reach for the stop button.
Crescent jointers are great machines. I'll take the inclined table ways over a parallelogram machine any day. Crescent jointers have good four knife heads. The best way to set the knives is with a gauge that straddles the head. The tables slide apart to make this an easy adjustment. Below is an example of the gauge. Do not buy this one. You can buy a import indicator for $12, a button tip for $5 and make one from a piece of channel stock. Brass or aluminum is easy to work with.
http://www.northfieldwoodworking.com/gauges/gauges.htm
Despite what the text says on the top of the Northfield page, the knife setting gauge shown is usually meant for use on thickness planers only. On a jointer, the knives have to be set parallel to the outfeed table and this is achieved with a knife setting system that actually sits on the outfeed table. A gauge that sits on the cutter head makes the knives parallel to the cutter head which may, or may not, be parallel to the outfeed table. On most jointers the head isn't parallel and there isn't a practical way to get it lined up. The Northfield jointers, and perhaps the Crescents, may have the cutter heads properly lined up but it is always better to work off of the outfeed table.John W.
I can tell you have never worked on a Crescent jointer. It's much easier to go off the head as opposed to going off the outfeed table on this machine. You are sort of correct on lining the knives up with the tavle but it's easy enough to line up the Crescent tables to the head. My advice still holds true. I've worked on many a Crescent jointer over the years and setting off the head is the easiest way.
I showed the Norhfield gauge to give an idea. Of course it says the gauge is for planers but for folks with enough experience on adjusting machines realize other options are available. On a jointer with parallelogram table adjustments or the incline adjusters on old Oliver, Crescent jointers it's very simple to align the outfeed table to the cutter head.
It's necessary to learn the rules first but with experience one knows when to break the rules.
Edited 9/12/2007 8:56 am ET by RickL
I used an old Allen/Bradley starter on my jointer and installed the appropriate heaters to protect the motor.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
You can use the original 3-phase switch to switch a single-phase 220v.circuit. I did this on my Rockwell 37-315 jointer.
Since the switch has three terminals, you can choose to switch the two hot wires instead of one, as is usually done. That's how I set mine up.
If you want a larger switch, I think a magnatic switch would be better, as the others have said.
Hope this helps.
Rick W
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