Jointer help


dlmorgan999

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I am relatively new to woodworking, and just got a Grizzly G0490XW jointer with spiral cutterhead a couple of days ago.  I got it all set up and working and was doing test cuts.  I got to a point where I think I was cutting too thin a piece (about 1/2 and inch) and had some issues which resulted in knicking a few of the inserts and breaking one of them.  I replaced the broken one, and rotated the others.  Now when I make run, I get a "step" (not a ridge) about 2.5 inches from the edge of the board (meaning that everything after 2.5 inches from the edge of the board is still cut, but not as deeply as the first 2.5 inches). I can't figure out what might be causing that or how to fix it.  Can anyone offer advice?

 

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Yeah I'm with Ross...he's not getting snipe, his new inserts have some shmutz in them or something.

Try taking them off and blowing out the seats with compressed air...just a tiny bit of debris will hold that cutter out slightly higher and cause those ridges/steps.

BTW, I don't think jointing a board that's "too thin" is going to damage the carbide inserts.  Your hands maybe, but not the inserts.  Is your lumber dirty/old/full of nails, etc?

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Thanks everyone for all the replies so far.  I should have been more detailed.  It's not snipe, as the step is running parallel to the jointer bed, so the length of the board.  I thought (and this still seems the most likely) that the advice about debris under some of the cutters was the answer.  I just took out all the ones I rotated and cleaned them all out with compressed air but it didn't help.

I wonder if it's possible that some of the ones I didn't rotate are up too high for some reason?  For what it's worth, I measured the width of the board I was jointing when I had the problem, and it matches exactly to the width where the depth step occurs when jointing a wider board.

Also, the lumber is cheap BORG common board that I just bought expressly for learning, but it's not dirty or nail-infested.

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I removed, cleaned, and replaced enough of the cutters to be past the width of the board I'm testing with, and the issue persists.  I'm really stumped.  I think I'll call Grizzly support on Monday to see if they have any ideas.  For now, I moved the bench past the trouble spot, and I can at least joint boards up to about 5.5 inches wide.

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I have to admit that I am curious about the nicked cutter.  I am going on 8 years with my G0490X without issue.  I recently did a rotation on my G0490X jointer and on my G0453Z planer.  Years ago I read horror stories about Byrd heads shipped with grit between cutters and the seats (long since resolved by Byrd) and other spiral heads cracking inserts due to grit on the seat or over torque during rotation. 

This research led me to take things very seriously when rotating cutters.  If I am any example I would have to say that being diligent and using the right tools will assure a good result.

I do the inserts a few at a time (2 or 3).  I remove them, drop them in a small bowl of mineral spirits, use a nylon brush and MS to clean the seats, blow them dry and inspect them.  I scrub the insert if necessary and blow it dry as well.  I put a drop of machine oil on the screw and install the insert with a torque wrench to the manufacturer's specifications.

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That sounds like a good process for rotation.  The one thing I don't have is a torque wrench.  That could be part of the issue, but I would think that if I was inconsistently tightening the inserts, I would get a wavy finish rather than the precisely located step I'm seeing.

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Where was your nicked cutter? In line with the step? There are two types of heads, spiral, and helical. Spiral face the feed line at 90°. Helical face along the spiral. Any slight misalignment of the angle could leave a corner proud. The puzzle is the 2.5". 

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There were several nicked inserts.  One was completely broken and had to be replaced, and four or five more had to be rotated.  They were in various locations (somewhere in the first five cutters of each spiral), all along the width of the board.  I checked, and the inserts are all 90 degrees to the feed line, so it's a spiral cutterhead.

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Now that's interesting.  I took a look, and indeed, there are three nicks on the lip of the outfeed table.  It's difficult to measure accurately, but one of them seems to be very close (1/16 inch or less) away from where the step occurs.  If that's the issue, I don't know the best way to fix it.  File it smooth?

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The step I'm seeing on the wood is only about .004" thick and it's hard to gauge the height of the ding in the lip, but it definitely does go above the surface.  I think I'll give the fine file a try.  Worst case, I discovered that Grizzly has replacement table lips for $7.50 - quite reasonable.

 

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My woodworking mentor stopped by tonight and helped me troubleshoot this issue.  We eventually got it fixed. It turned out that two of the inserts I nicked and had rotated were bent or something, because we replaced them with new ones and the cut was back to the way it should be.  Thanks again to everyone who offered advice! :)

 

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