ReLMAustin Posted October 9, 2012 Report Share Posted October 9, 2012 Hi everyone, I have a Craftsman 6" jointer that I bought off of CL. I put new knives on it, and generally it works pretty well. One issue I have with it, though, is that it spits out wood shavings from the top like a fountain. In fact, it never seems to run out. I really cannot get the infeed table clear of chips long enough to put another piece of wood on a clean area. The jointer has a 4" dust port. I've reduced this down to the size of my shop-vac hose, and I have a dust deputy between the two. The reducer is sealed up tight with duct tape because I thought that was the problem area. Do you think my shop-vac is just incapable of providing enough suction? Or is there something about jointers I'm missing? Do they all have this problem? I'd appreciate any insight the group has. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STL Woodguy Posted October 9, 2012 Report Share Posted October 9, 2012 I think the Shop-Vac (intended for low volumes of dust / shop cleanup) is definitely underpowered for the task, and more specifically, that small hose simply can't handle the volume of chips a jointer and a planer makes. Early on when all I had was a Shop-Vac, I hooked it to my planer (despite the instruction's warnings) and it quickly backed up like leaves stuck in a rain gutter. A 4" dust collector - intended for high volumes of dust - makes a HUGE difference when hooked up with a jointer and/or planer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim0625 Posted October 9, 2012 Report Share Posted October 9, 2012 DC does make a difference. I have a Craftsman 6" jointer but mine didn't have a dust port. It was open on the bottom so I and went underneath and made a box, drilled a few holes to mount it and put a DC port on the bottom of the box. My DC is a Grizzly 1 or 1.5 HP and it has a 4" PVC hose that drops down from the trunk line and converts into a flex hose the last 24"....I get very little dust on the top of the jointer and no chips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayWC Posted October 9, 2012 Report Share Posted October 9, 2012 Do you think my shop-vac is just incapable of providing enough suction? You already had the answer. If all you have is a shop vac you're better off to let the chips dump on the floor while jointing then vacuum them up when you're done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robjeffking Posted October 9, 2012 Report Share Posted October 9, 2012 I have a jet joiner and a older craftsman 6 inch and I prefer the craftsman I made a drawer and all of my chips drop in no problem without any suction just gravity. Any chance your knives are spinning the wrong way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRBaker Posted October 9, 2012 Report Share Posted October 9, 2012 Joiners are bad about spitting back at you when chips get packed in the top of the shoot, near the head. With the joiner unplugged, run a stick up in there and see if you can feel wads of chips packed into the nooks and crannies. That's usually what causes that. Lack of proper DC system can cause it but even if you let the chips pile up below until they start backing up on the shoot, it will cause the same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReLMAustin Posted October 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 OK, I took off the dust chute, and, sure enough, it was clogged with chips right at the cutting head. I left the dust chute off and let the chips fall to the floor. That works much better. I also double checked that it was spinning the correct direction. Towards the right, right? Thanks everyone for the guidance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robjeffking Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 clockwise into the work is correct. I didnt think the knives were spinning in the wrong direction. You just never know if the previous owner had replaced the motor and wired it backwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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