cloyd1980 Posted February 24, 2017 Report Share Posted February 24, 2017 Hello,, I bought my first jointer yesterday (Grizzly G1182) and checked to make sure that it was setup correctly (fence is square to tables, tables are flat, and blades are dead even with the out feed table), and it seems to be perfect. I grabbed some scrap 2x4 from the box store and ran it through. Long story short, I am not able to get a flat face or edge on the board, I end up running the piece through way more than I should have to and the front of the board (the part that first makes contact with the cutter) end up with a ton of material taken off, while the back remains mostly untouched and I end up with a piece that is much thinner at the front than it is at the back. I have watched a ton of youtube videos, but I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted February 24, 2017 Report Share Posted February 24, 2017 Have you watched The Wood Whisperer jointer video? Bob Van Dyke on Fine Woodworking has an excellent video on dealing with angry boards. That one's behind the paywall, but the online subscription is a good value. What was the board like before you started? Was it cupped, twisted, bowed? What is your technique? Where do you apply pressure when feeding the board? Are the infeed & outfeed tables coplanar? For a board that's not too out of true do the following: - place the board with the concave side down on the infeed table - feed it across the cutter head & when it's a few inches past the cutter, register the board on the outfeed table. At this point, the infeed table is just there to hold up the other end. It is the outfeed table that will hold things straight. If there's a lot of twist, it's helpful to just run the low corners over the cutter to remove enough so the board doesn't wobble on the table. If there's lots of crown then take some out by working the ends of the board from the middle until it's flatter. Running a badly crowned board head on into the cutter can be dramatic & not in a good way. Even a well tuned jointer can give you a wedge if you run a board through enough time, so keep an eye on that. If it starts to turn to a wedge & still isn't flat then you need to adjust your technique & maybe feed it from the other end. Just checked, it looks like Bob Van Dyke's video in not behind the paywall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloyd1980 Posted February 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2017 drzaius, Thank Dyou for all of the info! I'm sure that my problem is with my technique, as the board I was using was only a couple feet long, so any cup, twist, bow, etc was not very dramatic. I have watched the Wood Whisperer video, but not Bob Van Dyke's, where do I find that? As for my current technique, I am pushing down and forward on the infeed table until the board passes the cutters, then I am pushing down on the outfeed and then pulling lightly from the outfeed side while pushing down and lightly pushing forward from the infeed side while putting light pressure on the infeed side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted February 24, 2017 Report Share Posted February 24, 2017 First things first...you need to check for coplanarity. Do you know how to do that? It might be brand new but that doesn't mean it's calibrated...my Grizzly wasn't when I bought it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloyd1980 Posted February 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2017 13 minutes ago, Eric. said: First things first...you need to check for coplanarity. Do you know how to do that? It might be brand new but that doesn't mean it's calibrated...my Grizzly wasn't when I bought it. No, how do I do that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted February 24, 2017 Report Share Posted February 24, 2017 39 minutes ago, cloyd1980 said: No, how do I do that? It's in the video that Frank posted. It's a horrible and frustrating procedure and you can chase your tail for a whole day or more trying to get it perfect. Dialing in my Grizzly jointer proved to be one of the most infuriating machine complications I ever experienced, and ultimately I could never get it perfect. I did get it "close enough" however, and it's something that HAS to be done if you're expecting the machine to do what it's intended to do. Without perfectly coplanar tables (or as close as you can humanly get), you'll never get flat boards. You have to suffer through it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted February 25, 2017 Report Share Posted February 25, 2017 How did you determine that the knives were "dead even" with the outfeed table? If the knives are indeed exactly correct with the outfeed table, you can get away with some other issues being a little out of whack. How straight was the board to start with, by sighting down it, and how much were you taking off? Each board requires its own strategy. I doubt I ever pass anything over a jointer without looking down the edge beforehand. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted February 25, 2017 Report Share Posted February 25, 2017 4 hours ago, cloyd1980 said: I have watched the Wood Whisperer video, but not Bob Van Dyke's, where do I find that? The link is in my post. I'm not sure I understand your description of your process, but it sounds like you're applying pressure on the infeed when you shouldn't. Once the end of the board's past the cutter, you shouldn't be applying any pressure on the infeed. Pretty sure Marc's video explains how to get everything dialed in & that's the 1st & most important thing to do. There are no shortcuts here. 3 hours ago, Tom King said: How straight was the board to start with, by sighting down it, and how much were you taking off? Each board requires its own strategy. I doubt I ever pass anything over a jointer without looking down the edge beforehand. Yes, this too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unknown craftsman Posted February 25, 2017 Report Share Posted February 25, 2017 Just lower the out feed table .002 And see if it starts cutting. The knives should be tiny bit higher then the out feed table.Or the wood will hit the lip of the outfeed and raise up up and away. Aj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloyd1980 Posted February 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2017 3 hours ago, Tom King said: How did you determine that the knives were "dead even" with the outfeed table? If the knives are indeed exactly correct with the outfeed table, you can get away with some other issues being a little out of whack. How straight was the board to start with, by sighting down it, and how much were you taking off? Each board requires its own strategy. I doubt I ever pass anything over a jointer without looking down the edge beforehand. To make sure the blades were even with the outfeed table I placed a straight edge on the outfeed table and extended it over the blades and then rotated the blades to make sure that each one just barely "kissed" the straight edge without moving it. As for the board, it was pretty short (about 22") and was pretty straight (no significant cup, twist, etc). I have the machine set to take off just under 1/16". 27 minutes ago, drzaius said: The link is in my post. I'm not sure I understand your description of your process, but it sounds like you're applying pressure on the infeed when you shouldn't. Once the end of the board's past the cutter, you shouldn't be applying any pressure on the infeed. Oops, missed that, but now I see it, thanks! I will watch that video and Marc's again to make sure everything is setup correctly, then I will try again with the technique you described. Thanks again for your help, I appreciate it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheperd80 Posted February 25, 2017 Report Share Posted February 25, 2017 Once youve got it all aligned properly there is still some technique involved. Im no expert but learned a few things the hard way. Jointing wedges like that can be an alignment issue but can also be avoided by you. As mentioned above, look at your board and make sure you start jointing the part of the board that u want to dictate the final edge. In other words if theres a slight wane at the start of the board and you just start running it over the jointer, that little wane becomes the reference surface and ends up changing the whole edge to match that, which you dont want. Sometimes with weird boards your first few passes are sort of freehand, or starting in the middle of the board, or only running the board part way then lifting off, etc to get a good reference surface. Then you start with normal jointing technique. With relatively flat stock though you can usully just start jointing. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee-dub Posted February 25, 2017 Report Share Posted February 25, 2017 17 hours ago, cloyd1980 said: No, how do I do that? Checking the tables for flatness is a start. When both tables are at the same height they should make a consistent plane. A straight edge held firmly to one table should rest well on the other table regardless of position or path. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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