When a wormhole isn't a wormhole, or, how I knicked my jointer knives on a nail


VizslaDad

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I made a sleep-deprived boneheaded mistake yesterday trying to rush through some work on my new router table between work meetings. I have some really nice, old, tight grain doug fir that was left by the last homeowner. It has an unfortunate paint or deck stain coating on it, but the wood itself is great. Well, in my haste to make a big board smaller and useful to me I neglected to investigate some odd holes in the board...pushed the edge over the jointer...heard a distressing CHUNK...board stopped moving...I pushed harder and completed the cut (dumb). Of course I hit a nail!

I took a nice chunk out of my HSS blades. I have a basic 6" Grizzly model, but now I find myself at the crossroads of buying normal knives again (cheapest), saving up for a shelix and making due with having to clean up nasty tracks when I face joint in the meantime, or maybe going sort of halfway to the carbide cutterhead and getting Self-Set knives (https://www.grizzly.com/products/dispoz-a-blade-self-set-system-for-g0604-4-knife-6-jointer/t21148). My ideal of course would be to get a decent combo machine (maybe the Grizzly or Jet or Rikon...not enough dough for the Hammer) but that is way down the road.

Does anyone have the Self-Set knives? I have replaced my jointer knives only a couple times and it is a fiddly process but I'm not sure spending four times the price of a set of knives to save that time is worth it...though time is my most scarce commodity these days.

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5 minutes ago, Mark J said:

I don't mean to laugh at your misfortune, but I see the humor in the telling.

The only thing I can say is that carbide cutters would easily cut through a small nail.  In fact you might not even realize you've hit one.

I've been chuckling at myself all day. :D

Oh yes, carbide knives. That's another option...less expensive than the Self-Set knives or Shelix but more expensive than HSS. Hmm.

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15 minutes ago, Mark J said:

I don't mean to laugh at your misfortune, but I see the humor in the telling.

The only thing I can say is that carbide cutters would easily cut through a small nail.  In fact you might not even realize you've hit one.

I should note that it was a fully buried framing nail, unfortunately.

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The first thing I would purchase is a couple of strong magnets as @Tpt life suggested, or maybe a "magic wand" metal detector. Carbide knives may cut through the softer steel of a nail, but can still take damage. Possibly damage that results in shattered carbide shrapnel spraying out of the machine the next time you turn it on...

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56 minutes ago, wtnhighlander said:

The first thing I would purchase is a couple of strong magnets as @Tpt life suggested, or maybe a "magic wand" metal detector. Carbide knives may cut through the softer steel of a nail, but can still take damage. Possibly damage that results in shattered carbide shrapnel spraying out of the machine the next time you turn it on...

A metal detector and a moisture meter are both on my list. To be honest, I was not paying close enough attention. I do have a couple strong enough magnets that had my mind been in the right place I could have used to investigate what are very obviously nail holes to me now. Frankly, the dinged up knives were a literal wake-up call (I was clearly too tired to be operating machinery). Thanks for the suggestions, folks!

I will definitely look for that jointer knife setting process. Off to the search box.

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While you think about it if you sharpen the knives you have and the chip remains, offset the knives slightly so the nicks don't line up and it should remove most of the track.

To fully set your expectations carbide will become damaged and leave tracks not nearly as large as what your are experiencing though. If you went to finish strait off the jointer you will no longer be able to do that with any carbide solution. Well maybe when the knives are new for a good period.

The segmented head may cost a lot more but i see a larger benefit to them over the carbide knives. The nail you hit may not damage the carbide or it may shatter the  knife.

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