Thread: Cutter guard spring for 60s Woodfast 10 inch jointer

Maybe some photos will help. Sorry for everything being upside down, can't put the tables back on yet.





I'm thinking I'm missing more than just a spring after putting the cutter guard back in the hole in the table, there's nothing to set the height and it's possible to bottom out on the infeed table. I can make up a spacer to solve that problem but I'm still having trouble figuring out what sort of spring I should be looking for.

Suggestions on aftermarket euro style guards are welcomed too, I'll forget this entirely if I can buy or make one of those.

My machine (not a woodfast) needed a washer under the guard to stop the guard scraping on the outfeed table. The spring is just a long expansion spring held at each end with a screw tapped into the guard and bed and wrapping around the guard.

Your holes should be similarly tapped and once you identify the thread size (probably Whitworth) you can get a suitable spring from any screw supplier.

You may need to buy several until you get one that you are happy with.

Cheers Bohdan, there's a spot that's perfect for drilling on the guard so i think I'll probably go down that route if no Woodfast owners check in.

Remembered I had a brochure!



So it looks like an extension spring going from the eyelet on the table into a hole in the shaft of the cutter guard. Problem is the shaft on mine has come loose and spins freely, I'll need to fix this if I'm going to make it work. Looks like the area around the shaft was punched to hold it in place but I can't reproduce this.

There's a pin, about 15-20mm long, coming out of the hole in the shaft. That's what the spring attaches to. When you attach the guard to the slipping shaft, that hole will have to be in the correct position. Looking at diagrams, the pin comes out at 90 degrees to the table, with the guard in the closed position.

IMG_0257.jpg

That's a great observation, thanks!

Originally Posted by bueller

Problem is the shaft on mine has come loose and spins freely, I'll need to fix this if I'm going to make it work. Looks like the area around the shaft was punched to hold it in place but I can't reproduce this.

An easy fix would be to drill a hole through the guard and pin, then insert a rolled pin. It won't be original, but will that really matter, at least it'll be safe to use??
Kryn

Okay I think I can solve all these problems at once. Going to drill another 3mm hole in the shaft which will pin a wooden spacer around it, then I'll drill and tap two holes in the guard to attach the spacer. Hard to describe but the pictures should explain, I made a quick mockup. The final version will be about 50-60% of the thickness.

Won't that lift the guard too high?

If you drip some Loctite 290 on the joint between the guard and shaft it will wick into the joint and lock the two parts together. You can then just fit a spring to the shaft on a long screw threaded into the shaft.

That is a risk, I was hoping I'd be able to make it thin enough that it wouldn't cause a problem. Thinking about it and I like your idea better. I'll use Loctite and see how it goes once I'm using it, if it doesn't last I can revisit it later and put a euro style guard on.