Thread: Torsion spring

Find a Woodman dealer and see if you can just buy the whole guard?

The spring used in the guard in the video is just a standard coil spring that sits inside the hole in the table.
The bottom end of the spring crosses the middle of the bottom of the coil.
The con rod from the pork chop guard above has a slot that slides over the spring end (shown here at B).
Screen Shot 2018-01-25 at 3.25.37 pm.jpg

The top end of the spring must sit in a notch of some kind in the guard itself to generate the driving torque.
BTW I'm not that convinced by the very slow snap back of that guard in the video.

A good source for a a spring closing mechanism for a jointer guard is a gas powered door closing mechanism.
These mechanisms usually have a wide range of adjustment so that it can be made to close very quickly.
A few years ago I made a guard from scratch for my 16" jointer using such a mechanism.
Below you can see the old wood/steel one and the new one made mainly of Al and brass screws so if it hits the blades they won't be damaged.
The underside of the back of the guard has a HDPE strip on it that holds the guard above the blades and slides nicely across the inferred table.
Unfortunately I don't have a picture of it on the jointer.
You may not be able to find a small enough one for you 6" machine but it may give you some ideas.
Jointer-guard.jpg

These "pork chop" style are not considered that safe and you may wish to consider making a newer type guard that that be adjusted to cover all but the needed area above the the jointer blades - first photo below, or completely covers the blade at all times and lift upwards as needed - second picture below.

edges.jpg

In this mode you simply cannot place your hands directly above the blades.
newguse1.jpg
These type of jointer guards have a much lower incident rate than the Pork Chop style guards.

I have a 4" Woodman jointer, it had a plastic "pork chop" guard, that broke. I made a new one from 8 mm aluminium plate, threaded a hole for the pivot pin and used an extension spring to return it to position. Will take a few pics in the morning if it helps.
Bob L's guards that slide over the cutter that he posted, are good but trying to buy them and then retro fit onto an old machine may cause a few problems, especially on the Woodman, as there is nowhere to mount them in the correct position.
The "pork chop" may not be up to O&HS standards, but is better than nothing, unless you have some engineering skills and time available to play around with it.
Kryn

Originally Posted by KBs PensNmore

Bob L's guards that slide over the cutter that he posted, are good but trying to buy them and then retro fit onto an old machine may cause a few problems, especially on the Woodman, as there is nowhere to mount them in the correct position.

All that is required is enough flat space on the outfield table shoulder, as shown by the red dot here, to drill an 8mm hole though the shoulder.
Jointer-guard-position.jpg
I would not suggest buying a guard as it could easily be made up from various bits and pieces of Al.
I also realise not everyone has the skill set or inclination to do this, - especially if you want to retain the vintage look of your jointer

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

Find a Woodman dealer and see if you can just buy the whole guard?

Woodman jointers are a completely different design with the European style guard now. However your idea is a good one. I'm fairly sure my jointer was a generic thing and so perhaps I could buy any pork chop style guard from another brand and fit it?

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Dave, I have an old LS Barker 12" Jointer that didn't have a guard and shows no sign of ever having one. I really do need to fit one. For the return torsion spring I have got on to some very heavy (5mm diameter wire) springs that came out of a caravan awning. As you pull the awning away from the van, with the awning is "at rest" so as you pull it out the springs get energised for the travel back to original postition.I intend making the shape, be it pork chop of what ever then fit the spring on the stem and pre load it and lock the spring in positition. Well that is the theory in my head. If you want a spring let me know so I can post one to you. They are about 500mm long so it will be just a matter of figuring how long you need and cut it. Some heat would need to be used to be able to bring a "tail" out of the spring to secure it.

It seems like I will have to have a go at making a guard then do a "how to" to be able to describe it better. When I was a 15 year old apprentice a tradesman I was working with reckoned you weren't a true tradesman until you lost a finger. Even at that tender age I told myself I want to show my grand kids all my fingers

Originally Posted by KBs PensNmore

I have a 4" Woodman jointer, it had a plastic "pork chop" guard, that broke. I made a new one from 8 mm aluminium plate, threaded a hole for the pivot pin and used an extension spring to return it to position. Will take a few pics in the morning if it helps.
Bob L's guards that slide over the cutter that he posted, are good but trying to buy them and then retro fit onto an old machine may cause a few problems, especially on the Woodman, as there is nowhere to mount them in the correct position.
The "pork chop" may not be up to O&HS standards, but is better than nothing, unless you have some engineering skills and time available to play around with it.
Kryn

Some photos definitely would be useful.

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Originally Posted by BobL

All that is required is enough flat space on the outfield table shoulder, as shown by the red dot here, to drill an 8mm hole though the shoulder.
Jointer-guard-position.jpg
I would not suggest buying a guard as it could easily be made up from various bits and pieces of Al.

Thanks Bob. I've never drilled a hole in cast iron before but I do have a drill that should be up to the task. I should have bought that tap and die set from ALDI after all.

Making a European style guard like that might end up costing me as much as just buying an assembly. It's a great idea but perhaps I should try to make a pork chop one first.


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Originally Posted by DaveVman

Thanks Bob. I've never drilled a hole in cast iron before but I do have a drill that should be up to the task. I should have bought that tap and die set from ALDI after all.

Cast iron is really easy to drill as the added Carbon acts a lubricant. It's probably one of he easiest Ferrous materials to drill.

Making a European style guard like that might end up costing me as much as just buying an assembly. It's a great idea but perhaps I should try to make a pork chop one first.

Yeah - cost is often related to what bits and pieces you have available or access to. Because I do quite a bit with Al I have all manner of rod/tube/plate laying around (plus a BIL who builds Al boats plus an AC TIG welder , so I could knock one up in short order but of course not many woodworkers have all this on hand.

If you decide to make a Pork chop style guard then you can still use Al for the basic shape. The shape can be cut with a WW bandsaw and lubricating the band and cut track with a candle. This prevents the Al galling on the band. Then you can sand the cut edges smooth.

Originally Posted by chambezio

Dave, I have an old LS Barker 12" Jointer that didn't have a guard and shows no sign of ever having one. I really do need to fit one. For the return torsion spring I have got on to some very heavy (5mm diameter wire) springs that came out of a caravan awning. As you pull the awning away from the van, with the awning is "at rest" so as you pull it out the springs get energised for the travel back to original postition.I intend making the shape, be it pork chop of what ever then fit the spring on the stem and pre load it and lock the spring in positition. Well that is the theory in my head. If you want a spring let me know so I can post one to you. They are about 500mm long so it will be just a matter of figuring how long you need and cut it. Some heat would need to be used to be able to bring a "tail" out of the spring to secure it.

It seems like I will have to have a go at making a guard then do a "how to" to be able to describe it better. When I was a 15 year old apprentice a tradesman I was working with reckoned you weren't a true tradesman until you lost a finger. Even at that tender age I told myself I want to show my grand kids all my fingers

There's too many tradesmen missing fingers. An in law of mine is missing an entire arm. What I didn't realise is that a high percentage of woodworkers lost their finger or finger tip on a jointer.

Yes please send me one of those springs. I go at a glacial pace but eventually I post photos or a video of what I did.

Thanks
Dave.

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Good on you for thinking safety Dave. Have been drilling it into myself too, especially with the jointer. it's so easy to think 'oh it's just one swipe I'll be right.'

Like you, I see too many guys with missing bits!

In a large survey of large machinery used by DIYers and Pro wood workers undertaken in 1996, jointer/planers injuries were found to represent ~6% of injuries in both cases.
Only Table saws had a higher injury rate (21%) but this does not take into account the number of each machine and how often each machine used.

Jointers have by far the highest rate of injury per hour of use (TS have the lowest , 7X lower ).

In terms of average numbers of hours before first injury only RAS have a lower number of hours of use than Jointers. TS have by far the lowest numbers of hours before first injury, 23X lower than jointers).