Thread: Fixing old jointer - need advice

Welcome Kev,

Sounds like you actually have plenty of gear to get started, what are you intending to build?

Suprisingly a lot of the old stuff is of much better quality than you will buy now, excluding the very expensive stuff!

Re; the jointer,
RPM; firstly why do you need to know the RPM it runs at;-is it missing it's motor, is it belt driven (big old jugger driven from a seperate supply like a tractor), is it in bits with pulleys missing, what make is it, please tell us more info?

HSS blades; these will be good, yes you can buy blades laminated with tungsten, BUT if you hit a nail or other foreign body then they shatter and that is the end for them. Sharpen your HSS blades and buy a spare set of either HSS or 18%tantung, ask Newcastle saw services at Sandgate about sharpening, not sure if they sell planer blades though. I purchase mine through Henry Brothers Saws in Sydney-out near Windsor.

Don't discount hand tools, like saws, planes, chissels etc. You will be supprised how efficient they are if sharpened and used correctly. Again the old stuff done up will be good.

Triton; if you don't have much gear then this may be a good way to go, as you can use the circular saw seperate from the table when required. My father in law is a builder by trade (retired) and this is all he uses-have a look at what a lot of the members of this forum use and what they have built with one, you just have to work around the limitations!

Again, Welcome.

Thanks for the welcome Stringy.

The jointer is a MBT brand, and has no motor or pulleys. It has two HSS blades, one has 5-6mm chipped off the fence end, which I should be able to cover with the fence. It's actually off a combination saw bench/jointer, but the saw bench is not in very good condition so I was only going to keep the jointer. I have a 1hp motor that runs at 2800 rpm that should do the trick, but I need to know what rpm to run the spindle at to buy the right pulleys.

I thought I would start my woodworking career with some box making, maybe a coffee table, then progress from there.

Welcome *Kev. The forum members here are a font of knowledge (not me). You'll be in good hands.

prozac

G'day Kev, I have a Jet Jointer which runs at 5500 RPM.(Cutter head speed) so you need to work out pully sizes and motor revs to achieve somewhere around that.
Hope this helps Steven

Just checked a few machines and they generally run in the 4000 to 6000rpm range. The actual important thing is cutter tip speed! which is affected by the diameter the spindle and cutters.

An old Durden Junior Joiner 6" jointer I have runs 4275rpm with about 75mm diameter to the cutter tips. Motor is 2850rpm and for every turn of it's pulley the spindle completes 1.5 turns. This fits into the 4000 to 6000 rpm range

Originally Posted by *Kev

G'day all,
This is my first post so I'll start by saying how much I enjoy this forum. I'm a woodworking beginner and have already learned heaps from reading threads. Thanks everyone.

At the moment I'm trying to accumulate a few bits of equipment to get started. I have an old 14" bandsaw, a very old Black & Decker router, and a very very old 6" jointer, all from my Dad who was a builder back in the seventies. As I don't have much money to spend on equipment I'll have to make do with this old stuff until I can update.

My questions regarding the jointer are: What rpm should it run at? It currently has HSS blades that could probably do with sharpening. Do modern jointers have TC blades, and, if so would it be better to fit a set of them to it rather than have the HSS blades sharpened?

Also, is a Triton Workcentre a good investment? I have a birthday coming up and, with permission, may be able to squeeze some cash out of the savings account for a 2nd hand one. (Does anyone have some equipment you would like to sell? I'll also ask the question in the Buy, Sell, & Swap section if finances are approved by the boss).

Thanks, Kev

HSS blades are far superior to Carbite or Stellite as they can be ground and honed to a much sharper edge. The only advantage is that the carbide blades maintains its inferior edge far far longer and man made boards like MDF are very hard on HSS edges.
I have a bunch of HSS Router bits and they work much better that Carbide ones do and are simple to sharpen.
As mentioned get a spare set and rotate them frequently.

Rgds

Ross

Rgds

Have a Gilbro combo machine with 10 in saw and 6 in jointer, 2850 RPM motor all original components.

Cutter head dia 51mm (2in) 3 HSS blades.
Drive pulley on motor 85mm
Driven pulley on jointer 55mm (21/8 in)

I don't think 2 blade/ 3 blade will affect the speed requirements any, but with 3 blades each would do a bit less work and last longer before needing resharpening.

Cutter RPM would be 2850 x 85/55 = 4400 RPM for 2in cutter head.

Remember that it is tip speed for the cutter that counts, not just RPM. If the cutter head on your machine were 3 inch dia, the above pulley set would give you 50% faster tip speed.

Hope this is helpfull

Thanks everyone

My spindle diameter is approx 65mm, so I'll work out the pulley sizes from that.

Now I need to learn how to use it

Welcome to the site Kev.
As others have said you have got a bit if gear to get started with. Most of us have built up our tool stash over time by getting a bit at a time as the job in hand dictates and the wallet allows. A triton is ok to get going with. The clever thing about this site is how people come up with ways to get the best results out of the tools and materials they have to work with. Keep us all posted on the progress with the jointer.

Regards
John