Thread: Adjusting Woodfast Model 150 Jointer

Hi everybody,

I recently borrowed my (long deceased) grandfathers old Woodfast 150 6" jointer from my father to work a project, and found the results produced very ordinary.

So, after searching the interweb for guildines on jointer setup, I checked the jointer and found the tables were out of coplanarity (sp.? - not coplanar), and the blades well and truly out of alignment. The infeed table dipped towards the blades and was around 13+ thou out of coplanarity.

Searches of the interweb for some sort of instruction / manual on how to adjust the tables yielded no result, other than guidlines for other brands, and certainly nothing on how to get the tables off, so I thought I would post this for anyone else who needs to pull one of these things apart.

* After disconnecting the power, remove the fence and guard, then loosen the table height adjustment winder grub screw.
* Ensure the tables are locked into position with the gib screws on the rear side of the jointer (although ... it cant fall off ... it just stops it moving around).
* You can now remove the height adjustment winder by turning anti-clockwise.
* Now remove the gib screws on the rear side of the jointer.
* There is a locking plate into which the gib screws engage which now needs to be removed. Depending on the amount of gunk built up over time, this may need a gentle tap with a punch or preferably piece of wood to tap the locking plate out the bottom of the dove tail. Once a small portion of the plate presents itself at the bottom (underside) of the table, you should be able to remove it by either sliding it out, or jiggling the table to slide it out. Evidence would suggest the locking plate had been removed by way of a punch previously based on the marks on the ends.
* You can now remove the table from the bed dove tails, and clean up.

I found an enormous build up of saw dust and chunks of old timber in mine (my fathers/grandfathers), so that was all removed.

I then lightly sanded the table and bed contact surfaces on which the tables run with WD40 and sandpaper on a block to remove build up of pitch and go knows what else.

After lubing with a light smear of oil and reassembling, I found the tables appeared to be within about 3 thou ... which I figure is accurate enough considering I was using a good quality builders level as the straight edge ... so any variance could be in the level. Installed and tuned a new set of blades.

Ran a test piece of hardwood through ... and results are tremendous. Nice clean / flat and easy cuts. Now I just need to attack the table surfaces with some wax.

Hope this helps someone in the future.

Glenn.