Thread: Jointer Help Needed

was just qouted 1700 for spiral cutter for jet 10 inch

Well, as it turns out, I have damaged the box that my benchtop jointer came in so I don't think it can be returned. Never mind, I will still be getting a bigger machine. The 8" long bed looks spot on, but the 10" jointer/thicknesser will probably fit better in my workshop. I have a Ryobi thicknesser that works very well indeed and I thought I could still use it if I didn't want to change from jointer mode for some reason .

I will have to read up on the spiral cutters and they sound good in theory but sharpening may be a worry.

Decisions, decisions!

Originally Posted by gmack

Has anyone had any experience with spiral cutters.
From what I have been reading, they claim to rectify this problem you are having TP1.

From what I've heard and read, the spiral cutter blocks are pretty good, especially in terms of noise and the ability to handle variable grain, and you tyically get 4 or 8 edges per cutter, however they still leave scallops on the surface that are obvious under a finish. For fine work these scallops need to be either sanded off or planed away with a hand plane.
as far as I know there is only ONE planing machine that doesn't leave little scallops on the surface and that's a super surfacer — esentially a set of big strong rollers that force the timber over a stationary blade

Ian's post got me interested. These things effectively cut veneer they are so precise. Check out a portable super surfacer by Makita at:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ulh9CSTYO5Q"]YouTube - Makita Precision Planer[/ame]

Originally Posted by TP1

Hi all,

I just bought a Carbatec 6" Bench Top Jointer. It is quite heavy and stable but I am not blown away by the finish it produces. Its very flat etc but there are still traces of a slight ripple effect when using anything other than pine, no matter how slow I take it. Apart from adjustments etc, I thought I might be experiencing a side effect of it having only 2 cutting knives as opposed to 3 or even 4. I am not sure if this is the actual cause but I did read elsewhere on this forum the differences the blades would make.

I was thinking of asking Carbatec to take it back so I could buy either a 3 blade 6" or 8" model. My use will be general projects (furniture hopefully). Can anyone tell me if I will be really limited sticking to a decent 6" Joiner?

Since I wrote my previous response, I've used a thicknesser that had a nail fed through it, so it leaves a long ridge along the length of the workpiece.

Since I was going to scrape/plane/sand anyway, I found that completely unimportant.

I note that the Rocking Horse Maker left a few ripples on a piece he made recently, and I;m sure his toys are of good quality. Jointers and thicknessers are shaping tools. For finishing, turn to others. If you get flat edges and faces out of a jointer, it's done its job. If you thickness opposite sides equally (you should, to keep moisture contend balanced), any marks left by the jointer are moved, and replaced by others left by the thicknesser.

Then you (maybe) remove those marks with 100-grit sandpaper and leave finer marks which you then remove witth finer sandpaper and so on, until done.

Originally Posted by rod1949

Yep TPI as Ian said. Except if the timber is wider than the 8" wide jointer then I would thickness first and then square up the edges on the jointer.

From what I've read, thicknessers squash the workpiece flat, then shave it. When it comes out the other side, it has a freshly shaved side that's still twisted, cupped or bowed.

I will try to avoid timber wider than my jointer (6"); where I ail, I will either rip it or rebate it on the jointer then run it through the thicknesser on a sled so it's supported on the now-flattened rebate.

I'm sure Google can find some videos on jointing with a thicknesser.

I have since been using an ML-392 from Timbecon with very good results. I think I'm getting the hang of things now and the timber is coming out how its supposed to.

I found that I have to clean the ribbed rollers every now and then , particularly if using softwood as it seems to clog things up over time

I dry hardwood and though I hold it in a rack I still get some planks bowing. My planks are 2.4m and I find that the jointer eats these, My jointer will be about 6 feet long so if you put it bow up it creates a wedge and bow down its not much better. My solution to get one good edge with minimum waste was to make a trough out of wood longer than my plank, put the plank in the trough bow up and feed it all through the thicknesser. The other edge obviously is done on the saw. My jointer now is a finishing tool.