Setting Jointer Knives

Setting jointer knives like cleaning your homes gutters or giving the dog a bath changing jointer knives can be a chore you keep putting off maybe even hoping someone else will do it. But these knives need periodic resharpening to ensure clean cuts and prevent strain on your jointers motor. The first thing to understand is that the top of knives arc must be flush with the outfeed table surface for the jointer to perform correctly.
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As shown below each bar has small but powerful magnets that hold the jig to the table and the knives.

Setting jointer knives. If youve ever struggled to install new knives on your jointer youll appreciate this knife setting jig from john white shop manager at fine woodworking. The type pictured at left is with jack screws a behind the blades which are used to lift the blades to the right heightanother set of screws seen from the side b are used to clamp the blades in placethe heads of these screws push against the head pressing the bar against the blades. In this video white details how to construct the jig which uses magnets to set the knives even with the surface of the jointer. Anyone can do it j.

If you fully understand the directions given below you should be able to set all of your knives accurately in 20 minutes. Yes we do have a dial indicator. Do you have a dial indicator i can use to set my jointer knives right. I have a 12 northfield jointer with a 4 knife cutterhead.

I have the northfield dial caliper for setting knives and can change all 4 in about 15 to 20 minutes including putting the tools back. Im having a hard time making sure theyre flush with my outfeed table to guarantee straight joints. It consists of two steel or plastic bars that slide along a pair of parallel rods. A quick video showing how to use the jointer pal a magnetic knife setter to quickly and efficiently set your jointer knives.

Even with the expensive jigs on the market setting jointer knives has never been something to look forward to. Setting jointer knives correctly is critical in getting the tool set correctly in order to make sure. Its very easy to get the knives to 001 or less to each other without much trouble. The good news is that setting up straight knives on a jointer with the necessary accuracy can be done both easily and quickly.

Adjusting jointer knives there are two designs of cutter heads in terms of how the knives are adjusted. The this woodworking tutorial ill show you how to set up your jointer blades correctly. For a high tech way to set jointer knives invest in a setting tool such as the magna set. To make the job easier i developed my own approach.

At the risk of costing us a big sale however well describe another effective way to check your knives very precisely.