Speaking of Jointers....

Good you got a round safety cutter, I wouldn't use a jointer without that style, the old square heads are deadly, the way folks talk about them they suck your entire body into the cutter head just by pushing wood over it.

Too easy to get hurt on them, even changing blades.

With the safety head, you're fine. Congrats.
 
jeff, i have no idea if a tersa head could be retrofit? but i love mine in the planer......something to think about?......tod
 
Alan, the cutter head means I have to change over from babbit bearings and fabricate some mounts or use pillow blocks. Not crazy about that but will have to get it in the shop before I can make any decisions.

Todd, I just looked at their web site. Had not heard of them. Sounds nice but a quick glance at the prices gave the bottom feeder a scare! No doubt they can be adapted to even the babbit bearings though. But I would have more in the head than the whole jointer.
 
I am not trying to be a jerk here, but if you have to change out the babbitt bearings then that will significantly hurt the value of the tool. Now I say that, but I also understand your position. You have looked for a jointer for quite awhile and you plan on keeping it so I can't blame you there. It is too bad though that you can't keep the babbitt bearings.

I know a lot of people get scared working with babbitt bearings but its pretty easy really. I did a bunch awhile ago for our old 1901 Lane sawmill and it was not all that bad.
 
I am not trying to be a jerk here, but if you have to change out the babbitt bearings then that will significantly hurt the value of the tool.

Likewise, I am not trying to be a jerk either, and I did not think you were either! OK? ;)

Now, do you have anything to back that up with? I am really interested if you do. I have not made up my mind as to what I am going to do yet.

I know that in some peoples minds it would ruin the jointer to change it in anyway. Some would even say the wrong paint color ruins the value. I have a little of that attitude in me too but short of going to Museum or historical shop I don't see it except in very rare machines. There just isn't that big a market for these machines.

Then there are people that would prefer it to be original but that wouldn't stop them from buying it or hurt the value in their minds. Thats the group I am in. (Value being what a person is willing to pay)

Then there is the group that doesn't have a clue and just sees a big tool or a trophy for their shop. They have no idea of value and if they can afford it will buy it at any price.

I have far from made up my mind as to what I am going to do. But the square head scares me. I will need to get this in the shop and look it over. But I just keep thinking about how with a jointer your fingers are always close to the cutter and these old machines didn't have guards either. One slip and you nick name is 9 fingers! Or 8 fingers or nubby....:eek:

A guard is something I have been thinking about too. If I could add a pork chop style guard and spring load it, then I might consider keeping the square head. Then if you hand slipped when pushing a board through you wouldn't end up missing a few fingers.

And as for the babbitt, doesn't scare me at all. Just the cutter head.
 
Now, do you have anything to back that up with? I am really interested if you do. I have not made up my mind as to what I am going to do yet.

A guard is something I have been thinking about too. If I could add a pork chop style guard and spring load it, then I might consider keeping the square head. Then if you hand slipped when pushing a board through you wouldn't end up missing a few fingers..

In some ways Jeff I think I do have some stuff to back up what I am saying. Maybe not hard evidence, but I did work in a Railroad Engine House that was 140 years old. Inside we had machine tools that were just as old. When things got slow we used to go out and sand blast and paint these old tools up with whatever color we had. For that reason I never put much stock in changing paint colors. Companies...then and now...did/ do it all the time.

Changing bearings though would be different. You are really not rebuilding the jointer, you are upgrading it, or updating it. Since the cutterhead is the heart of the jointer, you could not help but change its value. Just as if you rebuilt an old car, leaving the orginal engine in place and rebuilding it would make the hot rod more valuable then dropping in a new Chevy engine. I am sure any old iron collector would be dissapointed to learn that the old jointer "used to have babbitt bearings on it".

I am not saying its right or wrong, its your jointer, but if it was mine, I would first try building a guard for it. On my first pass, I would take every precaution known to man, then see how the square cutterhead works. If it still scares you, or grabs the board, or whatever, then I might change it out.

I have a feeling that square cutterheads have a bad rap that might not be so well deserved. I aliken it to the RAS thread. I can see down the road where the RAS is given a doomsday title, when the machine is not that unsafe.

In any case, both round and square cutters can bite, so I am thinking that maybe a guard would have saved fingers in years past. There are so few squareheaded jointers around, it just saddens me to see another go.
 
Travis, I see where you coming from and I respect your opinion.

There is a discussion on babbitt and square heads over on OWWM right now. Just started this morning as a results of me and a very similar conversation to this one. :eek: I am enjoying hearing the different opinions.

What concerns me most, is that people say and I don't know, that square heads are self feeding. Meaning if you get a finger caught it tends to pull it in! :eek: The thoughts of that make me cringe.

I have been looking around this morning at my two 6" jointers and I don't see why it would that hard to fabricate a guard like they use. A swinging "Pork Chop" with an extension spring would be fairly straight forward. Just need to weld up some brackets and hopefully they could be attached to some existing screws so not to modify the casting.

Of course the jointer won't be here till the end of January so I am probably getting my cart before horse. :dunno:
 
There is a discussion on babbitt and square heads over on OWWM right now. Just started this morning as a results of me and a very similar conversation to this one. :eek: I am enjoying hearing the different opinions.

Of course the jointer won't be here till the end of January so I am probably getting my cart before horse. :dunno:

Yes this is a very interesting discussion and I have enjoyed it immensly. (It makes you think an that is always a good thing.)

As for putting the cart before the horse...well I think the more time a person has to think about something, the better off a project turns out.

In fact you have pushed me into thinking about my jointer. I have got it all working again, now I just need to hook up the power train and maybe rebuild the two blades for it. Today I was out in my shop and was looking my machine over thinking about ways to fabricate a gurad over that as well.

I am thinking about using aluminum because I can saw and shape it easier than steel in my shop. A porkchop looking thing as you said, that clamps onto the side of the jointer somehow.

Myself I cannot see how a square cutterhead would self-feed into the machine with the roation the way it is, but in working on the railroad, and in machine shops for the last 15 years, I have seen some strange stuff.

In any case, you have made me think today. I like threads like this. As I have always said, forums are really just like-minded people pulling up empty spike kegs up around the pot bellied stove in the old hardware store and having a good chat. I am glad you were not offended by my cross-examination at any time today.
 
Hey guys. Just thought I might chime in here. I run into a 12" Northfield joiner today while out junking around. The dust was so think, about 4 inches, you could hardley tell it was a joiner. It has been setting since 98 idle. I made him an offer and he said let me know Fri. Man it would look good with that red paint and pinstripping. This place was full of old stuff. Some still being used. One thing I saw about took my breath was a Snowflake. I wanted to look at the wheels. I opened it up and it had Tanawitz wheels on it :dunno:
I bout fainted. But The joiner might be comming home this weekend. I don't know if my shop will take another one of those "ships" or not
Reg
 
Travis, I have been thinking about the square head and I think I see why they call them self feeding. I had to see a sketch on one but the blade is off center when it is straight up. With the large gap and the angle the blade is coming back I (think) see how it would tend to pull your finger downward. Scary stuff for sure.

Yes you posts made me think too and I have enjoyed that. I never mind hearing another person opinions as long as they are open minded enough to consider mine. I don't waste my time with debates where they are just trying to make me thing their way.

As for the guard I have been looking at the two in my shop and how they work. There is some geometry at work there. They are set up so that there is just very little blade exposed regardless of what width stock you run through. My two are different shapes but work the same. Have not figured out the pattern yet but I see I need to spend some time sketching this up to make sure I get it right if I go that way.

Reg, good luck on that jointer. Someone said old machines find us, not us find them. I am starting to think that is the case!
 
That last statement is certainly true. I think I am getting the reputation in town of being a no-kill shelter fo these old woodworking tools. Right now I am looking at two planers...and old turn of the century lag belt planer, and a rotary planer of about the same era.

Now I just need to get permission from my domestic supervisor (wife) to purchase them. Its funny how they see these rusty relics as useless rather than being awesome returns on the investment! :)
 
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