Tom Bussey
Member
- Messages
- 145
- Location
- Nashua Iowa
A while ago I posted in the design section about working up my design about my new work bench. Since then I have been building and haven't taken time to write about the actual building process.
One of the problems I have encountered in my 45 years of woodworking as a hobby is using the fence on a jointer to square up my work especially when the wood is actual rough sawn barn timber that was sawn to an actual size of 4X4, not 3 1/2 X 3/12. I have tried using magnetic feather boards in the past but have had only limited success. I had people tell me that magnetic work great and maybe they do for one or two one pass trips on 3/4 thick boards. At 72, I have arthritis in my thumbs and I find it difficult to say the least to keep the board up flat against the fence no matter what size the board. And if one waxes the table so the 4 X4s can move easier, the magnetic feather boards also move out of position easier.
Anyway, I have been wanting to do it for a long time and the heavier timber kind of force me to do it. I drilled and taped a couple of 1/4-20 holes in the actual bed of my jointer. I put them in the wing that is really used when using the jointer for ribbitting. I have two, one on each side of the cutter head. I positioned them so they would cover the any part of the exposed cutter head. Two down and two up to help keep the side of the board against the fence. I also put a couple down in the side on the infeed side and one on the out feed side of the bed. I found that the board tends to come away from the fence toward the end of the pass. I put one on the outside just in case.
With the heavier timber I found the weight of the timber was enough and that one didn't have to shift hand pressure from the infeed table to the to out feed table during the cut.
One really has to independently set each feather board and try pushing the board through before turning on the jointer They can be set to tight for the board to move but one has to make sure the feather boards are doing what they are designed to do. Anyway pictures have a way of saying a lot of words so this is what I came up with.
One of the problems I have encountered in my 45 years of woodworking as a hobby is using the fence on a jointer to square up my work especially when the wood is actual rough sawn barn timber that was sawn to an actual size of 4X4, not 3 1/2 X 3/12. I have tried using magnetic feather boards in the past but have had only limited success. I had people tell me that magnetic work great and maybe they do for one or two one pass trips on 3/4 thick boards. At 72, I have arthritis in my thumbs and I find it difficult to say the least to keep the board up flat against the fence no matter what size the board. And if one waxes the table so the 4 X4s can move easier, the magnetic feather boards also move out of position easier.
Anyway, I have been wanting to do it for a long time and the heavier timber kind of force me to do it. I drilled and taped a couple of 1/4-20 holes in the actual bed of my jointer. I put them in the wing that is really used when using the jointer for ribbitting. I have two, one on each side of the cutter head. I positioned them so they would cover the any part of the exposed cutter head. Two down and two up to help keep the side of the board against the fence. I also put a couple down in the side on the infeed side and one on the out feed side of the bed. I found that the board tends to come away from the fence toward the end of the pass. I put one on the outside just in case.
With the heavier timber I found the weight of the timber was enough and that one didn't have to shift hand pressure from the infeed table to the to out feed table during the cut.
One really has to independently set each feather board and try pushing the board through before turning on the jointer They can be set to tight for the board to move but one has to make sure the feather boards are doing what they are designed to do. Anyway pictures have a way of saying a lot of words so this is what I came up with.
