New/old jointer

Frank Fusco

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Mountain Home, Arkansas
Wifey asked me if I wanted to go to this big church rummage sale. "Naw", I said. Then decided I wanted to get out of the house. On way out a feeling swept over me and I, very charitably :rolleyes:, offered to use my big, gas guzzling, truck instead of her economical to use Ford Focus. Gut instinct proved good. Found this 6" Delta jointer for $50.00. It is on truck now while I figger out how to get it down by myself without damaging something on either it or me. It's a heavy old hunka arn. More later, with pictures. Either of the jointer or me broken and bleeding.
 
jointer in shop

OK. I 'cheated' to get it in shop. Had to unbolt and remove the machine from base and bring parts in separately. Heavy thing, the fence must weigh 25 pounds by itself. Enneyhow, I'm usually skeeptikal of used equipment. But a couple things about this one drew my attention. It has a 1 1/2hp 110V Power-Kraft (is that Monkey Ward?) motor that is obviously much more recent vintage than the unit itself. It is a Delta/Milwaukee, no model # but is Ser. # 56-1241. Methinks the '56' might be model. I'll look up on Delta web site later. The blades/knives are clean and look recently, and properly, sharpened. Overall it looks cared for. The base was built by someone who knows his way around a shop. Very sturdy, well made, tapered legs, etc. And, the $50.00 price was tempting as well. I turned it on and it runs smooth, vibration free and surprisingly quiet. Now to do some oiling, clean light surface rust and protect with Johnsons Paste Wax. Then I need to use.
Now, I need to order some Grizzly green paint and a bowl of rice so it will feel at home. ;)
 

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Indeed Frank, this is a very good buy for a few bucks, very sturdy machine.
Have a lot of fun with using this jointer.
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Great deal Frank. Looks like a keeper & the stand is a no nonsense strong stand.



So do you have DC in your shop? If so you may want to build a stand similar to this one.
 

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Congrats Frank. Looks like a sweet deal. New tools are almost always a good thing, even if they're only new to you.
 
good score frank

that was the first model of jointer i had,, used abunch and it was a solide tool.. if it looks used and runs smooth someone new how to look after it.. and like bart said they do make chips. your gonna need more room before long with the influx of more tools the shop gets smaller:)

P>S... your gonna want to set your stops on the fence too,, but i bet they are right on already..45 & 90
 
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You need to get some anti-depressants for you Chiwanese stuff. I bet they are feeling pretty inadequate and small now that you have a REAL machine in your shop. ;)

Actually, for company, right now, it is sitting next to my $89.00 Delta table saw and $99.00 Northern Electric CMS and not far from my sorry Terrco duplicator. They are all smug and happy. :rofl:

And, Larry, yer right about space. The Terrco is scheduled to be sold, just have to get busy and start advertising. That will free up breathing room in my little shop.
 
The design looks a LOT like the Montgomery Ward Powr Kraft I have. That's been a good jointer--a little short, but other than that I can't complain. Mine came with a metal stand of the same vintage.
 
Got one just like it

Frank,

I picked one of those up at a neighborhood estate sale a year or two ago. Mine only has a Craftsman 1/2hp motor, so I'm jealous. It also came with two extra sets of unused blades. Did I mention that I only paid $40.:D Mine works well for the limited use I give it. I do most of my edge jointing with a hand plane. It replaced an antique 4" Homecraft.
 

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Frank,

I picked one of those up at a neighborhood estate sale a year or two ago. Mine only has a Craftsman 1/2hp motor, so I'm jealous. It also came with two extra sets of unused blades. Did I mention that I only paid $40.:D Mine works well for the limited use I give it. I do most of my edge jointing with a hand plane. It replaced an antique 4" Homecraft.

Your fence adjuster is of a different design than mine. Otherwise, I would say they are the same model unit.
BTW, for my extra ten bucks, I got one horsepower more. ;)
 
Tried the jointer yesterday. I had never used one, and can't recall ever even seeing one used before. First passes looked OK except for about a one inch snipe at the trailing end of the piece. Not knowing what to do, I figured making any adjustment would tell me something. I raised the bed on the feed side, made some passes and raised some more. Good. Snipe gone. But, then putting the piece on the flat table, I found it bellied in the center. :huh: Well, again, not knowing what to do, I figured doing something would be more productive than doing nothing. I adjusted the outfeed side up a trifle. Belly smaller. :D Adjusted some more, belly gone. :D:D Jointed edge nice and smooth. Tool runs well and isn't as noisy as I anticipated. I turned a piece of Osage Orange for a handle on the fence tightening bolt. Looks hokey but is handier than the naked bolt.
 

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You did fine Frank I remember stumbling around trying to figure it out myself. I was fortunate I purchased my jointer new so I I had a manual & finally figured out that it might help me if I read it.:doh: Did you get a manual with you Jointer? If not you may be able to download one on line.

I have 2 large note books full of owners manuals. I told the LOML that if & when she may have to sell the tools to make sure to have the note book
handy & give the new owner the manual to go with the tool.
 
You did fine Frank I remember stumbling around trying to figure it out myself. I was fortunate I purchased my jointer new so I I had a manual & finally figured out that it might help me if I read it.:doh: Did you get a manual with you Jointer? If not you may be able to download one on line.

I have 2 large note books full of owners manuals. I told the LOML that if & when she may have to sell the tools to make sure to have the note book
handy & give the new owner the manual to go with the tool.

I think using the finagle factor helped me. No, I don't have the owners manual. I have e-mailed Delta support for one. I don't even know the model of this unit. There is a serial # but no model.
 
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It's a 654 or 37-207

Frank,

I think yours is either a model 654 or model 37-207 depending on the age. I believe they were considered a 654 before Rockwell bought Delta at the end of WWII. Mine has the Delta Milwaukee name plate on the front and the Rockwell name plate on the serial number plate on the back so it is a 37-207. I'm guessing mine to be about 1951/52 vintage as it has a serial number starting with 100- and a clunky smooth top blade guard. Here is a link to a PDF on the Old Wood-Working Machines site that should work as an operating manual for your machine.

http://www.owwm.com/files/PDF/Delta/1949-PM1535.pdf

Here's a schematic with a parts list.

http://www.mikestools.com/download/Delta-Parts-Lists/654-6-Inch-Jointer-Old-Style-J2.pdf

Too bad we did find the cool cast iron art deco stand with ours, eh? There are a few parts still available on the Delta Site.

http://www.dewaltservicenet.com/Products/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=42420&tid=15440

Check some of the prices. 43 bucks for a screw. Wow!

HTH,

Don
 
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