What makes the Jointer In-Feed table move?

thegovernor11 · Post by **thegovernor11** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 5:31 am

I just picked up a Magna 620-c Jointer and a 1984 Power Planer. The PP was a steal at $40. It needed a simple tune up here and there and now runs brand new. The Jointer on the other hand I overpaid for at $75 and I can't get the damn in feed table to move.

The Jointer looked like it had never been cleaned once so I hoped that's all it needed to get the table to adjust but nada. I got a sparkling clean Jointer that won't easily adjust. Even when I took it apart and looked at the mechanics of it, I still don't understand how turning the knob is going to raise or lower the table? The only thing I can think of is maybe the stud table mount somehow interacts with the depth screw to make it go up or down. Love to be able to adjust the depths of cut but worse comes to worse I'll just lock it in place at 1/16 or 1/32.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 8:39 am

There may be a difference due to vintage but I don't think so. You'll be able to make this work like new too. I am certain of that.

Could you post some pictures - fully assembled and at least one showing the bottom of the infeed table and the table depth of cut control.

SDSSmith · Post by **SDSSmith** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 12:10 pm

The depth adjustment knob has a groove machined in it. That groove engages ears cast into the infeed table bottom. The infeed table sits on inclined slides (one of them keyed). As you turn the knob the table slides up or down the slides depending upon the knob rotation. There should be five washers and a nut on the infeed table stud below the outfeed table. Two of these washers are spring washers and three are flat. The washers go flat-spring-flat-spring-flat. If you over tighten the nut you will have a difficult time getting the infeed table to move. Don't forget to wax the slides on both tables.

bicman · Post by **bicman** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 2:49 am

SDSSmith wrote:The depth adjustment knob has a groove machined in it. That groove engages ears cast into the infeed table bottom. The infeed table sits on inclined slides (one of them keyed). As you turn the knob the table slides up or down the slides depending upon the knob rotation. There should be five washers and a nut on the infeed table stud below the outfeed table. Two of these washers are spring washers and three are flat. The washers go flat-spring-flat-spring-flat. If you over tighten the nut you will have a difficult time getting the infeed table to move. Don't forget to wax the slides on both tables.

This is what occurred with mine. Additionally, I had to lube the knob and threaded rod (I used Corrosion X) to get it to move more than 1/16" and run the knob up and down the rod to chase the threads.

I was stumped as to why the table knob would not adjust more than 1/16". The above instructions solved the issue.

2bits · Post by **2bits** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 7:12 pm

You did not say (or, more likely, I missed it) if the adjusting knob turned or not. If it does turn but "nothing adjusts" then you may have the same problem I found. That being that the ears, which are attached to the bottom of the infeed table had cracked and were broken. I read somewhere on here that this happens too often when the unit is sat down(dropped) to hard. What I ended up doing was to use some J-B weld on the area where it attached to the bottom of the infeed table, then drilled, and tapped it. I then placed two threaded rods into it and added some lock washers and bolts. I have ran it a few times and it seems to be holding up. I hope this is not the problem in your case.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 10:08 pm

I would start by removing the nut/washers/'springs' so as to separate the infeed from the outfeed table thus allowing you to ascertain the reason for lack of movement without over stressing the adjustment parts.

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 11:34 pm

JPG40504 wrote:I would start by removing the nut/washers/'springs' so as to separate the infeed from the outfeed table thus allowing you to ascertain the reason for lack of movement without over stressing the adjustment parts.

While ya have it apart, clean and wax the ways.

thegovernor11 · Post by **thegovernor11** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 6:01 pm

Thanks everyone for the replies and sorry I took forever to respond. Holiday weekend + Family over = No time for myself.

In any case here are the photos that Dusty asked for. Hopefully it'll help confirm what I think is the issue: not having the "ears". The knob can spin freely but the table never moves. It doesn't even hold anything in place. The only way I can get the table to not bottom out is by tightening the the screw with five washers at the bottom.

I was playing around with some nuts and washers and think I can jerry rig something that's similar to what 2bits was saying. Worse case scenario I'll just permantly set the jointer at 1/16" or something and just have to take multiple passes to get my desired depth.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 6:46 pm

Thanks for the photos. They seem to confirm that yours is no different than mine except for the problem.

The missing notch is hard to imagine. Is it a manufacturing error or a different design?

How does yours compare to the images that 2bits posted?

thegovernor11 · Post by **thegovernor11** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 10:24 pm

I think they were broken off over time. I failed to try the depth adjustment when I bought it and even if I inspected it closley I would've had no clue what to look for. Will definitely do my homework next time and know what to look for/ try out. Little aggravating but what can you do?