Jointer fence twisted

[roamer46]

Normally I post everything I'm doing on my Chris Craft Roamer project thread, which only covers ShopSmith stuff when I use the machine. But I'm making more and more moldings, door jambs, and other things from solid stock, so I've been learning the joy of jointing and planing. My Mark V(?) came with several attachments, one of which is a jointer. I ran into a situation with my jointer fence in which it appears this heavy cast iron beast has a twist in it. See the pix below.

This SS was a craigslist find. I'm not even sure which model it is exactly.


In checking the square of the fence, I initially checked it at the end of the infeed table, right next to the clamp. It's pretty close to square here.


I then checked it at the other end of the infeed table, just before the blades. It is definitely not square.


I adjusted the fence so it's square at the blades.


And, as you'd expect for a big piece of twisted cast iron, that makes it not square at the far end.



I eventually decided that being square at the blades is what counts most, so I ran with that. But in the interest of safety I was thinking of buying the Jointer Auxiliary Fence Package. I'm not sure if it's worth it, though, with this twist in OE fence. The twist will only be exacerbated by the much larger area of the auxiliary fence.

Thoughts?

[Hobbyman2]

Fence attaches quickly to your Jointer or MARK V Rip Fence

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With that said wont the aux fence still be off with out some sort of shim?

Are you sure it is the fence and not the table ?

[wa2crk]

The only fix I can think of is to re-machine the fence to make it true. But that may be more costly than it is worth. Check with SS. Is this covered under the lifetime warranty?
Bill V

[Hobbyman2]

It could have a washer missing under the table ?

Only way I can think of checking this is to lay the fence on something perfectly flat and see .

[Hobbyman2]

The only fix I can think of is to re-machine the fence to make it true. But that may be more costly than it is worth. Check with SS. Is this covered under the lifetime warranty?
Bill V

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Bill are the warranties good for a change of owner if so that wold be nice ?

[roamer46]

Thanks guys.

Even with the fence completely loose, it's got twist. So I think that rules out washers or installation. With this being heavy cast iron, I have a hard time believing it could have happened in storage. I'll check with SS on the warranty.

[Hobbyman2]

Just a thought ,, there seems to be a lot of rust from the pictures ,,,,a good cleaning might be good idea..

[roamer46]

There is indeed a lot of surface rust! This project is taking place in a shrinkwrap tent at a marina. Even with plastic down on the ground and big vents and a large exhaust fan running 24/7, there's a lot of heat and humidity that gets trapped in the tent. I periodically sand with extremely fine paper to remove the rust, but it's inevitable that it comes back. I would oil and/or wax everything, but I can't risk contaminating the wood. It's an unfortunate environment to be working in, but there aren't any practical alternatives.

I'm certain the surface rust is not giving the appearance of twist to the fence. It's around 0.020" out of square. What little surface rust there is wouldn't add up to that.

[BuckeyeDennis]

Thanks guys.

Even with the fence completely loose, it's got twist. So I think that rules out washers or installation. With this being heavy cast iron, I have a hard time believing it could have happened in storage. I'll check with SS on the warranty.

Q, I have the same issue with my jointer fence, as do a few others. It was chewed over thoroughly in this thread. Believe it or not, one guy's twist was corrected with the aid of a vise and a very large crescent wrench!

I called SS customer service about mine, and I believe that they will indeed honor the perpetual warranty for non-original owners of defective parts. However, in the case of the jointer fence, their flatness tolerance is 0.015". Mine was not out that far, although for a low fence, that can still give a considerable twist angle.

My solution was to add a flat auxiliary fence. I used hot glue to make instant "custom shims" that are bonded to the aux fence, but not the jointer fence. With the hot-glue shims cooled, I can tighten the aux fence against the jointer fence without deforming it.

You could do the same thing with epoxy, which I happen to know you have in ample supply! If you want the shims to be removable, first put a layer of masking tape on the aux fence, right where you will be forming the shims.

[roamer46]

BuckeyeDennis, that's it!

A flatness tolerance of 0.0015" for a fence this small is absurd! I jointed a piece of solid stock that is supposed to attach to another panel. That piece of solid stock is joined to a plywood panel that's 4' wide. A degree off on that one little piece of solid mahogany turns into ~an inch off on the other side of that panel!