Jointer issues

[droughton]

I started cleaning the jointer that came with the Shopsmith I purchased a few weeks back. The fence is sitting up off the jointer table and is not correctly aligned. I hope the fence is not out of square. I know the quadrant assembly will need to be replaced. Also, the previous owner has really tightened down the fence on the bar. How can I tell if the fence is not square??

[DLB]

The angle you are measuring in the first pic is not critical, but you are measuring considerably more error than I think is typical. Trunnion, maybe? More important that the fence be perpendicular to the tables over its entire length when set to 0 degrees. Check the fence face for a crack near that corner where it mounts to the trunnion.

Sometimes trunnions can be bent back to correct, depending on severity.

The marks in the trunnion bar indicate this thing was really cranked on repeatedly. I would check the dowel pin just to make sure the right part is in there. Depending on depth they could possibly be machined. IIWM I'd use it as is first until I was sure everything was working and just replace the bar at a later time.

- David

[chapmanruss]

It does look like the fence has repeatedly been over tightened. This has caused the point that the quadrant attaches to the fence bar to be "stretched" out and could be the reason for the fence to not align to the tables. The fence should align to the fence bar and not so much to the end of the table casting. As David suggested check the dowel pin and you can try to bend the quadrant back into the correct position. My other concern with the quadrant would be if the internal/external threaded shaft is stripping out the threads in the quadrant from being overtightened. The quadrant may need to be replaced. Unless the marks in the fence bar are deep and causing locking problems, I wouldn't worry about them.

[droughton]

Thanks for the info. It will lock down the fence with no movement. I will try it out and see what happens. Thanks again