PTWFE- Chapter 6 - JOINTERS

[JPG]

Re installing the shield is not easy to do. I messed about for quite a while before getting it right. On the newer planers, there is not a hole on left side of either infeed or outfeed, so you can't install the shield. Maybe there is another fix.

Thought we were talking about JOINTERS!

[beeg]

Now I'm not sure how much it will cover. But mine has a guard over the power coupling, and it does cover the knives as the fence is moved over.

[JPG]

Now I'm not sure how much it will cover. But mine has a guard over the power coupling, and it does cover the knives as the fence is moved over.

Looking at the exploded view, NOT MUCH.

[robinson46176]

First a guard note. A woodworker in a discussion long ago on another list seriously cut his thumb on a tablesaw. He kept insisting that he cut his thumb because he failed to install the blade guard. I insisted that he cut his thumb because he stuck it into the spinning blade... My contention was that he should have not had his thumb that close to the running blade whether it had the guard on or not. Guards can be great but don''t let the guard make you feel safe and then get sloppy with your hands just because the guard is in place. There are cuts where the guard cannot be used on both the tablesaw and the jointer. I had to wonder if the fellow cut his thumb again the next time he had to make a cut without a guard just because the guard was off.
I have always been "extremely" cautious with my jointer largely due to an old woodworker showing me what was left of three recently badly mangled fingers back almost 50 years ago when I was much younger and very impressionable.
*
I was visiting with a woodworking friend this last week and he was talking about how he adjusted his jointer knives. He uses a piece of plate glass (not the cheap wavy float glass) laid on the out feed table and sticking over the cutter head part way. Then he lays a big speaker magnet on top of the glass and the still loosened blade will jump up against the bottom of the glass. I have never tried it but he was quite happy with his results. He does a lot of expensive custom restoration millwork for the state for historic properties and uses a lot of ancient and hand built machinery that would send many of you guys screaming and running from the building. Some of his stuff even scares me and I am not afraid of anything.
He has one molder he built out of a very old horizontal milling machine converted from babbit bearings to high speed ball bearings with a custom machined shaft. It has multiple cutter heads and a power feed that drives a washing machine wringer roller through the transmission of a riding lawnmower.

[dusty]

Re installing the shield is not easy to do. I messed about for quite a while before getting it right. On the newer planers, there is not a hole on left side of either infeed or outfeed, so you can't install the shield. Maybe there is another fix.

I don't have a late model jointer (early 1990's) but it does not have a hole to facilitate blade guard installation to the rear of the fence. That is too bad. I have never given much thought to how much blade exposure there actually is.

I believe this will probably lead to my using other methods when cutting rabbets.

[billmayo]

For attaching to any Shopsmith joiner, Shopsmith sells the lastest cutter header guard separate that you have to drill the fence and attach this guard. I highly recommend installing this guard on the fence of any joiner that will be used to form precision edge rabbets and tongues.

513948 Guard & Label
514040 Pan Head Screw 2 needed

For joiners with serial number less than 70,000, Shopsmith offers the following that includes the cutter head guard:

555077 Joiner Dust Chute Retro-fit Kit

[Ed in Tampa]

First a guard note. A woodworker in a discussion long ago on another list seriously cut his thumb on a tablesaw. He kept insisting that he cut his thumb because he failed to install the blade guard. I insisted that he cut his thumb because he stuck it into the spinning blade...

Farmer
I read an interesting article the other day. A study showed the an intersection that was converted into a traffic circle had fewer accidents than the same intersection controlled by traffic lights. Apparently people view traffic circles as more problematic than a normal intersection and drive very cautiously through them.

The same study cited a highway in Spain which went up one side of a mountian and down the other. On one side the highway has broad shoulders and well constructed safety rails. On the other side there are little or no shoulders on the road and almost no safety rails. The side without rails has very few accidents, none of which a car fell off the road. However on the side with wide shoulders and safety rails they have had more than one car go over the edge. Again people realize the danger and drive accordingly.

Lastly the article cite some country ,I think it was Sweden, which switched from driving on the left to driving on the right. Everyone predicted a blood bath during the switch. However stats now show there were less accidents and traffice deaths for the first year after that the stats went back to normal.

Conclusion, feeling of safety tends to make us less careful, when approach a situation which we consider dangerous we become more safety conscious.

Observation I know more people that have had serious accidents done on a bandsaw than I do accidents on a table saw, yet I view the bandsaw much less scarey than a tablesaw. I know for a fact I'm less careful using the bandsaw than I am using the tablesaw.

As I said in a my earlier post I had it explained to me that an accident on the tablesaw usually resulted in something that could be reattached however if a fingers went into the jointer, shaper, etc there would be nothing left to reattach. That fear factor makes me more than a little conscious of safety around any of these types of machines.

[beeg]

Looking at the exploded view, NOT MUCH.

The exploded view lies.
I moved my fence all the way to the other side and the guard still covered the knives.

[dusty]

For attaching to any Shopsmith joiner, Shopsmith sells the lastest cutter header guard separate that you have to drill the fence and attach this guard. I highly recommend installing this guard on the fence of any joiner that will be used to form precision edge rabbets and tongues.

513948 Guard & Label
514040 Pan Head Screw 2 needed

For joiners with serial number less than 70,000, Shopsmith offers the following that includes the cutter head guard:

555077 Joiner Dust Chute Retro-fit Kit

Bill;

Without a picture, I am not sure whether I have this guard or not. I have posted pictures of my jointer. Can you tell from these whether or not I am equipped with the Guard 513948?

[beeg]

You DON'T have it Dusty. When I get time later I'll post a pic of mine, which I belive is older than yours.