Jointer question

pdcrow · Post by **pdcrow** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 2:26 am

I'm 23 years old. As long as I can remember my dad had had his Mark V. I remember making pinewood derby cars with it for boy scouts. Sadly, because of sporadic interest in woodworking as a child (and probably safety concerns from my dad), I never really learned a whole lot about the machine, and it has sat unused in the basement for years. Recently I have gotten really interested in woodworking. I cleaned the insanely messy workshop, and now after about 50 hours of cleaning time, have a clean and organized space. I would love for my dad to teach me all the things he never did, but unfortunately he passed away 4 years ago, and along with him went his woodworking knowledge and experience. But hopefully here I can learn how to use the machine as well as he had, and perhaps pass that on to my son one day. The Shopsmith is superiorly crafted and I'm sure will last generations to come. What incredible machines!

Ok so now for my question... After cleaning up the workshop and testing everything to make sure it works, I have a question on the jointer. I was test jointing some pieces of wood and noticed that the fence is attached to the rest of the machine on a "bar" at the beginning of the infeed table. The piece of the fence that slides left and right on this "bar" is actually a tiny bit higher than the infeed table. So when jointing long boards that extend past the end of the infeed table, they rest on the part of the fence, and not on the infeed table itself. I'll get a picture of this tomorrow and post it for better clarification, but I was wondering if this would screw up the jointing process or if this was normal. When testing some pieces I found that shorter pieces jointed fine (they were short enough not to extend past the end of the infeed table), and longer pieces had less than square edges.

Sorry for the long post, but I'm really excited to get started on some projects and join this wonderful world of woodworking.

Thanks in advance.

2manband · Post by **2manband** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:43 am

Hmmmm... If I understand what you're talking about, I haven't noticed that on my machine. I'll take a closer look when I get home.

Randy · Post by **Randy** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 8:05 am

You can adjust the bar down. There are two screws holding in. Slacken the screws (leaving enough tension that the bar needs to be taped to move) hold a straight edge on the table and on the clamp of the fence and tap down until it is just a bit under. Tighten the screw move the fence to the front and repeat for the the front. Make sure both screw are tight and away you go. This should take you a whopping 2 minutes, nothing like 50 hours!

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 8:38 am

pdcrow.

Randy has given the advise that should solve your problem. However, you need to obtain the service manual if you do not already have one. The procedure that Randy has referenced is part of normal setup.

It is also referenced in a safety note that reads:

Note:
Make sure that the top surface of the fence quadrant casting does not protrude above the infeed table. This can be dangerous. It will also raise your workpiece as you pass it across the jointer and cause a poor cut.

PS: Thank you for your post. As a result, I checked mine only to find that I too have a problem; a .012" interference and possibly a bent part on the jointer fence. See attached photo.

Randy · Post by **Randy** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:51 am

Dusty,

Your quadrant casting appears to be twisted / worn. It is not sitting flat on the bar. Is it or just the way the photo was taken?

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 10:08 am

No Randy, it is NOT an optical illusion. The quadrant casting does appear to be malformed. I just became aware of this myself, as a result of this post.

I went out to see if I could see anything that might explain pdcrow's situation and this is what I saw.

That part appears to be cast which I didn't think could be bent without cracking but maybe that is not true. Now I'm just waiting for some more feedback from the forum.

Do I have a quadrant casting that needs to be replaced?

pdcrow · Post by **pdcrow** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 11:35 am

my quandrant casting looks almost the same as dusty's. that bending actually allows my fence to lift off the table vertically. it seems like this might be from having the outfeed table higher than the infeed, because the fence actually comes into contact with the outfeed table whereas it's attached to the infeed. Having it higher than the infeed would mean the fence would have to tilt vertically slightly. Seems like the small increments used in jointing wouldnt present that much stress on the quadrant casting, but after years and years of use, it may have bent it out of shape a bit. I don't think that it will present that much of a problem once I adjust the bar down, but i'll put that piece on my "things to buy" list.

Thanks for the advice and quick responses... these forums are great for the beginning woodworker.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 4:12 pm

The jointer quadrant casting can be reformed. I put mine in a vise and squeezed it ever so slightly and reformed it. I did this with the bar that it sides on installed in the quadrant casting.

By doing this I was able to adjust the quadrant casting so that material on the jointer bed does not contact the quadrant.

Having done this though, I will watch the quadrant casting closely for any sign of cracking. It may have been weakened by what I just did.

Photo #11 is the original problem (before the fix). Photos #12 and #13 are after I put the squeeze on the quadrant casting.

Randy, the procedure that you described in post #3 for adjusting the bar works but be aware that while repositioning the bar you are also effecting the zero adjust on the jointer fence.

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:21 pm

If when you lock down the fence, it should only raise about 1/8 of an inch. If you can't adjust the casting so it's below the infeed table. You'll have to replace it. The bending can be caused by overtightening the lock down or I think in my case. It was caused by leaving it locked down and sitting around unused for a couple years.

PDCrow, have you cleaned, wax and lubed your shopsmith? Then go thru it and adjust everything?

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 2:00 am

Actually I'm glad to read someone else had over tightened and bent their quadrant. Not being sadistic - just thought I was the only one!:( After vise bending didn't do a real good enough job of getting it back in shape, had similar problems on getting the fence to sit right) I ordered a new one. Glad I did!:D I have considered this experience my best lesson on not over tightening ANY of the knobs for/on the shopsmith.

Advice? Get a new quadrant - you won't be sorry.