Shopsmith Forums

New to me shopsmith 4 inch jointer. The cutter head hits the infeed table preventing the head from rotating. Is the blade too high and needs adjusted down. Or does the whole head need adjusting? I searched the threads and found instructions on setting the blades in the head but nothing about adjusting the head.
I took the head out for rust removal.

Any help is appreciated. Picture related.

The blades likely need to be set properly. Looking at the pictures you posted I see the Base casting (out-feed table) is broken where the shaft of the cutter head comes out. It should be a hole for the shaft not a "V" cut. That may or may not effect the function of your Jointer. You did not say where the blade is hitting. Is it on the side or the middle? You should check alignment of the tables with a straight edge across the two tables making sure it is flat. Check the blade height to make sure it correct. If they are out to far they could hit the tables. Also make sure they do not extend out from the edge of the cutter head causing them to hit the in-feed table side. They should just miss the side of the in-feed table for making rabbit cuts. There is not any adjustment for the cutter head assembly. It simply bolts in.

1 the blades are too far outward. They should align with the edge of the outfeed table.

2 they appear to be too high. They should be at the height of the top of the outfeed table at their highest point.

The mounting brackets have large holes so some lateral positioning is possible.

JPG is right there is a little wiggle room for the bolts.

Thank you for the information
I got the rust off,bolted the head back into place, sharpened the blades and reset them.

As far as the table bring broken, it looks like the original casting. See the photo.
Btw, on the bottom of the unit, it looks like a 1955 draw cast into the unit.
Which brings me to my next question
There are two screws on either side of the shaft and two screws on the fence.
What are they for? See pictures

You are right about the base/out-feed table casting. They must have changed it. You didn't say when yours was made. My jointers are a 1979 Model 505681 which is upgraded and a Model 4E from the early 1950's. I have also restored an early 1954 Model 620 and an early 1960 Model 620-C. As you can see I have dealt mostly with older tools. That "V" cut will certainly make removal and installing the cutter head easier. As for the two screws on either side of the cutter shaft, they are for the shaft guard. The two screws above them on the back of the fence is for the rear blade guard. You can see them in the online catalog under jointer upgrades in the Dust Chute Retro-fit Kit. These guards with the Dust Chute have been a standard item since 1984. If yours is newer then that it should include the guards with the Dust Chute and if older someone added it.
Good job on the rust removal, it looks so much better now!

My model 4E jointer has the hex shaped hole in the outfeed table as well, for the blade guard to be mounted on the rear. Looks like they changed that too in favor of the flip down guard? Russ, would my setup be swapped over to the rear if the fence was moved to the extreme left for rabbet cuts with the board laying flat? It's kind of cool to see the differences over the years, but in the end they kept them so much the same as well.

Thank you for the information on the screws
I looked in the box of junk that came with the jointer but I did not see a shaft guard or what I think is the rear guard. But I might have a dust collector. The junk has a lot of other miscellaneous parts, so I’m not sure it’s for the jointer.
I have the jointer mounted, jointed and cut to width some red oak for the wife’s sliding barn door she wants at the half bath.

Also on the bottom is the part number and what appears to be a date of 1955 or 1966. See the picture

There's a rear guard on eBay for a decent price. I was watching it on your behalf, as I don't need it.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 2770560507

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

The Hex hole on the base/outfeed table is for using the blade guard when doing rabbits. Do the rabbits on the edge not with the board flat. It is shown in the old Jointer Manual. Safety has been a top concern at Shopsmith so they are always improving the operation of the tools to be as safe as possible. That's why they added the attached rear guard to the fence and the shaft guard. The dust chute is also a safety guard for the bottom side of the blades.

Paul - The part number in the casting is correct but I'm not sure about the other numbers.