Inspecting Knives, Adjusting/Replacing Knives

Inspecting Knives

The height of the knives can be inspected with a straightedge to ensure that they are set evenly with the outfeed table at their highest point in the cutterhead rotation.

To inspect the knives:

1.DISCONNECT JOINTER FROM POWER SOURCE!

2.Remove the cutterhead guard or block it out of the way.

3.Using a straightedge on the outfeed table, check the height of each knife at the positions shown in Figure 46.

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Figure 46. Checking knife height with a

straightedge.

—The knives are set correctly when they just touch the bottom of the straightedge in each of the straightedge positions.

—If the knives do not touch the straightedge or they lift it up in any of the positions, then those knives need to be adjusted.

G0604 6" X 56" Jointer

Adjusting/Replacing

Knives

Setting the knives correctly is crucial to the proper operation of the jointer and is very important in keeping the knives sharp. If one knife is higher than the others, it will do the majority of the work, and thus, dull much faster than the others.

There are two options for setting the knives—the straightedge method and the knife setting jig method. Each option has advantages and dis- advantages and the correct one for you will become a matter of personal preference. For best results, the tables must be parallel with each other (Checking/Adjusting Table Parallelism on Page 36) and the outfeed table height must be properly set (Setting Outfeed Table Height on Page 38) before adjusting/replacing the knives.

Straightedge Method: A high quality straight- edge is held flat against the outfeed table and the knife heights are set to the bottom of the straight- edge, as shown in Figure 46. Because the knife projection height from the cutterhead is depen- dent on the outfeed table height, the outfeed table must be set as described in Setting Outfeed Table Height on Page 38 for this method to work correctly.

When using a straightedge to set the knives, you will not need to move the outfeed table once it is set and you will always be assured that the knives are even with the outfeed table in their highest point of rotation—even if the cutterhead is not parallel with the outfeed table.

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