Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Setting things up

With the stand assembled and put on its mobile base, I put the Jet Jointer-Planer combo machine on top and I have to say it strikes me as too tall (for me, anyway). Having it lower would seem to be easier on your back as you feed lumber across the table. It also seems a little tippy. I sure wouldn't want to knock it over while it's working. If it proves to be too tall for my comfort, I could fairly easily build a lower base for it myself.

I have to also say that the fence isn't going to cut it. It isn't flat at all, but has a ridge in the middle that is probably 1/32nd of an inch or more out of flatness. The mount for the fence seems very flimsy and seems like it would flex with even a small amount of pressure on it. In what looks like a flawed design (or flawed user), the lever for tightening the fence won't turn all the way around because the fence itself gets in the way. So I can't figure out even how to tighten it yet.

The two tables do seem flat and hefty enough to work. Once I get the knives set, I'll see how it goes. I may contact Jet to get another fence, but then again, I think the fence design might be fatally flawed. If the tables are good and I can mill a flat surface with them, then I'm actually thinking of making a fence myself. I made one for my router table and it works fine. I could use the tapped holes already in place plus I could make a couple of other holes. I could bolt a torsion-box plywood or hardwood fence or even a piece of granite to it with a large metal plate in the back. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The next task is going to be setting up the knives and giving it a spin. As you can see with me talking about modifying the machine even before I've turned it on, I want to make this work!

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