Woodworker's Journal 2001-25-2, страница 56
6-inch Jointers By Charles Self ** ^ models present some version of the bump and check system, which has served well for many years. There is a fence mounted back guard to keep the operator's hands oul of the cutter knives from the rear, and a spring-loaded cutter guard that does the same thing from the front. The front guard is easily removed, but is sensibly left in place, except for very specialized operations such as rabbeting. The cutterhead is round, accepting three knives. Adjusting the infeed table is the usual way to set cut heights, lite outfeed table is adjustable on most jointers, but once set is seldom changed. Longer beds give you a more slablc feed and a smoother, more accurate cut. Most 6-inch joinlers come with an overall bed length (both feed tables, plus the bridge distance over the cutters) of about 48 inches. Infeed and outfeed tables are generally around 23 inches long. Fit and Finish Fit and finish, and assembly, are of interest to all of us, as they often indicate both quality and price of the tools being checked. .Ml the machines reviewed here went together with reasonable ease, but I recommend that you get a second person to help, particularly when lifting the units onlo their stands. April 2001 Woodworker's Journal - - he author based his evaluation on seven machines from six manufacturers. _ There are more jointers available, but this sampling will give you a solid feel for the features and options to keep an eye out for: If you're in the market. Jointers come in many sizes, ranging from the tiny benchtop 4-inch models that are under 20 pounds, on up to commercial behemoths 16 inches wide and heavy as a Ion of bricks. For the smaller pro and amateur shops, the 6-inch jointer is the most frequent tool of choice. As a machine, the jointer is only modestly complex. Two tables — infeed and outfeed — are separated by a cutterhead that fits between and slightly below them. The cutterhead is driven by a motor mounted below the beds, with a belt driven from a pulley on the motor to a pulley at the back edge of the cutterhead. Every jointer has a fence, and center mount fences are best. The fence adjusts from very close to the operator's front edge of the jointer to just off the back of the blades, so that width of cut is infinitely variable within the capacity of the machine. The fence can also be lilted, usually both towards and away from the table. Along widi being center mounted, the better fences are extremely rigid. The fence on the Delta 37-195 offers a unique adjustment system for this size unit, a rack and pinion. All the other 6-inch Craftsman 22724 1 HP Price: $399.99 Phone: 800-349-4358 www.sears.com A cut depth indicator (left) and a depth adjuster (above) are features thai help you accurately make use of the Craftsman jointer. |
