How to Operate a Used Jointer and Do it Safely

To cut a piece of stock to a certain thickness, a table saws and surface planers are generally the woodworking tools of choice. However, unless one end of the stock is flat, these tools cant do their job properly, which means that using wood jointer often precedes using a table saw or a surface planer. A wood jointer is a machine that has a rotating cutter head that has two to three finely tuned blades located between two smaller flat blades, and is one of the more commonly purchased types of used woodworking machinery. When using a wood jointer, you push the stock across the infeed table to the outfeed table, in between which it passes through the cutting mechanism. The outfeed table is the same height as the cutting mechanism, whereas the height of the infeed table is adjusted to the amount of material that needs to be cut away. Most jointers are also equipped with a "fence" that allows you to set a square edge on the cutting stock.Operating a used jointer is as simple as its machinery would suggest. As you feed the stock across the infeed table and into the cutting mechanism, you should apply only enough downward pressure to keep the stock in place and control it as it passes over the cutting head. After the front of your stock passes over the cutting heads as expected, you should then place your other hand onto the portion of stock that is on the outfeed table, gently guiding it ahead. As the rear of the stock begins to move across the cutting head, you should end by placing both hands onto the stock that rests on the outfeed table, gently guiding the it until its full length has passed over the cutting head. After lifting the stock from the outfeed table, you can then place it on the infeed table for another cut if necessary.
As easy as a used jointer is to use, there still some essential tips for using jointers safely. The most obvious tip, of course, is to keep your hand from nearing the cutting mechanism as the rear of the stock nears its pass. While all jointers have a blade guard that covers the cutting mechanism, simply being distracted or becoming a little to comfortable when guiding the rear portion of the stock can lead to emergency room visits. In most cases, woodworkers who bring their hand perilously close to the cutting mechanism are trying to joint thin pieces of stock, in which case a push stick or wood paddles should be used to guide the stock. A second safety tip when using a jointer is to only attempt thin cuts; this is for the safety of the jointer itself. Because a jointer isnt intended to cut away significant amounts of wood, asking it to do so can cause it to wear prematurely. A better idea is to use multiple passes. A third essential safety tip is to never begin cutting until the cutting mechanism is at full speed to avoid overworking the motor and experiencing a kick back of the stock.
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