Fed up with my Grizzly G0656 jointer. Asking for help

[Wayne G.]

I have owned this machine since 2008.  Bought it set up at the store.   Two things keep happening that I just can't seem to fix.

1. The fence NEVER stays square.  I've went over every nut and bolt and it continues to drift off.  I will say that I have at least got it to a point I can use it without losing my mind.  

2.  All my boards come out with a bow on them.   This is especially annoying when edge jointing.   All my pieces have large amounts of light showing through the centers.   Straight edge shows that the table isn't just off from infeed to outfeed but it varies from left to right.   I've searched for videos on how to adjust this specific machine but found nothing.   Ive tried to place shims in the outfeed table however a .003 wont even slide in.  

Can anyone provide me some guidance or direct me to a video of some sort.   

Appreciate the input

[tablesawtom]

Do you have straight knives or a spiral head cutter head? How I reply is determined on you answer. Also if you have a straight blades do you have jacking screws?

Tom

[Wayne G.]

Do you have straight knives or a spiral head cutter head? How I reply is determined on you answer. Also if you have a straight blades do you have jacking screws?

Tom

Spiral cut head.

[tablesawtom]

OKay, This is what I use to adjust my jointer blades, set table sawblade height, raise router bits when fine tuning the height in a router table, or moving my rip fence lets say .003. 

What  the problem you are describing is your cutter head is not parallel with your out feed table. Your out feed table is your datum surface and every thing references to that surface. If the cutter is not parallel to that surface then every time you the fence the cutter changes the angle on the piece being cut and your angle on your work piece changes so it is always out of square.

It is the only tool I use for everything so all the height gages, brass set blocks and so on are just a money trap and marketing sucks you it. It is called a one way gage I believe and it has a 1/2 inch diameter flat on the indicator so you will be able to find top dead center on jointer knives as well as saw blades.  The indicator is direct reading so you can tell if the cutter head is out even a little. I indicate my  jointer knives in within a total indicator  run out of .002. Then I set my out feed table to top dead center of the cutter so they are the same. 

If your out feed table is low by just a little you will cut the bow in the middle. If it is even lower you will cut a taper, which get worse with every pass.

I reread you post and I would tale the shims you shimmed the table with out, you want that on the jibs. Get the jig I have pictured and check you cutter head with the inserts in place on one side and then the other. If I wasr going to shim anything it would be the cutter head itself.

Your problem kind of stops me from switching to an inserted cutter head for this very reason. I can adjust knives but I would have to shim a cutter head and it is not the thing I want to do after spending $400 plus for the cutter head.

Again the gage is direct reading so there is no guess work, you will know exactly what you have, you can even guess in the ten thousands in be tween the lines. 

If you have to shim your cutter head I would use scissors and make the shims out of aluminum foil.

On a side note if a feller gage goes it is not enough but it id doesn't there is not enough. And all of that depends on how straight the straight edge is and I can't afford one that I would trust. And I would take woodpecker's straight edge with a grain of salt.

   

   

   

   

   

I am sorry because the gage is going to cost you about $100. It went up a while back. Once you get to using it you will be thank full you have it and never look back. and I do not know why I get xxxxx instead of the word shim.

Please PM me and let me know how you are coming along with the task at hand.

Tom

[Wayne G.]

This is most definitely a table / fence issue.  I have engineer squares I use on the fence so its easy to see when it moves. 

 I use a Leigh  valley straight edge on my tables.  Feeler gages tell the story there.  Yesterday I put .015 shims in one side and .010 on the other so far

[tablesawtom]

It is a cutter head to out feed table issue.  It is also a cutter head to fence issue which is being set up with the infeed table. The fence needs to be squared from the out feed table but if the cutter head is not parallel to the cutter head the problem is an angled cut. If the cutter head is off from the out feed table it is also off with the infeed table and the results are an angled cut .  The tables are not the issue. If you can get .015 feeler gage then your tables are not on the same plain. I build special machines for a living. and I have heard all of these kinds of complaints before and people just can't believe it when the problem is solved.  And I have have never even tried to check and see if my tables are straight. 

Buy the jig and throw away the straight edge and feeler gages.  They haven't solved your problems in the past. Why do you keep hanging on to what you read in a book and keep repeating what you have already done over and over and expect different results? A straight edge , feeler gages and $.85 cents will buy you a senior coffee at Mc Donald's. But to be truthful I don't really know what a senior coffee costs at Mc Donald's.

There is also a big difference in engineer squares. Mine is a Starrett and it cost $50 forty years a go when I was making $3.00 an hour also light magnifies so it can make .002 look like the grand canyon. That is how a punch is lined up with a die block. equal light around the punch means it is centered in the die opening.

You asked for help and I have told you how to fix it. I don't see a lot of people jumping in here. It is how I do it and I haven't had your kind of problems. 

Your other choice is to sell your jointer, buy a new one and hope your problem goes away. 

Every thing you have tried hasn't worked and the problem won't go away. I can't help you  any more than I already have so I wish you well in your indever.

Tom

[wpwoodworker]

After reading Tablesawtom’s post, I realized I’ve been setting up my jointer the exact same way for more than 25 years including the Oneway jig. I stumbled upon a slightly damaged Oneway for a great price years ago and realized it would be good for equipment set-up. You don’t have to use this exact jig but it is convenient. There are other devices using dial indicators that you can use. This one happens to be robust and easy to use. The key is to use a very precise device, a dial indicator in this case, to identify and fix misalignment.
On to the jointer issue, tablesawtom is correct in what he said - make the outfeed table your reference point, adjust the cutter blades parallel to the outfeed table across the width of the outfeed table then adjust the fence square to the outfeed table.
If it was my jointer, I would take everything back to original factory setup, adjust the cutter blades as described and proceed from there.

[ajkoontz]

It is a cutter head to out feed table issue.  It is also a cutter head to fence issue which is being set up with the infeed table. The fence needs to be squared from the out feed table but if the cutter head is not parallel to the cutter head the problem is an angled cut. If the cutter head is off from the out feed table it is also off with the infeed table and the results are an angled cut .  The tables are not the issue. If you can get .015 feeler gage then your tables are not on the same plain. I build special machines for a living. and I have heard all of these kinds of complaints before and people just can't believe it when the problem is solved.  And I have have never even tried to check and see if my tables are straight. 

Buy the jig and throw away the straight edge and feeler gages.  They haven't solved your problems in the past. Why do you keep hanging on to what you read in a book and keep repeating what you have already done over and over and expect different results? A straight edge , feeler gages and $.85 cents will buy you a senior coffee at Mc Donald's. But to be truthful I don't really know what a senior coffee costs at Mc Donald's.

There is also a big difference in engineer squares. Mine is a Starrett and it cost $50 forty years a go when I was making $3.00 an hour also light magnifies so it can make .002 look like the grand canyon. That is how a punch is lined up with a die block. equal light around the punch means it is centered in the die opening.

You asked for help and I have told you how to fix it. I don't see a lot of people jumping in here. It is how I do it and I haven't had your kind of problems. 

Your other choice is to sell your jointer, buy a new one and hope your problem goes away. 

Every thing you have tried hasn't worked and the problem won't go away. I can't help you  any more than I already have so I wish you well in your indever.

Tom

Low-tech- Put a short-ish straight board on edge on your outfeed table with like an inch or so past cutter head and a mark on the face and across top edge. Now spin your cutter head by hand and where it contacts the board is TDC. Mark TDC as best you can on your fence with a fine pencil. Now go back and line up mark on board to TDC on fence and rotate head, the cutter should move your board a small amount, like 1/4" maybe. Do this on both sides of your table. Whatever the movement, it should move the board the same amount if the cutter is parallel to the table. If it moves it a lot, your outfeed table it too low.  

This worked for me to troubleshoot back when I had straight knives. That being said, you really do need to use a micrometer like the oneway jig TSTom discussed. My way is like hundredths of an inch accurate but a micrometer is thousandths.

[Philip1231]

Not much I can add to this post except that I feel your pain. Of all the machines that have tried my patience over the years, the jointer wins the prize. A methodical approach to tuning coupled with an absurd amount of patience will win the day. Good luck!

[shoottmx]

This book is your friend, excellent reference on care and setup of most everything in a wood shop. Very straightforward step by step understandable directions. He will help you fix your jointer with materials you likely already have.

Gary

Care and Repair of Shop Machines: A Complete Guide to Setup, Troubleshooting, and Maintenance Paperback – October 1, 2002
by John White (Author)