G'day All
I was out in the shed running some maple over my jointer (which I don't use that often) - 4 inch wide, 3/4 inch thick and 40 inches long. No problems. Then I beveled a nice 16 degree angle on the edge of a shorter bit - 10 inches long. No problems.
Then I thought to meself - I don't really know what I'm doing with this thing so lets go and have a read on the net to refresh my memory about the hazzards of jointing/planing.
There is lots of stuff like this (most of which I know but don't always practice):
Jointers
Well, I have just broken several of the rules I guess. I'd like to use all manner of safety devices to keep the fingers out of trouble but I can't see how you can when you are planing the side of a board. I try to use a home-made push block with a non-slip pad on the bottom to surface plane (I haven't got a thicknesser and use the jointer a bit for making boards a bit thinner). Why is there no planing of wood less than 2 inches wide?
- Check that the guard has sufficient tension to cover the part of the cutter head not covered by stock.
- Do not use a jointer with dull knives.
- Do not attempt to joint stock that has knots, nails, etc.
- Do not use a jointer to plane stock shorter than 10", narrower than 2", or thinner than 3/8".
- With power off, check that blades are flush with the out-feed table and securely fastened in the cutter head.
- Feed stock into a jointer "with the grain".
- Keep a firm grip on stock to prevent kickback. Position your body to the side of the machine; never stand to the front (feed side) of the table.
- Do not allow fingers to drag behind or along edges of stock.
- Do not use a jointer to plane the grain-end of stock that is narrower than 12".
Anyway, are there any really good sites that describe the way a jointer (or planer or what ever else they are called) should be used safely (with pictures). For instance, how do you put even downward pressure on the edge of a board using a push stick:confused: ? How do you really keep your fingers 12 inches away from the cutters? How do you feed smoothly and still keep your hands from going over the cutters when putting a bevel on a relatively short bit of wood as I described earlier.
