Products Used

Shapton Ceramic Stones
Diamond Honing Plates
Rockler’s 3-pc Mortiser Sharpening Set
Mortise Chisel Sharpening Kit with pilots
DriCote Dry Lubricant

Its a two-part process that starts with leveling the infeed and outfeed tables and making them coplanar. Next, you need to adjust the knives in the cutterhead so that they are in line with the outfeed table. Neither process is fast, but I’ll take you through it step by step.

Hidden inside this video is actually a bit of a product review. There are many jigs on the market that will help you set up your jointer knives. I wanted to try a few of them so that I could give you a recommendation one way or the other. Here are my biased and opinionated findings:

Jointer Pal – ($27-$84) This is the jig I’ve been using for years. Its perfect for folks who don’t want to fuss around with dial indicators since the magnet does all the work. And it is fast and easy to use (about 3 minutes per blade). But since jointer blades tend to raise up when you tighten them in place, you have no way of knowing if your blades truly are level with the outfeed table. Mine showed a variance of .001-.005 across the length of the blade. All in all, that’s not to bad considering the quick setup time. But its far from perfect. And in order to use this jig properly, you have to find the top dead center of the blade’s path, which is usually easier said than done.

MLCS 9397 Jointer Planer Knife Setting Jig ($79) – By far, my biggest disappointment in the test. Like the Jointer Pal, this system works using magnets, only this one bridges the infeed and outfeed tables. It also has a nice dial that you turn to raise and lower the center magnet, which allows you to micro-adjust the blade. But I found that the blades still move when they are tightened down and the magnets didn’t provide enough force to prevent this from happening. This pretty much defeats the purpose of the micro adjustments. Furthermore, I don’t see how this would be useful as a standalone jig. You still need a dial indicator to tell you what the height of the blade is relative to the outfeed table. Otherwise, you are pretty much flying blind. And unlike the Jointer Pal, there is no built-in reference point. So I am going to recommend skipping this product.

OneWay Multi-Gauge ($94) – Essentially this is just a variation of the classic dial indicator jig. But holy moly is this thing awesome! The jig is incredibly heavy and has a nice wide foot-print. The dial indicator features a wide flat foot that is critical for setting the knives. The standard tapered tip that comes with most dial indicators just won’t do. The dial indicator itself is mounted in such a way that it faces you, which is incredibly convenient when setting knives. This unit is absolutely rock solid. But in my shop, its use will most likely be limited to setting up the jointer, the planer, and the drum sander.

Deluxe A-Line-It ($145) – This is another variation of the dial indicator system, only this unit does a bunch of other things too. It truly is a jack of all trades setup jig and will help you calibrate everything from the tablesaw, to the drill press, to the bandsaw! The dial indicator comes with numerous tips, including a flat one. So how does it compare to the ONEWAY? Its lighter and less stable due to the 3/4″ wide aluminum base. The foot on the dial indicator is not as wide as the ONEWAY, which is not a huge problem but that extra width is truly appreciated. And the dial on this unit faces the infeed table, instead of the user. Seems like a minor thing until you have to stand up to view the gauge head-on about 40-50 times.

So my final verdict? If you want cheap and simple with somewhat unpredictable results, go for the Jointer Pal. If you want a jack of all trades setup jig, go for the A-Line-It. And if you want the best jig for the job, get the ONEWAY. And if you don’t want to deal with any of this crap, get a helical head!

I started by tweaking my setup. An inefficient space is a frustrating space! My tool cabinet was originally mounted in a little alcove behind my oscillating spindle sander. This made it very difficult to reach the tools, which kind of defeats the purpose of my “handy” cabinet. So I moved it over to the other side of the shop and cut my big storage rack down to half-height. I was already starting to feel the tingly sensation of peace and harmony.

But I didn’t stop there. My next mission was sharpening. All of my chisels and plane blades were ready for a touch up, so I pulled out the Shaptons. Once I got started, I just couldn’t stop. So over the course of two days, I lapped every back and honed every bevel in the shop! I was getting so close to intergalactic oneness at this point.

So with a couple more days to kill, I decided to finish off my woodworking vacation with a little hand tool practice. Now you guys know I am not the type to mill up my project lumber using bench planes only. As long as my Powermatic jointer still has juice, you won’t see me flattening boards the old-fashioned way. But on occasions like this, I will select a very special board that I will refer to as “The Offering”, and mill that puppy flat and square using my trusty #5, #7 and #4 bench planes. I just go to town on The Offering until its flat or I run out of wood. Any stress that was in my head goes through my hands, into the plane, and ultimately escapes in the form of a wispy shaving. If someone were to observe me at this point, they might even hear me semi-consciously mumbling, “That’s for that stupid house that won’t sell!” and “That’s for that credit card payment I forgot to pay!” Life’s too short to hold on to these things, and the wood is all too happy to help me rid myself of them. If you haven’t tried this, I highly recommend it.

The grand finale of my week was getting some practice cutting a few half-blind dovetails by hand. I don’t do this often and I needed some practice before I teach the Guild members how to do this on their Shaker End Tables. It proved to be a great way to test the edges on my newly sharpened gear.

Although I am incredibly busy, I love what I do. Its hard to call it work when I would be doing this stuff with or without a paycheck. But its incredibly important for me to occasionally get back to basics and spend some quality time in my shop. And while I am no neanderthal hand tool junkie, its interesting to observe what tools I go to when I am in the stress-relieving re-centering mode. I had absolutely no desire to use electricity in the shop this week. But when it comes time to flatten my next project board, you can bet you’ll be hearing the sweet hum of a jointer and planer coming from my shop.

Feeling refreshed, renewed, and reconnected with my shop, I am ready to take on the insanely busy month of March.

I am sure you will also notice that this is a new sexy tablesaw. For those who are curious, it is a PM Custom from the folks at Wood Werks Supply. And even a big fancy saw still requires a good bit of setup and tweaking.

Go to Part 2

***The following clip was cut from the original video. Since the topic of table saw flatness came up in the comments, I decided to throw the clip out there as bonus footage. Enjoy.

Whether minor alterations or major rearrangements, my shop has seen its share of modifications. New tools are usually the culprit. You just cant drop a new tool in the middle of the floor. You need to find the perfect spot. Preferably a spot that fits into the shop work flow and is located near an appropriate outlet. For most of us, this is the biggest challenge. Most of our garages and basements are inadequately wired for a shop. But for the viewer who emailed me, there was still time to increase the number of outlets, and that was the advice I gave him.

It is important to recognize the fact that the setup WILL change and you need to be able to adapt. So if possible, its always a good idea to have multiple 220v outlets and numerous 110v outlets throughout your shop. Today, in my own shop, I had a work-flow dilemma. My shop, while generously-sized, has limited wall space. Most walls either have doors, garage doors, or something else in the way. And walls are a natural place to put a large tool. So some of my tools are positioned in the middle of the floor in a group of three. The group in question consisted of a drum sander and a planer sitting perpendicular to one another, and a 14″ bandsaw wedged between them. This worked for a while, but there were two major issues. First, when going from the planer to the drum sander (the usual work-flow), I had to pick up the whole pile of boards and walk around to the other side of the little triad. Once there, I had no place to sit the boards as I sent them through the drum sander one by one.

The fix was rather simple and involved putting the drum sander and planer side by side so the out-feeds were going in the same direction and finding a new home for the bandsaw. So now the drum sanded pieces can rest right on top of the planer and I don’t have to carry them around when moving from one machine to the other. It will probably save me a few seconds per board and makes the whole operation easier and safer. The workflow just makes sense.

Now I have been in this garage for almost 3 years now and none of these tools are new to me. So why did it take this long to come up with an ideal solution? I wish I knew. But the moral to the story is there is no reason to think of our shops as static entities. Our equipment changes, our needs change, our tastes change. Heck, I sometimes like to move things around just for the sake of seeing something different. I find it very inspiring. Just ask my wife who recently came back from a work trip to find our office completely rearranged just for fun.

Having trouble deciding what blade to buy? I’ll help you with that too! Here are a few general recommendations:

Resawing – 1/2″ Wide with Hook or Skip Confifuration and 3 TPI
Veneer – 1/2″ or 3/4″ Wide with Hook Configuration and 4-6 TPI
Scrolling/Curves – 1/4″ Wide with 6 TPI