Well, I finally have a jointer, even if it is older than I am. I just finished refurbishment of my grandfather’s Craftsman 103.23320 (6”). It’s been sitting in Dad’s garage for the last 10 years. Up until now I have been able to get by without one but I came into a task that I needed one for (squaring up my router table fence – the base rocked). So, many nights and weekends later, I’m finally done and it seems to cut well … now I need to strive not to repeat my grandfather’s mistake and keep my fingers away from the moving sharp parts.
The jointer is still mostly original equipment with exception of 2 new belts, 2 new bearings, an up speed adjustment on the pulleys, and some fresh primer/paint. Thankfully, I was able to find a manual on-line. The 3/4hp Montgomery Ward motor was initially semi-seized (I couldn’t turn it by hand but it did run – it just needed some oil on the bushings). The jointer was disassembled to the piece and reassembled – no extra or missing parts. The washing soda electrolytic rust removal process worked great on both the cast and non-cast steel parts – it was a real time and mess saver. I probably spent more time on the blade sharpening jig and figuring out how to sharpen and set these than I should have (I’ll post that separately), but I figure it’s not the last time I will be using it.
All things being equal, the base is probably worth more than the tool. I needed to rebuild the original base which seemed to be made out of scrap pine with marginal construction. However, I used his original design (open frame, 7deg leg slant) and added a dust tray (which I will configure for the dust collection in a bit). The cart came out square/flat and was fabricated out of some 6/4 Ash that I had on the shelf. There is no hardware in the basic frame – just M&T and dovetail only. I almost had a problem assembling the final dovetail joints – the cross pieces were dovetailed in from the top and bottom. Poor design for manufacturability on my part … the slanted leg design with dovetail was not conducive to assembly of the last 2 joints (thankfully the frame wasn’t taller or the leg slant greater than it was). This was my first experience with (wedged) mortice and tenon joints. The joints (and the cart) came out well … only one of the eight joints was a little tall, the fit on the rest came out spot on.
The jointer is still mostly original equipment with exception of 2 new belts, 2 new bearings, an up speed adjustment on the pulleys, and some fresh primer/paint. Thankfully, I was able to find a manual on-line. The 3/4hp Montgomery Ward motor was initially semi-seized (I couldn’t turn it by hand but it did run – it just needed some oil on the bushings). The jointer was disassembled to the piece and reassembled – no extra or missing parts. The washing soda electrolytic rust removal process worked great on both the cast and non-cast steel parts – it was a real time and mess saver. I probably spent more time on the blade sharpening jig and figuring out how to sharpen and set these than I should have (I’ll post that separately), but I figure it’s not the last time I will be using it.
All things being equal, the base is probably worth more than the tool. I needed to rebuild the original base which seemed to be made out of scrap pine with marginal construction. However, I used his original design (open frame, 7deg leg slant) and added a dust tray (which I will configure for the dust collection in a bit). The cart came out square/flat and was fabricated out of some 6/4 Ash that I had on the shelf. There is no hardware in the basic frame – just M&T and dovetail only. I almost had a problem assembling the final dovetail joints – the cross pieces were dovetailed in from the top and bottom. Poor design for manufacturability on my part … the slanted leg design with dovetail was not conducive to assembly of the last 2 joints (thankfully the frame wasn’t taller or the leg slant greater than it was). This was my first experience with (wedged) mortice and tenon joints. The joints (and the cart) came out well … only one of the eight joints was a little tall, the fit on the rest came out spot on.
