Jointer question

[ChrisNeilan]

Has anyone replaced the cutter head on a Shopsmith jointer with a spiral cutter? Just curious...

[JPG]

Has anyone replaced the cutter head on a Shopsmith jointer with a spiral cutter? Just curious...

Where would one get one?

[WmZiggy]

Ditto - I have never seen one available for the SS. That aside, what advantage would such a head give you? And, would it be cheaper or more cost effective to run?

[dusty]

The Shopsmith jointer has three blades and is powered by a variable speed source.

What do most of the other small (non-professional) jointers have?

[benush26]

I looked to see if Shelix had a retro fit kit small enough however they don't and have no intent (at least when I checked) to make one small enough to fit the Shopsmith jointer. I presume if you were willing to pay for the research and machining they would create one.

The biggest benefits I saw were
1. Savings in time when installing and setting blades.
No fiddling nor jigs need to set the correct height. Just unscrew and remove carbide bits as needed. The bits are indexed similar to my planer that has throw away blades which are indexed to the blade holder.
2. Remove the need to grind / hone all three blades for one nick.
The bits are in a spiral around the shaft. If one bit gets nicked, loosen and turn to the next cutter surface or it need be, remove and replace it rather than shifting blades left and right to obscure the nick until they can be removed and resharpened. Fast and efficient.
Additionally, most carbide bits are two or four sided. That means when one side gets dull, loosen the screws, rotate 90 or 180 degrees, tighten and you are ready.

Down side is the cost. Last I checked it was north of $350 for the 6" jointer conversion.

Seems quite expensive when you consider you can buy a Steel City 12" planer using the same technology for $500

Franky there are some part of my equipment where I enjoy the fiddle factor. Adjusting until everything is smooth and functional. Other items I want no muss no fuss. For me the planer and jointer land squarely in the no fuss nor muss category.

Shelix makes a replacement for my Delta planer. I bought the planer cheap enough that it makes financial sense to remove the blades and install the helical carbide cutters. If not I was seriously considering the Steel City planer.

From my research I remember that Shelix had conversions for some standalone jointers. They had a generic 6" version. I've read that Shopmate (or maybe ShopFox - some clone anyway) makes a 6" jointer which fits the Shopsmith. Possibly finding one of those and converting it would be a solution.

Hope that helps.

Be well,
Ben

[masonsailor2]

There is a reason why they will never be able to make a spiral cutterhead for the SS. The SS hs a fixed outfield table and you mute have an adjustable outfield table to use a spiral cutterhead in order to align the cutters with the outfield table !

[benush26]

There is a reason why they will never be able to make a spiral cutterhead for the SS. The SS hs a fixed outfield table and you mute have an adjustable outfield table to use a spiral cutterhead in order to align the cutters with the outfield table !

Maybe...., but if I remember correctly (it's been over 20 years since I tore one completely down to rebuild it), the housing for the bearings or maybe it was the bolts with shims and washers, provided a possibility of changing the shaft height.

I'm not saying you are wrong, but somewhere in the deep recesses of my brain, I remember something about that adjustment if needed. Just can't find the cobwebs hiding it at the moment and the manual is out in the garage and at 7 below I'm not going out of find it!

Be well,
Ben

[JPG]

Maybe...., but if I remember correctly (it's been over 20 years since I tore one completely down to rebuild it), the housing for the bearings or maybe it was the bolts with shims and washers, provided a possibility of changing the shaft height.

I'm not saying you are wrong, but somewhere in the deep recesses of my brain, I remember something about that adjustment if needed. Just can't find the cobwebs hiding it at the moment and the manual is out in the garage and at 7 below I'm not going out of find it!

Be well,
Ben

Shims maybe, but not much 'range'.

You may be thinking of the horizontal adjustment possible due to oversize holes for the mounting screws.

[bobgroh]

There was a time when I was intimidated by sharpening and installing the blades in my SS jointer but then I did it and let me tell you it is just not a problem (as I sure that many others such as Bill Mayo will also tell you).

So we don't need no lousy fancy high faulten head for our jointer!

Just kidding a bit there but I really don't think we have a problem that needs a fix. The system the way it is works great. Blades are easy to sharpen (with a conical sanding disk and a simple fixture anyways) and installing them is really pretty easy. Bill Mayo sent me a simple procedure, I used it and really a null brainer.

[billmayo]

There was a time when I was intimidated by sharpening and installing the blades in my SS jointer but then I did it and let me tell you it is just not a problem (as I sure that many others such as Bill Mayo will also tell you).

So we don't need no lousy fancy high faulten head for our jointer!

Just kidding a bit there but I really don't think we have a problem that needs a fix. The system the way it is works great. Blades are easy to sharpen (with a conical sanding disk and a simple fixture anyways) and installing them is really pretty easy. Bill Mayo sent me a simple procedure, I used it and really a null brainer.

Bob, it is so much easier now using your block of wood idea to hold the straight edge. Thanks. The small magnets worked nicely to hold the block of wood from moving on the table. I believe some times, us prefectists do go over board when doing simple procedures.