Canadian Woodworking Magazine eNewsletter

The Steel City Tool Works 8" industrial jointer is a solidly built, smooth running machine. While no machine can meet every woodworkers needs, this new jointer from Steel City offers just about all the features that most woodworkers will want.

The jointer is shipped in two boxes, one weighs about 175 lbs, the other over 400 lbs. So unless you're into weight training you'll want to have someone give you a hand unpacking and assembling.

The shipment is well packed and nothing was dented, broken or missing on my unit. In total I spent about 2 hours un-crating and assembling it. If you aren't familiar with shop machinery it will likely take you longer.

Assembling the jointer is pretty easy. The user manual is fairly well written and the photographs quite helpful. Some of the items are already pre-assembled (e.g. the motor was already mounted to the stand on the unit I received). I replaced the standard v-belt with a link belt from Lee Valley. I've used link belts on other machinery and find they help reduce vibration and noise.

This might seem obvious, but do install the cutterhead guard. I've seen several shops where the guards are removed - frightening.

Once the jointer is fully assembled you'll want to do your alignment. I raised the infeed table all the way up and checked it in relation to the knives. I found it to be approximately .025" below the highest point of the knives. You can easily change this setting by adjusting the positive stops on the back side of the jointer. There is a corresponding set of positive stops on the outfeed table. While I tinkered with the adjustment to the infeed and outfeed tables, I really didn't have to. They were both pre-set to acceptable standards.

I checked the surfaces of the infeed and outfeed tables - both were parallel to each other and pretty well dead flat. As was the surface of the fence. The fence was minutely out of square. It was a simple process to loosen a set screw in the index collar and adjust the fence so that it was a perfect 90° to the jointer top. A similar adjustment to the 45° positive stop was necessary - and equally easy.

There are a number of nice features on this jointer. It has a large paddle style power switch conveniently located above the infeed table, enabling you to quickly turn the machine off. I like the locking foot pedal, as I need to move my jointer back a couple of feet when jointing stock longer than 6'. The front end of the fence is bevelled, as are the sides of the cabinet, making occasional bumping against these parts easier on the body. It takes very little effort to move the fence, and in use the fence doesn't flex at all. The 4" dust port is located at the bottom front of the jointer, and the dust chute is angled to facilitate removal of wood chips. It does an excellent job.

The lock handles are large and sturdy - so no hitting knuckles against the side of the unit when making adjustments. Likewise the levers for adjusting the infeed and outfeed tables are hefty. I had anticipated that levers would not be as easy to use as wheels for adjusting the infeed and outfeed tables. However I found that I could make very minute depth adjustments with the lever. A light touch is what you need to use.

The depth of cut pointer and scale is easy to read, but I would have liked a magnifier over the pointer.

The jointer has a parallelogram bed design, which enables the table to move in the same arc as the cutterhead. It not only provides somewhat the same function as a chip breaker on a hand plane, but it maintains a narrower opening between the blades and the bed, as well as helping to reduce noise levels.

This jointer uses a standard jack screw knife adjustment. Using the supplied knife setting jig makes for reasonably quick and accurate knife installation. If you haven't done it before not to worry - after a couple of tries you'll get the knack of it.

I've been using this jointer for just over four months, and it has performed flawlessly. With the dust collector on I measured a decibel level of 90.8. Pretty darn quiet for a large machine. The cutterhead guard moves smoothly out of the way as stock is passed over the cutterhead, and the triple blade head produces a beautiful finish. There is little vibration noticeable when the jointer is turned on. At 43 1/2" the infeed table is nice and long, and the fence doesn't flex in use. Adjusting the depth of cut is very quick. Isn't woodworking great!

With a five year warranty and a price tag under $1800 this is an excellent jointer to consider.

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Specifications:

8" Industrial Jointer (40605)
$1885.00 ($2550.00 list)
Steel City Tool Works
To find a source near you click here

2 HP (TEFC Induction, Ball Bearing)
10.5 amps, 230 volts, 1 phase
3 3/8" cutterhead
Three 1/8" x 3/4" x 8" knives
Jack Screw knife adjustment
5500 RPM maximum cutterhead speed, 16,500 cuts per minute
5/8" maximum depth of cut
5/8" x 8" maximum rabbeting cut
8" x 76 1/2" table size
5" x 36" fence size
508 lbs (with stand)
5 Year Warranty

Includes: 2 push blocks, 3 cutter knives, knife setting jig, instruction manual

Jointing Tips:

Do not remove the cutterhead guard.
Use push stick or push blocks/pads.
Ensure that your outfeed table is properly adjusted in relation to the cutterhead knives.
When the blades dull, replace them (or have them sharpened).
Face the edge grain on stock so that it angles down toward the infeed table.
Apply light, consistent pressure on the stock and feed it over the cutterhead at a consistent, moderate rate.
Joint the concave side of stock first.
After one side is flat, joint one edge before going to the thickness planer.