There has been a few posts recently regarding adjusting a jointer and
it got me to thinking. One problem that caused me some frustration
occurred after several years of use when one of the tables started to
sag. And since the tables we no longer co-planar I started having
problems. Identifying this as a problem was not quite as quick of easy
as I thought. But, what if, You were to take one of those little
$10-15 HeNe lasers (the red light ones) affix it to a block of some
kind, set it at one corner of one table and aim it back to a ruler stuck
to a block at one side of the other table. Record the height. Move the
laser block to the other side and then the front of the table repeating
the measurement each time. Unless all measurements are the same your
tables are not co-planar. Seems quicker and a lot cheaper than getting
an expensive straight edge. So will it work? What do you think? Cheers,
JG
"JGS" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> There has been a few posts recently regarding adjusting a jointer and
> it got me to thinking. One problem that caused me some frustration
> occurred after several years of use when one of the tables started to
> sag. And since the tables we no longer co-planar I started having
> problems. Identifying this as a problem was not quite as quick of easy
> as I thought. But, what if, You were to take one of those little
> $10-15 HeNe lasers (the red light ones) affix it to a block of some
> kind, set it at one corner of one table and aim it back to a ruler stuck
> to a block at one side of the other table. Record the height. Move the
> laser block to the other side and then the front of the table repeating
> the measurement each time. Unless all measurements are the same your
> tables are not co-planar. Seems quicker and a lot cheaper than getting
> an expensive straight edge. So will it work? What do you think? Cheers,
> JG
>
>
Of course - but will it be accepted? It's too easy and too practical.
Maybe if you can leverage the accuracy of a laser in ways that even a metal
worker will appreciate you can get a little mileage out of your idea.
Remember, wooddorkers are a finicky lot...
--
-Mike-
[email protected]
Oh well, I thought it was worth a try. Actually now that you mention it, I have a
level which I can use to give it a go , if the beam spread or what ever it's
called is not too much over the length of the jointer. JG
GerryG wrote:
> I agree. Try the laser and introduce errors using blades from a feeler guage,
> and see if you can actually measure the difference. I suspect you'll see the
> problem with this then.
> GerryG
>
> On Fri, 27 Aug 2004 10:00:17 -0400, "J. Clarke" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> >Mike Marlow wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> "JGS" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> >> news:[email protected]...
> >>> There has been a few posts recently regarding adjusting a jointer and
> >>> it got me to thinking. One problem that caused me some frustration
> >>> occurred after several years of use when one of the tables started to
> >>> sag. And since the tables we no longer co-planar I started having
> >>> problems. Identifying this as a problem was not quite as quick of easy
> >>> as I thought. But, what if, You were to take one of those little
> >>> $10-15 HeNe lasers (the red light ones) affix it to a block of some
> >>> kind, set it at one corner of one table and aim it back to a ruler stuck
> >>> to a block at one side of the other table. Record the height. Move the
> >>> laser block to the other side and then the front of the table repeating
> >>> the measurement each time. Unless all measurements are the same your
> >>> tables are not co-planar. Seems quicker and a lot cheaper than getting
> >>> an expensive straight edge. So will it work? What do you think? Cheers,
> >>> JG
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >> Of course - but will it be accepted? It's too easy and too practical.
> >> Maybe if you can leverage the accuracy of a laser in ways that even a
> >> metal worker will appreciate you can get a little mileage out of your
> >> idea. Remember, wooddorkers are a finicky lot...
> >
> >Not as easy as it sounds. First, the "block" has to maintain the beam angle
> >after movement even if there are minor irregularities in the surface on
> >which it is mounted. Second, one has to measure the position of the spot
> >to a high degree of accuracy. It's not as easy as it sounds--you don't
> >have a vernier or anything, you have to line it up with a mark, which means
> >you have to contrive a sharp cutoff on the beam or focus it to a point at
> >the exact distance of the target to get better than tenths of an inch and
> >use a magnifier to get real precision.
> >
> >Just an aside, the $15 lasers are not HeNe, they are solid state. HeNe
> >needs a special power supply and parallel mirrors and optical flats and
> >they aren't cheap to produce.
I agree. Try the laser and introduce errors using blades from a feeler guage,
and see if you can actually measure the difference. I suspect you'll see the
problem with this then.
GerryG
On Fri, 27 Aug 2004 10:00:17 -0400, "J. Clarke" <[email protected]>
wrote:
>Mike Marlow wrote:
>
>>
>> "JGS" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>> There has been a few posts recently regarding adjusting a jointer and
>>> it got me to thinking. One problem that caused me some frustration
>>> occurred after several years of use when one of the tables started to
>>> sag. And since the tables we no longer co-planar I started having
>>> problems. Identifying this as a problem was not quite as quick of easy
>>> as I thought. But, what if, You were to take one of those little
>>> $10-15 HeNe lasers (the red light ones) affix it to a block of some
>>> kind, set it at one corner of one table and aim it back to a ruler stuck
>>> to a block at one side of the other table. Record the height. Move the
>>> laser block to the other side and then the front of the table repeating
>>> the measurement each time. Unless all measurements are the same your
>>> tables are not co-planar. Seems quicker and a lot cheaper than getting
>>> an expensive straight edge. So will it work? What do you think? Cheers,
>>> JG
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Of course - but will it be accepted? It's too easy and too practical.
>> Maybe if you can leverage the accuracy of a laser in ways that even a
>> metal worker will appreciate you can get a little mileage out of your
>> idea. Remember, wooddorkers are a finicky lot...
>
>Not as easy as it sounds. First, the "block" has to maintain the beam angle
>after movement even if there are minor irregularities in the surface on
>which it is mounted. Second, one has to measure the position of the spot
>to a high degree of accuracy. It's not as easy as it sounds--you don't
>have a vernier or anything, you have to line it up with a mark, which means
>you have to contrive a sharp cutoff on the beam or focus it to a point at
>the exact distance of the target to get better than tenths of an inch and
>use a magnifier to get real precision.
>
>Just an aside, the $15 lasers are not HeNe, they are solid state. HeNe
>needs a special power supply and parallel mirrors and optical flats and
>they aren't cheap to produce.
I really don't this will work to the degree of accuracy necessary. I just
went through this process today, and the exact method your describe (with
the laser) is one of the things I tried. What I found is that the tables
were off so slightly that only a straight edge could reveal the real
problem. Before I made any adjustments, the laser seemed to indicate that
the tables were dead accurate. But running stock through showed the slight
difference. It was really frustrating, but I just wound up making the
adjustments by trial and error.
I agree with you...there should be an easier way...
"JGS" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> There has been a few posts recently regarding adjusting a jointer and
> it got me to thinking. One problem that caused me some frustration
> occurred after several years of use when one of the tables started to
> sag. And since the tables we no longer co-planar I started having
> problems. Identifying this as a problem was not quite as quick of easy
> as I thought. But, what if, You were to take one of those little
> $10-15 HeNe lasers (the red light ones) affix it to a block of some
> kind, set it at one corner of one table and aim it back to a ruler stuck
> to a block at one side of the other table. Record the height. Move the
> laser block to the other side and then the front of the table repeating
> the measurement each time. Unless all measurements are the same your
> tables are not co-planar. Seems quicker and a lot cheaper than getting
> an expensive straight edge. So will it work? What do you think? Cheers,
> JG
>
>
Mike Marlow wrote:
>
> "JGS" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> There has been a few posts recently regarding adjusting a jointer and
>> it got me to thinking. One problem that caused me some frustration
>> occurred after several years of use when one of the tables started to
>> sag. And since the tables we no longer co-planar I started having
>> problems. Identifying this as a problem was not quite as quick of easy
>> as I thought. But, what if, You were to take one of those little
>> $10-15 HeNe lasers (the red light ones) affix it to a block of some
>> kind, set it at one corner of one table and aim it back to a ruler stuck
>> to a block at one side of the other table. Record the height. Move the
>> laser block to the other side and then the front of the table repeating
>> the measurement each time. Unless all measurements are the same your
>> tables are not co-planar. Seems quicker and a lot cheaper than getting
>> an expensive straight edge. So will it work? What do you think? Cheers,
>> JG
>>
>>
>
> Of course - but will it be accepted? It's too easy and too practical.
> Maybe if you can leverage the accuracy of a laser in ways that even a
> metal worker will appreciate you can get a little mileage out of your
> idea. Remember, wooddorkers are a finicky lot...
Not as easy as it sounds. First, the "block" has to maintain the beam angle
after movement even if there are minor irregularities in the surface on
which it is mounted. Second, one has to measure the position of the spot
to a high degree of accuracy. It's not as easy as it sounds--you don't
have a vernier or anything, you have to line it up with a mark, which means
you have to contrive a sharp cutoff on the beam or focus it to a point at
the exact distance of the target to get better than tenths of an inch and
use a magnifier to get real precision.
Just an aside, the $15 lasers are not HeNe, they are solid state. HeNe
needs a special power supply and parallel mirrors and optical flats and
they aren't cheap to produce.
--
--John
Reply to jclarke at ae tee tee global dot net
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)