I noticed a pretty big mess on the jointer yesterday and wanted to post about it to raise some awareness. You should not see this kind of mess on the jointer after using it.
If you’re getting chips kicking up on the surface like this, it’s an indication there’s a clog in the system that needs to be cleared. In this case, the chip bin was virtually empty, however the tool was majorly packed which likely occurred from the chip bin getting full previously.
A phillips head screwdriver to loosen the ducting at the base and broom handle to pull out packed chips is all you need to fix this. Clearing it out took just a couple minutes between @Zestern21 and I — we filled that big yellow dust bin 3 or 4 times. Make sure to secure the ducting back on afterwards. From there, it was all back to normal with good suction.
Shoutout to @Zestern21 for pausing on his project for a moment to clean this up with me!
I’d cleaned that out already three times in the previous week. I think someone has been using the jointer without the dust collection on. Either that, or the gate isn’t always opening — but I checked how they were functioning repeatedly without seeing an issue. Still, you should check that chips are whirling around inside the separator when the jointer is on.
It could be taking too much in one pass on a wide board. Filter on dust collector may need to be “blowed” if the suction is not enough. Or could be combination both plus the possibility of the operator not turning the dust collector on but looking at the chips is more than one kind of lumber so it may be more than one person. Without cheking and by listening to the dust collector yesterday, i suggest filter needs to be blowed with compressed air, canister cleaned, repeat until no fine dust falls on canister. Lots of joy! (I was just taking garbage out so i did not bother to check it out).
