TOOL SAFETY AND OPERATION

1. Wear proper personal protection equipment: safety glasses or face shield are required. Wear hearing protection when operating the jointer A dust mask is recommended. Do not wear gloves.
2. Wear proper apparel: No loose fitting clothes or neckties. No loose jewelry. Long hair must be covered or tied back. Non-slip footwear is recommended.
3. Keep the work area clean. Cluttered areas and benches invite accidents.
4. Open the blast gate on the dust collection port.
5. Familiarize yourself with the stop switch, elevating hand wheel, and break so that you can stop the machine easily.
6. Check stock for defects, such as knots, that might cause the board to split under pressure.
7. Never surface painted or varnished stock. Used lumber of any kind may not be surfaced.
8. Make sure that the bottom of the board being surfaced is true.
9. The shortest board that may be surfaced should be at least two inches longer than the distance between the in-feed and the out-feed roller.
10. Always stand to one side of the table, never directly in line with the stock being dressed. Sudden kickback can occur.
11. Never stoop down to watch the board being surfaced.
12. Determine the grain direction and feed the lumber into the machine so that cutting will be done with the grain.
13. As the feed rollers take hold of the stock, allow the machine to pull the lumber into itself. Do not push the material though machine once the rollers have engaged. 14. Once you no longer need to support the weight of the lumber, take your hands away from the board.
14. Do not attempt to remove too much material in one pass. Raise the table by no more than a half turn per pass.
15. Keep the lower table rollers in their lowest position when the underside of the stock is smooth and finished. When the surface is rough, raise the rollers to allow the stock to pass through the machine more easily.
16. Feed the stock into the machine at different points along the width of the blade. This helps to prevent uneven wear.
17. If the stock is long, get someone to receive the stock as it leaves the machine.
18. Be especially careful of your fingers when surfacing a short board. Sometimes the in-feed roller will tip the board up and then down quickly with the potential to pinch fingers between the table top and the stock.
19. Surfacing thin stock requires the use of an auxiliary support table to prevent the stock from being forced down into the machine. Consult your instructor or the shop monitor to set this up.