Today I’m going to show you how I made this tilting fence for my jointer-planer combo. There are many similar models of this tool on the market, all of them likely manufactured in the same place for different brands.

Obviously they aren’t as powerful or precise as other more expensive machines, but in general they’re not that bad when one takes their price into account.

I’ve used mine for three years and it’s great for small projects once you get the hang of it. It is important not to force the tool, and make the necessary passes.

Jointer Tilting Fence Plans

 

Homemade-Tilting-Fence-Cheap-Jointer-Front

Homemade-Tilting-Fence-Cheap-Jointer-Side

The outer casing is a little different in some models, but by changing the way you attach the fence to the machine, surely you can use the same design.

Homemade-Tilting-Fence-Cheap-Jointer-Planer-Plans

This is the SketchUp 3D model I’ve been working on over the last few days. As you can see, the design is very simple and easy to make. If you are interested in collaborating with my website, here you can buy and download the plans of the guide.

Its biggest problem is the fence. Not only is it highly unstable, it’s locked in place and can’t be moved around the work table, which means we always use the same part of the knives, not taking advantage of the rest.

By moving the fence around I can use different parts of the knives when they’re no longer sharp. I’ll perform some tests to see the machine and the fence in action.

I can also move the fence back and forth when it’s tilted. This fence is definitely much more stable than the old one. Another small disadvantage to these kinds of machines is the unbearable noise they make, so we must always use ear protection when working with them.

 

How to make a jointer tilting fence:

Jointer-planer-combo-titan

Now I’ll show you how I made the tilting fence. First I remove the built-in fence as well as a piece of plywood I had installed to deal with the stability problem, with little success. I remove these screws holding the cable supports, because I’m going to use those threaded holes.

I cut the first plywood piece and glue the printable template onto it in order to machine this piece. Now I can attach it to the machine body. The screws must be just long enough because we don’t have a lot of depth to work with.

Cheap-jointer-planer-combo-woodworking

Now I’ll cut and machine the three parts that will make up the fence’s sliding base. I cut a groove with the table saw, allowing for more precise movement. Then I screw the three parts together.

I align the jointer’s two tables with one another using an alluminum level and I also use it to screw the fence’s base onto its emplacement. I put it half a millimeter above the jointer’s work table and glue this piece of maple wood onto the groove I machined earlier.

Now I’m going to make the upper part of the fence. After gluing the printable template on, I drill and machine these grooves. I use the same part to drill the fence’s base. I’ll use carriage bolts so that they won’t turn when tightening the knobs.

I cut the rest of the parts, and after machining them I attach them to the part I made earlier. Now, I’ll find a flat piece of plywood and cut the part of the fence against which we’ll press the workpieces when working with them.

After working out its exact position, I attach two hinges that will allow me to tilt the fence.

Lastly, I cut and machine the two parts that will lock the fence at an angle. I attach them to the front of the fence and see if everything works as intended. As I thought, I have to trim the grooves a little to achieve a perfect right angle.

I’ll use the opportunity to remove the old knives I’ve been using and sharpen them. As you can see, being able to detach the fence makes the operation easier. You can see how I manage to sharpen them in this other article.

 

Jointer Tilting Fence Readers Projects:

Jointer tilting fence thread in Forum:

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