Jointer Restoration

this instructable is a tutorial on the disassembly and restoration of vintage machinery, in this case, a late 40s era delta Rockwell jointer. I started this project when I was gifted this machine by an older woodworker who can no longer work in the shop. this unit is a 4-inch delta/Rockwell jointer with no motor. the plan is to clean the bed and fence, free the spindle, paint the machine, then set the fence and blade height. so let's start pulling it apart.

the first step was to clean the bed which had spots of minor surface rust and other gunk. to remove the rust I used AeroKroil a penetrating lubricant that removes rust, I sprayed the bed then spread the chemical with steel wool and let sit. after five minutes I returned to rub the oil in with more steel wool giving a good amount of time to this portion. once wiping the bed and fence dry with paper towels and/or cotton rags you are done cleaning the bed.

additional step sand to a shine with high grit sandpaper around 800-2000 grit.

this part of the machine needs to spin freely with no interference. it holds the blades and spins at high speed, but on my machine, it would barely spin. back to the AreoKroil (I'm not trying to advertise but this stuff is pretty great) I sprayed the bearings spun it a little and let sit. 20 minutes later rotated the spindle some more than repeated. this made the cutter head spin freely.

depending on the complexity of your machine you should disassemble all major components for painting. for my machine, it was fine to tape off the important pieces and go for it I recommend sandblasting or wire brushing the surface, or if you prefer you can just sand it.

painting is quite simple i don't believe i have to explain it.

now comes the point of reassembly once all paint is dry the jointer can be put back together and all of the stops and gauges can be set. once the spring-loaded blade guard and fence are added you can set each of the stops for 45, 90, and 135 degrees. this was done with a machinist square and a combination square. each stop has a small screw for adjusting the stop for achieving a perfect angle.

at this point, the jointer is done the bed is cleaned the body refinished all that is needed is a motor. for this exact model a 1/3hp 1750rpm motor is needed.

this was not an in-depth tutorial but I hope it helped you restore or clean your machine.