Changing your jointer knives can be a painful and frustrating experience. A little jig called the Jointer Pal, however, can make your life a lot easier. I bought mine at Grizzly for $26.95.
Here’s a step-by-step pictorial of how to use it. This whole process shouldn’t take you more than 30 minutes. It took me about an hour, but I was photographing every step, so that slowed me down a bit.
Step 1: Unplug the jointer and remove the blade guard
Before you do anything, make sure that your jointer is unplugged. Next, you need to remove the blade guard for easy access to the jointer knives. On my jointer, this means removing a small screw on the bottom of the shaft attached to the guard. Once the screw is removed, you can pull it straight off the jointer.
Step 2: Remove the old knives
Using a wrench, loosen the four locking screws at each knife and remove the knife and locking bar.
If you have a slight set in your belt, it can sometimes be difficult to get the cutter head to remain in position while you are trying to remove the knives. If you run into this problem, putting a small quick clamp on the pulley will hold the cutter head in place.
Step 3: Clean the cutter head and locking bars
Eeeeew. The locking bars and cutter head are pretty nasty. Sawdust, pitch, and grease work their way in over time and make a mess. Soak the locking bars in Simple Green for a couple minutes and all that stuff will wipe right off with a paper towel. Spray some Simple Green on a towel and wipe out the cutter head as best you can.
Here are my clean locking bars, clean cutter head, and new knives.
Step 4: Insert the new knives
Put the new knives into the cutter head and snug them down just enough to hold them in. We’re going to use the jointer pal jig to set the knives to the exact height of the outfeed table.
Step 5: Find and mark Top Dead Center
In order to use the jig, you need to locate Top Dead Center (TDC). This is the top of the arc of the cutterhead. Lay a steel straigtedge across the jointer tables and rotate the cutterhead until the edge of the knife is at it’s highest point. Obviously, this is somewhat subjective, but you should be able to get very close.
Now I know this next part is going to freak some of you out. Just remember that your jointer is a tool, not your dining room table.
Etch a mark on your jointer fence at TDC. I slide my straightedge back until it’s end was lined up at TDC, and then I used a utility knive to etch a heavy permanent line on my fence at that point. You only need to do this once. Now that you have TDC marked, it will be easy to set up your jig every time you want to change out your knives in the future.
Now set the jig on your outfeed table and line up it’s guide mark with your TDC mark. There is a second guide mark at the back of the jig. I recommend that you etch a line at that point onto your fence, as well. With these two lines, you’ll be able to position your jointer pal in the proper position in seconds.
Step 6: Set each knife’s height and lock it down
Now that you have the jointer pal in position on the jointer, loosen the locking screws on the first knife and rotate the cutterhead until the knive edge is at TDC. The powerful magnets on the jointer pal will grab the knive and hold it at the exact height of the outfeed table while you tighten down all of the locking screws. Repeat this step for all three knives.
Now, in my case, I actually needed to raise my outfeed table a bit. I wanted a smidge of room between the jointer pal and the knife so that it had room to pull that knife up to the appropriate height. You may or may not need to do this.
Step 7: Recalibrate your infeed table height (if necessary)
Since I changed the height of my outfeed table, I needed to re-zero the positive stops on my infeed table. I laid a long straightedge along the jointer bed and adjusted the infeed table until it was at the same level as the outfeed table. This is the zero position. I locked the table in position, and reset the positive stop at this point. Check your owners manual for instructions on how to do this; every jointer is a little different. I also needed to zero out the pointer on the scale on my infeed table, as well.
Step 8: Replace the blade guard and do a happy dance
Put your blade guard back on the jointer and adjust the spring tension, as needed. You’re done! Sorry, no pics of me dancing. 
Thanks for putting this up. I will need to do this pretty soon myself.
You did forget step .5 though. Unplug the jointer. Better yet, insert prerecorded Norm Abrams safety message here.
Hey Dave,
I think you must film the “Happy Dance”. You brought it up!
LOL! No filming the happy dance.
Shannon,
Good point. I added that to the original post.
Thanks,
Dave
Great job mate. I lost my instruction sheet and needed a quick reminder of the procedure for using the jig. This did the trick. Got new blades in quickly and easily.
If you have set in your belt, rather than clamp around it, I’d take the time with this disassembled and spend $15 on a Power Twist Link Belt. I had an older bandsaw with some set in it, and the difference is night and day, especially in a tool in which the results are affected by significant vibration.
Cheapest most effective upgrade I’ve seen for most older stationary power tools.
Where can I buy lock bars for the 6inch Jointer
Great tutorial. You make it sound easy. Thanks
Thank you very much. This is exactly what I was looking for. I have a magnetic jig like this from Woodcraft, a new used jointer and a set of knives, so I am ready to go. Thanks again!
I bought my Dad’s jointer that is pretty old. It is a Sears Craftsman Jointer Model number 113.206932. I can’t find the manual and am presently attempting to change the jointer knives. I have no instruction manual and I have removed two set screws per knife, but the knives are still in just as tight as they were before I removed the screws and I can’t get them out. So maybe those two set screws don’t hold the blades in place, but it sure looked like they did. I’ll go down to Dad’s and see if I can find the manual, but I am not hopeful….
did you have any luck with finding the manual for the craftsman jointer? I recently bought a used one and do not have the manual but need to adjust the blades….
Alvin
I just bought a used jointer – found the manual online check sears.com
Thanks for taking the time to post this, I’ve only used spiral heads and recently got a strait blade joiner for myself.
Someone sent me this and I thought that I would pass it along. It is an owner’s manual for Craftsman Jointer Model Number 113.206931. It is one difit off from my Jointer model number 113.206932, but the jointer blades looked identical and it told me exactly how to change and set them. I found it on Sears website after an extensive search. If you can’t find it using the link I have attached please send me your e-mail address, I will e-mail it to you.
I have a model 113.206931 jointer if you could email a copy of your jointer manual it would be much appreciated. I need info on adjusting in feed and out feed tables. I can’t get a proper adjustment for a good cut.
This is a great little jig…but you have to pay attention to detail. Also, you must ensure that the knives are against the back of the slot in the head as you tighten down the jack screws.
One technique that I swear by is jointing the knives. Take a cheap oil sharpening stone (the big rectangular one you find at Sears) and wrap half of it in a single layer of paper.
With the machine running, lay the papered end of the stone on the outfeed table and slide the bare end of the stone (use the fine side) evenly across the outfeed table.
Jointing the knives puts a little edge on the back of the blades and will turn your jointer into a smooth, and accurate cutting beast. I swear by this trick. You will find it in old Delta/Rockwell jointer manuals from the ’50′s and 60′s. (go to OWWM.com and pick a random Delta manual).
Sorry, should have read ” slide the bare enfo the stone (use the fine side) evenly across the knives.
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This is extremely helpful…. I read the directions on the back of the Jointer Pal and they were OK…. but your pics are helpful….guess a picture is worth a thousand words….. will set mine up tomorrow using your directions.