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Original Instruction Manual for Craftsman 6" Jointer/Planer made by King Seeley Corporation |
Hello to all who visit this small website.
This is a hastily-assembled site dedicated to presenting to the Internet woodworking community a scanned set of original instruction manual pages for my 1950's-vintage Sears Craftsman jointer/planer. The image above is of the jointer and stand I currently own, having acquired it at auction many years ago. In contrast to some of the stationery woodworking machinery now marketed by Sears, this machine has given me nothing but good performance. It is solid, precise, and holds its accuracy.
In the rec.woodworking forum on Usenet, I have noticed a few postings from folks looking for parts for this machine, as well as pointers on adjusting it. Rather than email individual copies of the rather large graphic files that constitute this set to all who may need them, I decided instead to create this quick website. I hope that it proves useful to anyone looking for information on this machine.
The manual pages are six in number, and have been digitized to a size that will fill an 800x600 computer monitor screen. Those running at lower screen resolutions will have to scroll about to peruse the pages. The graphic files can be downloaded or printed by the viewers. Use the "go back" button on your web browser to come back to this page after viewing any of the manual pages.
Need Knives For This Jointer?
Several folks on the rec.woodworking forum have been looking for replacement knives for this unit, and have been directed to various third-party sources to obtain them. I purchased my last set of knives from Sears, but have heard that they no longer stock them. In browsing around the Internet, I found two sources that look promising for finding knives that fit this machine (and lots of other machines as well):
Disclaimer: Carefully measure the knives in your jointer and consult
with sales staff at these places before purchasing and installing new
knives in your machine.
What if the Guard is Missing?
From the email I've received about this tool, it seems that many if not most of them are missing the cutter guard (part 5 in the manual). People have asked me if I know where one can be purchased, or if it's safe to operate the jointer without the guard if a replacement cannot be obtained.
Please don't use your jointer without the spring-loaded swinging cutter guard! When the tool is running, the knives are a shimmering cylinder of blurred motion, and one can easily forget that they are there. Also, I have had gib lock screws break from mistakenly installing the knife holders with unhardened cap screws, resulting in knives being thrown--you definitely want the guard in place if that happens!
The guard might still be available from Sears; they had a
jointer that looked a bit like this one in their catalog until a few
years ago. It may have had the same type of guard. Lacking this, a
person could fabricate a new guard, either of wood or metal, copying
the shape shown in the manual. The guard mounts in a hexagonal hole in
the jointer bed (this is spring loaded; the guard snaps against the
fence when the workpiece clears the guard). One could take a dowel and
shape it to fit the hexagonal hole. Or, a very large hex-wrench of the
proper size could be found, and cut to the appropritate length. This
hexagonal pin could them be glued, brazed, or welded (depending on the
materials you are using) to the new guard. DISCLAIMER: I am not
responsible for any problems resulting from folks making inadequate
replacement guards or deciding to operate their jointers without guards.
If you're looking for information on other woodworking topics, try this link: http://www.woodworking2.org/index.htm. Here you can search for woodworking articles and plans.
If you have any comments or questions, email me at wtorborg6@yahoo.com