How to Care for the Blades on a Plate Joiner

Caring for the blade on your plate joiner is a necessary part of your normal maintenance routine. While cleaning wood chips and built-up resin from your plate joiner blade is not terribly difficult, it is a job that needs to be done after almost every use of your machine, especially if cutting pine or other woods that are high in pitch or resin content.Keep in mind, too, that blades need to be examined and possibly replaced after hitting nails or other metal obstructions.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Gum and Pitch Cleaner
• Screwdriver
• Needle Nosed Pliers

1. Unplug your plate joiner. Details for exposing the blade of your joiner for cleaning purposes may differ slightly from model to model so check your owner's manual for details concerning your specific model. However, the following instructions should be useful for most major brands.

2. Remove the dust bag. Turn your joiner up-side-down on a secure bench in front of you and use a screwdriver to remove the base plate. The base plate should be secured by two screws. Once the two screws are removed the base plate should slide forward for easy removal.

3. Turn joiner right-side-up. Use your needle-nosed pliers to stretch and remove the springs holding the bearing plate. Move the adjustment rod away from the bearing plate and then remove the rear base assembly.

4. Turn your joiner up-side down. The blade should now be exposed. For a light cleaning simply wipe the blade with a rag dampened with gum and pitch remover. At the same time brush away any wood chips which may be adhering to the blade.

5. Remove the blade from the joiner for a more thorough cleaning. Insert a screwdriver into one of the two holes provided for blade removal, making certain that your screwdriver is NOT holding one of the carbide-tiped cutting blades, as the carbide tip could break off.Unscrew the the blade screw with a 3/16 inch wrench, turning the blade screw COUNTERCLOCKWISE. Remove the washer and the blade. Wipe blade thoroughly with gum and pitch remover, dry and replace blade.

Tips & Warnings

• Always unplug your joiner before performing any servicing.
• Careful! The blade is sharp and can cut your fingers