Jointer Use

[beeg]

I think I'd joint one edge, then rip and joint the other.

[charlese]

Hi all,
.... How much do you guys use your jointer and on what kind of projects?
BB

Hi BB! tudbnik and 8iowa said what I wish I would have said. They also said it all much more concisely than I would have: To repeat - -

tudbnik -----"...I usually joint an edge and then rip to rough width. On a wide board, you will hardly find one that does not have some cup in it. When you rip a cupped board the edge will not be quite square. I then joint a face to get it really flat and then with the flat side against the jointer fence, I joint an edge. Now I have 1 true face and edge. I can now rip and plane to finished size.

This method has improved the quality of my work tremendously..."
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8iowa ----"...I purchased my MKV with both Jointer and Bandsaw. These two SPT's complement the Shopsmith so well that I can't imagine being without this trio.

Having said that, the Dust Collector and Planer, in my opinion are next in importance...."

[robinson46176]

I really struggled before I got a jointer... All I had for a long time was a smooth plane which was too short to joint edges on anything with any length. Then I got a jack plane and a fore plane. I never did buy a jointer plane but I do have a flock of planes now and do use them fairly regularly but not for jointing.
I was taught old school basic woodworking. You had to master (well, come close) several basic hand tools before you could touch power tools. Project one was to cut out a piece of 3/4" stock about 5" x 12" and using a hand saw, a smooth plane, a block plane, a "try" square and a Sloyd knife. You had to square all four edges two directions each.
I love my power tools but I am always amazed at the lengths some guys will go to in an effort to not use hand tools. I see guys (including Norm) spend all kinds of time and effort to build some complicated jig for a couple of tiny cuts that you can make with hand tools in just a few minutes and move on to the next job.
I hope someday to master the hammer and nail...

[8iowa]

hudson: I solved the problem of the short outfeed table by purchasing Rockler's heavy duty roller stand (their # 43399 ). With the 50" Veritas straightedge ( Highland Woodworking # 177036 ), I can set the roller stand "flat on perfect" with the outfeed table. I've jointed and glued boards as long as 8 ft using this method. The roller stand and straightedge are of course very handy for many other shop set-ups as well.

robinson: I no longer use the jointer for flattening boards. I use a pair of winding sticks and a #5 jack plane and my 50" straightedge to address twist and cup in a board. In just a few minutes I can have a board ready to go through the planer.

[dlbristol]

JPG is right, That is what I did after asking for help on the forum. You can, and I did, flatten out some cupped stock on the planer. Getting a flat surface on stock 4 in wide or more can't be done on the jointer. But even after you fix the cupping or warping or ??, you still need the jointer to get the edges square to the faces. As I said earlier, I am a total rookie at this, but I never got what I thought was a really good edge with my saw alone. Smoothing the edge was only part of the issue anyway. After getting a flat face, The edge was not square with it because the planning had "changed" the relationship of the edges and faces. Remember ( in the planer) that the new face on top will be parallel to the line between the two lowest points on the bottom of cup or warp or??. The two won't be the same even in the length of one piece of stock. My first try at using only the planer gave me some very nice smooth stock that was thinner than what I started with, but had the same cup or warp in it! Hence, I learned to use the jointer better. As an added benifit, I produced a couple of bags of nice shavings for my wifes rabbit carry cages.

I never had the advantage of learning tho use hand planes like robinson46176 so that is a bit foreign to me. I would have no idea where to start, what to buy, ?? Might be fun to learn.

[a1gutterman]

The trouble with using the planer to flatten a piece of wood is the planer uses enough pressure to flatten the board before it cuts it, so when it comes out, it is knot flat. I know, I know; some of you have had success doing this, but it uses a lot of material.

[dlbristol]

A1 ,you are correct. It is slow, and uses lots of material. The wider the piece, the more waste I had. Now that I am better able to use the jointer, I think I will be more likley to rip wider stock to a width I can run thru the jointer to surface it. Then follow the standard procedure to square up and then edge glue. When I used the planer, it took forever. In order to keep from pushing the piece flat, I had to cut 1/32.

[hudsonmiller]

Of the roller stand and straight edge in action (or at least set up). Is the straight edge serving as a fence or outfeed surface?

[8iowa]

hudson:

I use the "roller stand" method whenever I need to joint the edges of long boards for gluing purposes. I first set the jointer to take a light cut, no more than 1/16". I then place my heavy duty roller stand about 2 to 3 feet outbound of the outfeed table. Then with the 50" straightedge sitting on the outfeed table, close to the fence, I then raise the roller and carefully adjust and tighten it so that it is level with the outfeed table. For real long boards, I also level a lighter duty roller stand a couple of feet forward of the infeed table.

The set-up takes a little time but is not really that difficult. The Veritas 50" straight edge is an indispensible tool to have for this proceedure. The alternative is to have a long bed 6", or an 8" jointer, either one of which will weigh 300+ lbs and occupy a lot of space.

[dlbristol]

I constructed a table based on Hudsonmiller's " ironing board" idea. I have had trouble getting my roller stands to work on the jointer with some 80 in stock, so I went to the sissors legged table. It worked wonders! It is not 80 in long, but it carries the weight well and it instantly solved my problems. I practiced with a piece of pine and struggled to keep the roller stand just right, and tipped it over once when I dipped the end while changing hands on the stock. The oak is much heavier, But I tried one pass anyway,:eek: and began to look for another way. I think the table may better account for any curving on the edge.
I am going to make another one of these tables, using better materials and looking to make it lighter. The idea is great. ( probelms with the table were my execution, not the design)

It may be that I am just not using the best technique on the jointer, but for me, this table is just what I needed.