Shopsmith Forums

I have a 6" long-bed but beyond that I am a hand plane person... Most of the time if a board is very bad I just go get another board... And put that crappy one aside to use for very short stuff.


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I have very little to say on this subject.

Flattening a board that is not already flat is a challenging task no matter how wide your jointer bed is. Doing that on a jointer whose bed is narrower than the stock being flattened is even more of a challenge.

My advise: Use the right tool for the job! A jointer is not the right tool.

I like Doug Reid's method! Saves loss of thickness, allows the internal stresses to be unfettered, minimizes effect of future movement.

To answer one of your questions, the table on the SS is about 4.5 inches wide. The cutter blades are 4 inches. There is a wide spot where the guard attaches to the top.

Printed WW article or not, I am always uncomfortable asking a tool to do something it wasn't designed to do. I have the SS jointer and I only use it for edge jointing. I do have the SS planer, and like everyone here has noted, there are times I wish I had 13 inches or more. This is why I starting acquiring and learning how to use hand planes. I never use my SS jointer to cut rabbets any longer; I have hand planes for that and it feels a whole lot safer and is often quicker when you factor in set-up time. Your job is a simple one with a #5 Jack plane, then a fellow-up with a #4. If I were doing it I would start with a #40 1/2 roughing plane and hog it off fast. Then the #5, and finally a smoothing #4. However it takes having good planes, the right kind of work bench, and some knowledge and experience. This just might be your opportunity to add a whole new set of skills in woodworking. I learned 20 years ago if you aspire to fine work you can't do it all with electrons. If you are unsure about the hand plane aspect, see if you can enlist a local high school shop teacher to give you a lesson. My hunch is such a person probably has access to a 20" planer, but he'd probably love to give you a lesson in hand work too.

You can hear lots of caution in the responses here. Take them seriously and don't ask a jointer to do what it wasn't designed to do. You have another agenda to buy or not buy a larger jointer. That's up to you. However the bigger you get the more you spend and there will ALWAYS be a job that needs more. With hand planes as a back-up you will seldom be stuck.

joshh wrote:Doug Reid just did a long video on this topic.

Summary of Doug Reid's technique:
Rip excessively cupped 5 1/2" boards in half, use a jointer to flatten the concave (face) side, use a surface planer on the opposite (convex) side, then glue together. Of course he uses the jointer on the edges for tight fit before gluing.

The technique you describe as "Doug Reid's" is very old (as old as electron powered jointers) and the way I was taught many many years ago. I prefer hand planes now. Less noise, less dust and way safer. I admit I read that article and cringed a bit when I saw the guard coming off the jointer. Although required for rabbetting using the jointer, I have never cut a rabbet using the jointer. Maybe it's the noise made by the jointer but that thing has my total respect and the thought of removing a guard does not sit well with me. More and more hand tools are the way I go.