13 June, 2014

How to deal with a jointer that is too narrow.

I am doing some stock preparation of some pretty rough walnut that I picked up off of Craigslist a few years ago. Much of the stock is 8" or wider, and just under 4/4.

Now if you have been paying attention to my blog, and have gone through the shop tour page, you will remember that I have and use a 6-1/8" bench top jointer. Nice, space saving contraption, that is all but useless for face jointing wider stock. I pretty much MUST keep my stock under 6" wide or it's a no go for this little guy...

To solve the problem I resort to the time tested method of all sorts of woodworkers. I built a jig. Well built might be an overstatement...

Simply put, I used a planer jointing sled.

Now for those unfamiliar with what a planer jointing sled is, it is a piece of dead flat stock, in this case 3/4" plywood, that is 8' long, and just barely narrower than the max capacity of the planer. In my case I have a 13" planer, so the jointing sled is 12-7/8". Thus my stock handling limitation here is 8' x 12.75". You need just enough space around the workpiece to be able to secure it to the sled...

The work piece itself, is secured to the sled via a hot glue gun and glue. Using the same techniques as you would with a jointer to determine which face to start with, secure your work piece to the sled, building up the hot glue to make up gaps between sled and work piece at the edge. The idea here is to solidly hold the work piece, and keep it flat as you plane away at it... In my case, I had approx 1/16" twist over 6' of stock, so I had a corner that was proud of the rest of the stock..

Run your stock, with the sled through as you would normal stock, until you have the exposed surface dead flat. If your planer snipes, it will be a bit exaggerated on a sled, BUT depending on how much material you are taking off, that can be dealt with...

Once the exposed side is flat, just cut the hot glue free, and remove the work piece from the sled. Clean up the sled and set it aside, then process the other side until you get to your final thickness...

With your stock flat, and at your desired width, edge joint it, just like with face jointing, you have multiple options, but in general, unless you are jointing monster sized stock, even a tiny 4" bench top jointer should suffice... I have read on most forums guys trying to say that a bench top jointer can't get a straight edge on anything longer than about 36", I have found that to be pure bovine fertilizer.

I have seen time and again forum members advising newbies to spend the money and buy a jointer first before a planer, the process I just described above to you, along with a similar, and similarly simple table saw edge jointing sled, make me seriously question the wisdom of that advise. If you don't have the budget, or space for a jointer, AND a planer, you are FAR better off with just a planer, and alternative planing methods.

If you would like more detailed information about alternative jointing methods, take a look at Marc Spagnulo A.K.A. "The Wood Whisperer"s video called "The Jointers Jumpin'" http://youtu.be/M-ZZ0dhbJYY . He covers areas that many folks simply don't think about, and unlike certain TV personalities, he takes time to SHOW you how it's done!

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