6 – The Jointer’s Jumpin’
Small MP4 Version
In this episode, I review one of the most critical and fundamental aspects of woodworking: milling lumber. I review my 4-step milling process, which requires some big tools. And since I know many folks don’t have a fully outfitted shop, I also present numerous alternative methods for jointing edges and flattening faces. The jointer’s jumpin’ baby!!!
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Excellent! A comment though on the router table alternative for edge jointing – I lack a real jointer, as would likely be the case for somebody looking to use their router table for edge jointing. The problem I found using the shim method to offset the outfeed side is the same as a newbie may encounter using a jointer – in so far as technique with regard to pressure on the outfeed side. It’s easy to turn your piece into some weird parallelogram or diamond shape. Yes you’re essentially making a small jointer on it’s side, but there’s an even easier way than using a shim. Simply take your straight-edge and double-stick tape it to your workpiece. Then, using no technique whatsoever, or even any fence for that matter, simply run it along a bearing guided straight-bit for a perfectly flat, straight and perpindicular to the face joint in one pass.
Happy Jointing!
Good show keep up the good work! Love the big resolution you post your shows to ITunes with. I was wondering why you couldn’t use that nice planner to plane both sides of that board you had? Where you just trying to give many different options to go about it or is a good reason for it? I have always been made to believe jointers were for the edges and planners for the face of the board.
Hi Tim. I am glad you are enjoying the high resolution podcasts.
I certainly could have just thrown that board through the planer, but remember that the goal is to get two perfectly flat and co-planer surfaces. If you don’t flatten one surface first, you wont be able to properly flatten the second surface on the planer.
For instance, that particular board I was working on had a twist to it. So the board would tip in different directions depending on where you apply pressure from above. So if I sent that board through the planer, it would have come out pretty wacky.
Now if you have a rough board that sits pretty stable and is relatively straight, you can sometimes get away with sending it right through the planer. But the proper method requires you to have a trued surface BEFORE it goes through the planer. In most cases, you can true a rough surface with the jointer. But since some boards won’t fit on the jointer, we need some other way to properly flatten one face before sending it through the planer. That’s what I was hoping my alternative would accomplish.
And whoever told you a jointer is only for edges and the planer is only for faces needs a smack on the hand. :) You can and should joint the face of your boards first on the jointer. As mentioned before, passing it through the planer may not give you a perfectly straight and flat board. To see proof of this, think about a 5 foot board that is a little bit bowed. You can send that guy through the planer 20 times and it will still have a bow in it. The only way to remove the bow is to joint one of the faces first.
And one last note, I sometimes use my planer to trim edges too. Especially if I am dealing with 8/4 material. After I joint the first edge, sometimes I find it easier to send it on end through the planer, instead of using the tablesaw. Works great!
I hope that clears things up a bit. If you have anymore questions, please feel free to email me.
Marc
The Wood Whisperer
re: Tim’s query: I’ve been taught a jointer is for making a flat surface, a planer is for making two surfaces parallel to one another. (Which is the essence of Marc’s comment.) It’s extremely difficult to substitute one of these machining steps for the other unless the piece was true and square to start with and all you want to do is dimension it.
Marc – first, I love your PodCasts. You are doing a great services to woodworkers everywhere. DIY Network should give you a show and pay you to do these!
Now, for my question. You mention using hot glue to mount a board to a planner sled to remove rocking. That makes sense – but how do you remove the board from the planner sled once the top is flat? (I have never used hot glue, so that might also be the source of my confusion).
Thanks,
David Genrich
Hey David. Hot glue dries hard, but it doesnt really stick like regular glue. it sticks more like caulking. So if you use it sparingly, you can easily pry it back up off the board with no damage to your work piece. Its a handy trick.
Marc
I’ve been woodworking for a number of years and think that your episode provides the best single overview that I’ve seen–it does a great conceptual job without getting bogged in detail or tools. I suggest that once your viewers have mastered the basics they might want to consider purchasing a good hand plane . Hand planes are (1) the best way to quickly flatten larger surfaces (think tops of table and cabinets; (2)a better way to remove wind from boards; (3) the only practical way to surface highly figured woods.
Hey, I just discovered your videocasts through Fine Woodworking’s website. I have to say that you are doing an impressive job here, and I have added you to my favorite sites.
I love your style of presentation – it is very natural, comfortable, informative, entertaining and sometimes funny. Don’t change a thing!!
s/gordon
Hello Marc! I’m new to woodworking and I think your site, videos and sense of humor and ability to instruct are a great resource for anybody.
That being said I have a question about milling lumber. Let’s say you come home with a half dozen 4/4 quarter sawn oak planks roughly 12 feet long and 8 inches wide. do you mill all the planks to finished lumber? or do you cut off what you need for a particular project and mill the smaller pieces?
Thanks for putting in the effort to help us all out. JC
Hey JC. In most cases, I will lay out my cuts on the large boards and cut them down to size. Then I mill the smaller parts. But I only do this up to a point. Lets say the project calls for a couple 12″ long parts. I am most likely going to mill a longer piece that contains at least two of the 12″ pieces, instead of cutting the boards down to 12″ and milling them individually. So there is some consolidation of sorts. But overall, I do cut the parts down (usually with a jigsaw) first, then I mill the smaller pieces to size. You can see me do this pretty clearly in the beginning of the Gadget Station series.
http://thewoodwhisperer.com/episode-58-gadget-station-pt-2/
I’m going thru these videos like a fiend. Very informative, and I love the humor and shirts. =)
I’m very excited to try some of your ideas!
marc what do you think of the jointer planer combo machines? I am looking at the laguna 10 inch and grizzly 10 inch models. is it worth it to pay extra fr jointers and planers with helical heads?
If you are pressed for space, I think they are a great option. I do think the helical head is worth it on the planer. But on the jointer I would put it in the “nice to have” category.
I were only going to buy either a jointer or a planer and I could only get one which one would you recomend?
Check this out Matthew: http://thewoodwhisperer.com/which-comes-first-planer-or-jointer-question-of-the-week/
Good video. I have some additional ideas. I have no jointer, just a radial arm saw and thickness planner. I like your idea of using hot glue on a sled… What I have done to flatten bowed lumber on my planner is to simply turn the height adjustment on the first couple passes to compensate for the bow: 1. plane the lumber so it sits mostly flat. It will still have a bow. 2. use a long stright edge to find the top of the bow. Determine how much to remove to make the surface flat and mark it on the surface. 3. as the board passes through the planner, crank the height adjustment up and down the required numbe of turns to remove the bow. 4. turn the board over to create a nice even flat side. 5. plane the first side to remove any waves you made when compensating for the bow. This method takes some practice, but so far is working pretty good for me.
For jointing, I use a straight guide on my saw which is 2x longer than the lumber. You simply put the bow opposite the guide and cut it off. Flip the board to cut it parallel. My thickness planner can raise up 6″ and since I have a true and square edge, I run the board perpendicular to plane the edges. I have a 90 deg guide which I clamp to to the infeed table to help keep the wood at 90 deg. I can also take several boards and run them through at the same time clamped or bolted together on the ends.
@ Mark Salomon: Good advice with the plane. I did just that – got a Stanley box plane from Rockler – it’s one of my first real woodworking purchases and the change in my results has been amazing.
Good, solid advice that I plan to use… as soon as our budget allows purchasing a planer and/or jointer. In the meantime I’m using a sweet little thing Rockler sold me – a Stanley low angle box planer. I’m no expert, but I’ve seen evidence of that mythical “smoother than sandpaper” edge. Love it! I do, however, have years of experience with knives and sharpening and did a judicial sharpening on my plane blade before attempting anything serious.
Marc, a quick side note: Seems someone hit a typo when entering the email address at the end of the show. I’m sure everyone understands it’s a typo, but thought you might appreciate knowing.
PPS: Excellent job on the site! I’ve done design in the past, and this is one of the best mixes of ease of use and info I’ve seen!