Replies

1. 
   RickL | Jun 28, 2004 09:59pm | #1

   Procedures for milling wood have been covered in FWW and countless books.  Planer and jointer are required in my 35 years of professional experience. You can fudge it with a planer and hand plane or plane sled where you dink around trying to level your board on the sled to remove twist and cup. I personally don't need a planer any bigger than my jointer because I spend the extra time prepping stock only needing  to scrape off the glue and not replane that 1/8" that didn't line up when it was glued. Get the 8" Grizzly jointer and 12" lunchbox planer or look at the 12" combo units.  The combo jointer planers can be gotten with an optional slot mortiser!!!

   
   

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   Edited 6/28/2004 3:01 pm ET by rick3ddd

2. 
   Napie | Jun 28, 2004 10:32pm | #2

   I agree on the combo machine, very much the most bang for the buck.  Otherwise, I'd get a good 8" jointer first, then look for a planner.  Try the used market, lots of old Deltas, PM's, Boice-Cranes out there for good prices.

3. 
   mudman | Jun 29, 2004 12:06am | #3

   I got a planer first so I could thickness S4S stock. To do what you are describing you need a jointer. As previously stated you need both to prepare stock.

   Mike

   please excuse my spelling.
4. 
   JohnWW | Jun 29, 2004 12:42am | #4

   Willie,

   The only power tool you would really need to create one good glue face on a 4 inch wide, 30 inch long board would be a 4 inch jointer. 

   Having an 8 inch jointer and a 15 inch planer might be nice, but you couldn't justify buying either for the job you described. 

   Jointers make the flat surfaces needed for precision woodworking.  Planers only make boards even in thickness, they do not flatten the face they are planing, flattening can only be done on a jointer.  If you run a twisted board through a thickness planer it will still be twisted when it comes out the other end.

   Your next purchase, if you want to create flat surfaces for gluing, should be a jointer.  Being that quality 4 inch jointers are no longer being made, 6 inch machines are now the least expensive jointers available.

   John W.

1. 
   Jellyrug | Jun 29, 2004 08:48am | #5

   John,

   Thanks, that was good advice.

   I joined the table top 5' x 5' square (You don't see that often) perfectly, using a router with a 1/2" shank joint bit and a long straight edge. As I could not plane my boards to similar thickness, this really did a good job, the router allowing me to adjust with a small test piece off each board for perfect alignment. This took a bit of extra time, but I got perfect alignment on the table top and all the joints closed nicely. With the extra glue surface from the joint bit, I'm not sure if I would ever do this any other way, even if I had the jointer and planer. If your boards are nicely finish planed, this would be a perfect job to do quickly on a shaper.

   To complete my shop, I need a jointer, planer, shaper and a dust extractor, then I'm done, this being a long term future investment. I normally invest in a bit heavier equipment than a 6" jointer.

   I post pictures of my turned unfinished leg, jointed with the Stanley bench plane, showing the joint and the Satin Wood table top which has just been clamped. Excuse all the extra glue, but I'm still learning.

   Willie

   Edited 6/29/2004 1:51 am ET by Jellyrug

   Edited 6/29/2004 1:52 am ET by Jellyrug

   Edited 6/29/2004 1:53 am ET by Jellyrug

   
1. 
   BenM | Jun 29, 2004 02:58pm | #6

   If your close up photo of the leg is supposed to show an "open" joint it's either a bad photo or you're just bragging. :-)  You don't need a power jointer to do this kind of work fast; a #7 jointer plane works very well and is a lot quieter.

2. 
   CharlieP | Jun 30, 2004 05:12am | #8

   If all he will ever joint is 4 inch boards, then a 6 inch jointer is fine, as you suggested. 

   The tool I regret most in my shop is my 6 1/2 inch jointer.  The grading standards for most hardwoods require the top grade to be at least 6 inches wide.  Which means that many rough cut boards are 7 or more inches.  By the time they are flat and square they are often under 6 inches, but getting that first face of a 7 inch board flat on a 6 inch jointer is near impossible. 

   My wish list now includes an 8 inch jointer, or possibly a combo machine________________________Charlie Plesums  Austin, Texashttp://www.plesums.com/wood

1. 
   JohnWW | Jun 30, 2004 06:22pm | #9

   Charlie,

   8 inches wide is better than 6, but until you get up to at least 12 inches wide you'll still be wishing for more.

   John W. 

1. 
   Jellyrug | Jun 30, 2004 08:34pm | #10

   I guess it's a matter of the bigger the boys the bigger the toys.........

   I know I desperately need both a jointer and a planer in my home shop and for what I am doing at this stage as purely a non-income hobby there is no way I can justify these big machines.

   I won't buy under 8" for a jointer though and 15" for a planer, hoping that one day, perhaps I can retire from my job and do some woodwork for others.  Then there is this pile of logs building up in my backyard, waiting to be milled......................

   Willie

5. 
   3fingers | Jun 29, 2004 03:42pm | #7

   You could use a router.  Just take a stright edge like mdf or a piece of plywood with a stright edge.   clamp it or nail it to the piece and use a 2 flute bit w/ a bearing. 

   also if your going to buy a jointer go with the most you can afford dont buy a 4 in bench top.  You will be disappointed.