The common way to make a wide bevel on the underside of a tabletop, for example, is to stand the panel on edge (you can’t lay it down, since the blade only tilts to 45° or so). A safer, cleaner alternative is to use a jointer to machine bevels like this.

All you need is two-sided adhesive tape, and two cutoff strips from your scrap bin that are as long as the jointer tables. The strips are the same width but of different thicknesses (see below). You will have to remove the guard that covers the cutterhead.

On my 6-in. jointer, I attached a 1/4-in.-thick strip near the front edge of the infeed table. Then I set the jointer’s cutting depth to 1/16 in. and stuck a 3/16-in.-thick strip along the front edge of the outfeed table. As long as the two strips form a straight line parallel with the fence, you should be able to smoothly bevel the edges of the tabletop with three to five passes. Make the end-grain passes first. Follow with the long-grain passes to clean up any tearout.

Because the guard is removed, use a large push stick with a heel to push the beveled end down firmly on the jointer. Use your other hand to support the end that is tilted upward.

click to enlarge

Jim Richey

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