I am currently looking to purchase my first jointer and was wondering if on a 6 inch jointer you could join stock greater than 6 inch widths. Say you have a 10″ wide board and you run it thru the jointer and get 6″, could you flip it around and do the other 4″?
Thanks,
Larry
Replies
I never had much luck doing that. Since my jointer is 6", I just rip to that width, joint, and use a few more glue joints. Never had much luck gluing up wide panels anyway. Especially with the lumber one mostly gets now days.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy
PlaneWood
Thanks, I kind of thought I wouldn't be able to go beyond 6". I'll have to decide whether to get the 6" or spend alot more to get the 8". Not sure if 2" is worth the extra cost.
Larry
Lar,
Flipping a board around on the jointer is not a good idea. It will want to go through one way due to grain direction. If you flip it the other way to accomplish jointing the full width, you will be going against the grain on that side of the board.
Rich
Theoretically it can be done, but seems kinda tricky (Sgian?? Whatdya think?)
Check out the Grizzly 8" jointer. There are happy users out there, and the price isn't as much of a multiplier as with other brands (now, Bart, your turn).
Their summer sale's on right now:
http://www.grizzly.com/products/items-list.cfm?ObjectGroup_ID=370050&listtype=group&sort=price&User_ID=1934491&St=1837&St2=-69149654&St3=-78452425&DS_ID=1
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Larry:
I have been using a 6-inch Delta jointer for couple years now, and don't think I'd spring for the extra 2 inches. Can't think of any situations where the 2 inches would make a difference that couldn't be resolved by gluing up narrow pieces. I mostly make simple Shaker and country style furniture, boxes and such and I've been happy, and sometimes design pieces and buy wood with the 6-inch limitation in mind.
gaf
Considering the cost difference between a 6 and 8 inch quality jointer, what do you think of the idea of just purchasing a separate portable planer? They work well for what they are.
Don
(interjecting here -- otherwise known as butting in:-)
A planer will not replace a jointer. A jointer will face-plane one side of a board to be flat, even if you start with a concave or otherwise un-flat surface. A planer will flatten out (read: squish) that board as it feeds through, and plane it, but when it exits it will still be concave.
Granted, you can rig up a sled, with wedges and such, to accomplish face-planing of that concave board, if you want to spend the time and effort rather than the $$ it takes for the jointer. But then, you won't get to jointer your edges to perfection for glue-ups. I love my Jet jointer, BTW, LOL, <g>forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
FG,
You are right about the warped boards but unless some of us are lucky enough to be one of those lottery winners from the other discussion we have to make comprimises somewhere. I was just offering a suggestion while I was under in false impression that Larry already had a 6 inch jointer.
Imagine the shops we'd have if we had all the tools we desire? I imagine a few new power plants would have to be built.
Don
Don, I know what you mean about that missing winning lottery ticket! My problem is, I hardly ever buy one, so can't complain (much) when I don't win :-)
I was lucky on the jointer, since I have a friend who was hankerin' after one too. Neither one of us could justify spending the money on a jointer, but we could justify spending the money on half a jointer -- Yipeeee! And, the Jet surplus/scratch-'n-dent place is not too far away, so we each got half a jointer for $190. I'm lucky, 'cause he didn't have room for it, his half lives in my garage.
The other compromise in the collection is my Jet contractor's saw, which is incredibly old, but was free (with a bum motor). Took about $250 to get it up and running, including a set of cast-iron wings to replace the sheet metal.
You're probably right on target about an impending power shortage if we all get everything we want! forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Sounds like you've some good friends! I've heard and read a lot about the Grizzly tent sales. Are they as really as great as what I've read?
Don
Hi Don, although I've not been to a Grizz tent sale, I've talked to a few people who have been. It's quite a madhouse from the reports.
If you get there early enough and happen to grab the tool you want, I guess they're pretty good. Me? I rarely get to bed before midnight, so catching a 5:30 am ferry (or earlier, this Fall) is definitely not on my list of things to do. S'pose I could go the night before and rent a hotel room, LOL, but think I'd rather just order regular-like. Now, if they were to have a midnight-madness sale, that would be a different thing!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Lar, I have a 6" Delta JD15 and I am very happy with it. Only wish I had bought the 8" for this reason. Most of the wood I purchase is 6-6-1/2 " and I have to rip to 5-7/8" and therefore I am always throwing away an inch or inch and one half on every boad. The last load of 500bd.ft. was all 6" to 7" and consequently I had a lot of waste as I did not want to spend the time to joint and glue up 1" and 1-1/2" strips. Have a lot of tomato stakes. Before making a decision know what type of projects you will be making and what size wood you will be purchasing. A few bucks spent now may save a lot of bucks on wood consumption.
I Want to thank you all for the great responses. I am thinking of getting the Bridgewood 8", it's also on sale.
Forrest Girl - Sgian is too busy to respond, half of his time is working and the other half is standing in front of the air conditioner trying to cool himself from those long hot Texas days.
Thanks again,
Larry
Lar,
Please excuse my planer suggestion. Somewhere I started reading in to this that you had a 6 inch jointer and you were thinking of upgrading to an 8. Reading it properly now, I now wish I had started with an 8 rather then a 6.
Don
Hey Don,
I knew what you were saying in the first message you posted, no problem and thanks for the replies. I've heard from several folks who said they wished they would've gotten the 8" instead of the 6". But if you can just handplane the 2" that doesn't get covered, no problems then. Just alittle more work.
Lar
Lar,
Fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, most of my work is not that critical. My primary business is decorative plastering, and most of my wood work is decorative facade work usually in restaurants and serves no function except eye appeal. Do the plank paneled walls in a Red Lobster appeal to you as fine wood work? Didn't think so! :-) I try to share what little knowledege and experience I have--for what it's worth at times. I admire the work I see the participants here doing and really enjoy reading what is written.
Don
Apart from getting a cool draught up my kilt at every opportunity, I simply missed the thread altogether Lar. There is an alleged method of getting a piece of 11-1/2" wide timber flat on a 6" surface planer or jointer. It's one I would certainly never recommend(sp?) and the same topic was discussed about two years ago, and I recall I got pretty snotty about it. I don't recommend it because it requires removal of the guards, and I'm a fan of guards. I may have the details wrong here, but it involves removing the kidney guard in US style machines and running one half of the timber's face to create a flat reference surface. Then there is something that involvesd the rabbeting ledge available on US style jointers, setting the oufeed table to a specific height and double sided tape and a narrow strip of plastic laminate to run the already flattened half of the face on. Now you reverse the direction of feed and do the other half. Perhaps the reason I don't recall the details is because from a safety at work point of view I generally deplore the methodology, and encourage other woodworkers to think highly of safety issues. But if you want to puzzle it out I think I've probably supplied enough clues for you to get on with, ha, ha------ but it's up to you. Slainte, RJ. RJFurniture
I did an 8" board on mine, removed guard did 6" width THEN put on my bench and used hand plane on remaining 2" to match the joined surface..(worked great)
TRY AT YOUR OWN RISK!!makinsawdust
Hey Sgian,
I agree with you on safety first. Therefore, if I get a 6" jointer I will only join 6" and handplane the rest like Ed does. I bit more physical labor but the exercise will be good.
I hope to be as happy with the type of jointer I get as Forrest Girl is.
Keep it cool under that gilt.
Lar
Can't say I've ever tried removing the guard and flipping the stock, but it sounds dangerous!!! I suppose it would be possible to rig a wider guard that the board can pass under and still covers everything, but....
Seems easier (and safer) just to build a sled and pass it through the planer.
Jeff
Thanks Jeff, I agree with you. I'm just going to go ahead and handplane whatever doesn't go over the jointer.
Lar
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