I’ve been considering a bench top planer and then thought, perhaps I should be buying a joiner. The project in mind are end grain cutting boards, I’ve ripped 8/4 maple into 2x2s but want a do a better job of surface prep prior to glue up. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. I’ve looked at the box store planers and Grizzly joiners.
Thanks,
Rich
Replies
They do different things
The jointer makes a surface flat (or straight). The planer makes one surface parallel to the other. The normal first step is to flatten a surface with the jointer and then finish the other surface with the planer. You can build sleds and jigs so that you can use a planer to flatten a surface, then remove the piece from the sled and finish the other side. If you have to pick just one, I would buy the planer.
If your goal is to make all the surfaces square so that you can glue them up, with end grain facing up, I think you need both. I can't imagine trying to get all four sides square on a joinTer. You could get by jointing two edges on the router if you had to, with a long enough bit.
Or you could compromise and look at the Jet Combo jointer/planer. I think they still make that.
two different purposes
As others have already stated, they server two very different purposses. The jointer gets you a flat surface and a second face perpendicular to that one. The planer will get two surfaces parallel and take a the board to an even thickness. They compliment one another. I've had a benchtop makita planer for eons and it's served me well. It's 12" and has handled most of what I've wanted. There have been a few times that it would have been nice to have a 20" but thats few. I had a 6" jointer that was a total PIA and if you are going to get one stay with a minimum of 8" if at all possible. However, you can flatten a face with a hand plane. Did it many times and it works, just takes time. I now have a 12" grizzly Jointer thats a dream but I saved a good long time for that. You could find an old one for sale used pretty resonable. You could kill two birds with one stone by getting one of the combo units and I considered that. I did not like the short table lengh and opted instead for a wide jointer with long infeed and outfeed table. I kept the old makita 2012 and she's still a hummin. A nice big 20" jointer with shelix head is on my wish list but it will take a few more nickles. If I could only get one, I would start with a planer and if nothing else get a #7 jointer plane and do it with elbo grease for a while.
Surface prep
IMHO, A good rip blade or Freuds glue line rip blade will give you a more than adequate surface for gluing. I would just set up my TS and rip away ! Then use a good square miter gauge with a stop set up on your rip fence ar wack of the long lengths to the desired thickness of the cutting board. At least thats the way I would do it. You might even want to glue up enough long 2x2's then cross cut off the desired thickness of the cutting board and then glue up those end grain sections.
Woodworkers need and want to control the milling process on our lumber. If we leave it up to others, we can't be assured that the results will meet our standards for being straight, flat, equal thickness and milled with the grain to get the best surface. You also have to settle for the lumber thicknesses available, which are limited. There is a much wider choice available in rough sawn lumber. Both the jointer and planer work in unison to produce the desired results, so both are important pieces of equipment.
Many of the other machines and tools we use reference to a straight edge. Any machine that has a fence needs a straight edge to go against it, both for accuracy and for safety. You need a straight edge to join boards together and you need a clean straight edge if you are going to do any molding work. Its also important for other types of joinery. If I could only have one or the other, the jointer would be my choice. The planer only does one thing, thickness lumber. Normally, you are done with the planer at the start of a project but you use the jointer throughout.
Planer vs JoinTer
Thanks for all the sage advice. The gist of the comments seems to steer me to getting both a joinTer and a planer in my shop. My wish list would then include something like a 15 inch planer and an 8" joinTer. I've learned ( the hard way) that patience, accurate measurements along with precisely sized wood make all the difference.
Again my thanks for your guidance and thoughts. Tomorrow I begin my class at the Phila Furniture Workshop where I hope to build and complete a really great workbench. Will post photos.
Rich
so it is joinTer!
Something to consider either way
Hi Rich,
I would also think about either backing up your pieces or making them oversize, as no matter how sharp your blades are (planer or jointer), you may still experience some tearout when machining the wood, especially on the leeward end of the piece(s).
Also, I have learned not to leave a lot of sanding to do on the end grain surfaces, it's HARD! DAMHIKT.
Regards,
Please do keep us updated on the Phila Furniture Workshop with picures of the workbench. It's fun to see works in progress!
As for patience and accurate measuring, I find it much harder to practice than to say. I'm still unsure that half of my tools are setup as precise and accurate as they can be! Lol!
Planer vs Jointer
If you are careful with your wood purchases and own a decent hand plane/power planer and a table saw, you do not need a jointer. Once you have one face flat, the piece can be fed through the planer. A good planer with a Byrd head is all you need.
Don
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