How does a jointer allow you to select the best grain?
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In the latest episode of Shoptalk Live, Ben Strano said in passing that a reason to have a jointer is because it allows you to “go with the grain” in preparing workpieces from rough lumber. I tend to think of my jointer merely as a tool for flattening a board before running it through my planner. Can someone explain how a jointer can help you access the best grain in your lumber?
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If you have a board with the grain running at an angle you can take a cut at the bandsaw or tablesaw to create a new board edge parallel to the grain. Once you've done that you can joint away the saw marks to get a clean edge. This task is daunting with hand tools alone, but doable.
Having the jointer makes it more likely that you'll look beyond the edges of your stock when deciding where in a board to get your parts from.
What MJ said. Ben was talking about taking your builds to the next level. Most hobbyist won't do that. It does increase your waste, hence costs, and time involved, but if you ever look at a piece made by a true master woodworker and the same piece by an average woodworker and wonder why the master's piece has that little extra panache look at the use of grain. All of us sometime in our careers, even if it's only a hobby, have built a piece only to stand back when's it's done and notice a board that isn't quite right or seems out of place. This is what the true artisans avoid by looking at rough boards not in linear strips but as a wide canvass and find the grain they need to fit the piece.
The only times I really finesse the grain is when I want dead-on quartersawn stock. I cut the end so it is parallel to the growth rings, then resaw one face on the bandsaw, then thickness plane the other face. Perfectly quartered. But you don't need a jointer to do any of that.
You lose a lot of wood doing it. You might lose half of the original thickness, depending on how far off the original board was.
I sometimes do this with 12/4 stock to get the grain just right for cabriole legs.
I was just watching this the other day, as a relative newbie I got a ton out of this (to esch’s point about the difference between master and average). Mike P. referred to it as “extra pop” or “extra something” (don’t recall precisely the term he used. It was in one of first couple of episodes).
https://www.finewoodworking.com/videoworkshop/2014/12/single-board-side-table
You would be hard pressed to find a better tutorial on how to maximize the use of grain and the roll the bandsaw and jointer play in that. Episode 2 & 3 really focus on finding the best layout to achieve the grain pattern you desire and how to start seeing boards in 3 dimensions not just 2.
My example... the board on the front of this chair mocks me every day!
Thanks to all who commented on my question about grain selection. Very helpful! I'm ready to move to that next level of woodworking that involves seeing rough lumber as a canvas from which to optimally choose the grain, and the comments you provided help me move in that direction. The FWW videos by Pekovich on grain selection are outstanding. I watched them once and will probably watch them again a second time.
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