Replies

1. 
   saschafer | Oct 11, 2007 06:45am | #1

   You're talking about the JP0610, right? (I have one, too.) Despite the name, it's not a thickness planer. As it says on p. 25 of the manual, "Planing on a jointer will not necessarily make the face that is planed square or parallel to any other surface. Planing on a jointer only smooths or flattens."

   You need a thickness planer (such as the Ridgid TP1300LS or R4330) to mill a board to a uniform thickness. You first flatten one face using the jointer, then run the board through the thickness planer, using that freshly-flattened face as the reference surface.

   Of course, you can always do it with hand planes, too.

   -Steve

    

1. 
   FlemFlam | Oct 13, 2007 05:08am | #2

   Thanks for your response. I feel a lot better about the machine (and myself!) now. I always try to read through owner manuals when I purchase a tool, and I probably did read that notation and promptly forgot it.Still, why is it that a board can't be planed successfully on a jointer? It seems to me that it is a matter of putting too much pressure on one side of the board or the other, causing more wood to be removed.I do have a portable planer and will remember to use it when boards need to be planed down. Thanks again.

1. 
   saschafer | Oct 13, 2007 07:33pm | #3

   "Still, why is it that a board can't be planed successfully on a jointer?"

   Well, it's not impossible, just awkward and tricky and basically trial-and-error. When you plane a board, the goal is to make the face you're cutting perfectly parallel to the opposite face. On a jointer, that opposite face is floating in space, so it's not referenced against anything solid. In effect, you're planing "freehand." You would have to be awfully skilled to be able to hold the piece so that that face is perfectly parallel to the jointer's outfeed table. Don't forget that the orientation has to be correct front-to-back as well as side-to-side.

   -Steve