I’m having a really tough time jointing wood. The jointer is a DJ-20 with a 76-inch bed. I’m trying to joint about seven long boards about 96″ – 120″ long which are 8/4 x 7-3/4″ wide cherry boards.
Are there any secrets to jointing long stock? The boards are long and quite heavy and it’s incredibly difficult to try and run them through jointer without the in and out-feed tipping, some of the passes even leave me with gouges. I tried using rollers to help support the boards on the in and out but with only limited success, what I really need is a longer bed.
Replies
It's pretty easy to make extension tables for your jointer. Problem solved.
Sweeeet!
So how did you attach the tables to the jointer?
Hey Hammer,
Thanks for the idea, I cobbled these together this weekend. Still tweaking a bit, but it seems like it'll work. This forum rocks!
Jointerman, just a few comments on the jointer extensions. It's important that the tables are flat. Longer tables have to be watched so they don't twist or warp. Be careful with a leg that isn't almost to the end of the extension, you don't want a work piece causing the table to teeter totter. With extensions around 24" - 32" you should be able to handle 10' stock. This also allows a leg on the end of the table without worrying about flex in the extensions.
I know you are just sampling right now. It looks like you have clamped to the jointer with quickgrip clamps. A word of warning about quickgrips and use on equipment. If there is any chance that a slipping clamp could cause you or your work harm, don't use the quickgrips. Vibration, a shock or bump can cause them to release or loosen. I'd recommend C clamps on anything around equipment and make sure you have a solid connection, not half on an edge.
Keeping them absolutely flush with the jointer tables and in line with each is also a key to them working correctly. Once you have yours made, throw some film finish on them back and front to help with humidity changes. This will allow you to apply some paste wax, too. Just like the outfeed table for a saw, you'll wonder how you lived without the extension tables on the jointer.
Hammer, you're right about me still tweaking the set up. The quick clamps did seem somewhat tenuous, but I can't get the bar clamps or parallel clamps to fit on the in-feed platform because of the torsion box. I was, however, able to fit the bar clamps on the out-feed table though.
For the out-feed support, I think I'll change the roller stand to a mono-pole like your set up. Thanks again!
Are you going to edge glue these boards together ?
If you just need a smooth edge you could easily belt sand after ripping on the TS.
I have had much better luck by edging these long heavy boards on the Table saw . With the right blade and feed rate very good strong seams can be made by taking a very small last pass to clean up .
regards , dusty
Yes. I'll be edge gluing but
Yes. I'll be edge gluing but I still need to face joint the boards. Some were rough 8/4 and so were kind of S2S. So belt sanding will be a little too much for that.
How flat should the 90" x 1.5" x 6.5" final boards need to be. I should expect some curve until it's glued up? I assume having it mounted to be table bas will help too?
I use Ridgid flip top stands for the task.. I had a bad experience with roller stands in the past. The tops are a friction surface and when the end of the stock touches the top at an angle it flips to level. I done a number of 10'-12' with no problems even though my jointer has an 84" bed but still not long enough for the lenghts mentioned. I believe the key to avoiding the gouges are to keep the stock moving smoothly. Be sure your top is freshly waxed as 8/4 in that lenght is heavy and will drag.
Sadly, I haven't seen Rigid Flip top stands in years. Mine has holes drilled into the top when I modified it and attached MDF to the top to be a table saw outfeed table (The SargeExtension™ table).
As the board got smoother, it did get exponentially harder to drag across the bed, I think that's what caused the gouges. A fresh coat of wax is a good idea. I'll have to figure out a method for extending the beds.
It's good to know that people do try extending the bed. I was wondering if it was just my lack of experience not being able to handle the long boards, though I am sure that that is part of it too.
Source for Flip-top stands
The only place I have seen those flip-top stands is a Home Depot.
Frosty
You could either clamp a couple 10' 2 X 8 to the base or get someone who understands the process to help you. Do you have the jointer mounted on wheels or is it just that unstable?
Not sure what you mean by clamping 10' 2x8 to the base. FIrst of all, I'm not even sure where I could get flat, square, true stock like that. And if I could, it'd likely be more expensive than the cherry that I'm trying to joint!
The jointer is mounted on the stock Delta DJ-20 mobile base. It's pretty stable, but the unjointed 8-10 ft boards are a bear to try and move through a jointer with a 75" bed.
"The boards are long and
"The boards are long and quite heavy and it's incredibly difficult to try and run them through jointer without the in and out-feed tipping"...
This was in your original post JM.. Larry can clarify but.. he could have inter-rupped that to mean the bed of the in-feed.. out-feed table was actually tipping from the weight of the board which is not likely from a 400 lb. machine even on a mobile base but you would have to over-weight one side very heavily to do so IMO. With that said.. about anything is possible. haha...
Ahh... Reading your quote of my post, that totally can be read as the jointer's beds tipping. But it is the boards that are tipping off the jointer.
I finally have to ask.
Is your end use of the boards really 96" to 120"?
If not, you can save a great deal of material - and hard work - by cutting them to a few inches longer than the finish dimension, squaring them up and then trim to finish length.
Frosty
End Length
Frosty,
The end length should be 90-92 inches (still trying to decide). The problem is that on some of the boards, I'm still trying to decide which part of the 90+ inches to keep for the top.
It could even be shorter if I decide to try and do bread board ends.
the shorter that they are, the easier it is. you could also make a platen of 1" mdf and shim it undrneath to level it up and run it thru the planer to joint a face side. the other alturnative is to take it to a larger shop with bigger machinery. shouldn't cost that much
ron
I was originally supposed to bring it to my friend's shop to dimension the wood. He has a massive Martin jointer. I was supposed to just have the material shipped to his cabinet shop. But I decided that I really wanted to "enjoy" the process.
I guess I could still take it over there but I'm getting all sorts of good ideas here. None of them easy, but I guess that's just part of learning to work wood. Also, I've got an amazing assortment of tools at home, it's time to start mastering them, or at least how to use them!
Jointer table extensions
Hammer,
I, too am interested in how this was done.
I'm guessing that they are free standing, possibly not attached at all, possibly height adjustable.
Inquiring minds wanna know!
Adding extension tables is much easier on a jointer with a center mounted fence than one with an end mounted fence. I frequently need to joint long heavy stock and it's got to be right on. Stands and rollers were not cutting it. I just drilled a couple of holes in the ends of my jointer tables and bolted on a block. The tables are sort of a torsion box with an adjustable leg. They are held in place with two screws and can be put on or removed in seconds. The extension tables must be flat and perfectly in line with their corresponding jointer tables. When setting up, I use a 6' magnetic level to make sure the extensions are in line with the jointer tables.
I was a little skeptical about whether the tables would be accurate enough, particularly since I normally run my depth of cut around 3/64" and expect perfection without any additional work. They have proved to work better than I imagined, even though I just cobbled them together for one particular job. Now, they are one of the most useful accessories in the shop. Make them any length you want, mine are about 32" long. I can throw a 200 pound 6" x 10" x 12' up there, with a hump in the center, and handle it like a little piece of balsa wood.
The mother of invention
Nicely done! Not bad for something "cobbled together".
Neccessity is not the mother of invention. Failure is.
Thanks for sharing. I'm not going to cobble together a set tomorrow, but the idea is parked in the back of my cranium.
Adding extention tables
I see your concept and it appears to be a safe one. I do have a question.....are the two screws you mention for quick removal on top of the table or did you drill holes into the side of your jointer? My Griz 8" has a rather thin tip at the end and would prevent me from supporting the extention table with a thick, flat (1-1/8") particle board. I was thinking of drilling into the side of my jointer about a foot back from the tip and running side boards to support the extention top. Does this sound reasonable?
This sounds like a job for a handplane
Jointerman:
For years I have edge joined boards by first squaring the edges up on the tablesaw and then planing the edges straight and square with a Stanley #7 handplane. It isn't really that hard to learn to do, is much safer, quieter, and more precise. I would rather lift and push a 10 pound plane than try to hold tight to infeed/outfeed tables a long fifty plus pound board.
gdblake
I have been jointing 8/4 Cherry boards 80-90" by 10" using my planer. It is the only way to face joint them in my opinion. The jointing sled for a planer is discussed in the jigs,fixtures... forum. If you don't want to build the jig (and it will be heavy), then you can try what I did which was to tape long, thin slices of wood to the board to get the lower surface shimmed flat when jointing the first face.
While there is still a need for in feed-out feed support, it will be much easier since the planer's rollers will hold the material also. I am fortunate to have 8ft in and out feed tables permanently set up for my planer, but rollers would work well enough.
Edge jointing for these long boards was easiest to do on the table saw with a long fence extension.
If there is one tool I could do without in my shop it is my jointer.
Brent
JM
Something else to consider, have you thought about using a long straight edge, clamped to your boards and using a router with a long straight bit, to give you your clean edges.
I have several long straight edges I purchased through Aluminium suppliers and have found countless uses for them over the years. A good invertment.
wot
Jointer overload solution.
Jointerman, I have an even larger jointer than yours, but then I sometimes have to deal with this problem. My current project is building a desk, using a very large Bubinga board which was 39" w x 110" L x 2" Thick and weighed > 300#, so needless to say, I didn't pick it up and run it over the jointer.
I have a Makita 1805B power-plane, which I bought back about thirty years ago. These size power-planes are FAR superior to all of the smaller size planers that most small shops have. Plus it has a longer infeed bed by proportion, which can be adjusted in and out on the fly while running down the board, so working on a convex curve is easier to deal with than on a stationary tool.
This top is only going to be 35" x 70", but there was about 5/16" hump in the middle. It didn't take long to get rid of that much wood, using this tool along with a couple of winding sticks and straight edge, before going to the stroke sander. Since this plank has a lot of quilted figure, I was getting a bit of tear-out with standard grinding, so I took the knives out and sharpened with a small face bevel, which reduced the cutting angle, and took care of the problem.
I think I paid ~ $400 for this tool back then, but after twenty years, that is only $15 per year. If this one quit today, I would have another one on the way tomorrow.
Besides being great for really large work, it is excellent for really small work too. I clamp it upside down in a vice, and use it like a stationary jointer a lot. It goes out to jobsites with me, and sees a lot of use in that respect. I have spent most of the last year restoring a really nice historic house. This tool paid for itself many times over just on this job.
I agree with Wotnow on using a router. From Methods of Work, put the boards good side down and in order. Space the boards just under the router bit diameter. 3/8" bit, 1/4" gap. Screw several cleats across the boards and make pencil marks for location during glue up. Flip to top side up attatch a straight edge and run the router down the gap of the two boards thus jointing both sides at once. Don't forget to do the outer edges. Make sure router bit cutting depth is just beyond thickness of the boards. Unscrew cleats and line up your pencel marks for glue up. Any variation during routing will be equal on both sides of the boards.
Dan
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