Flattening Wood with a Jointer
Basic tips on jointing rough lumber to make a flat surface ready for the planer.
Mar 10, 2014
Learning how to mill rough lumber dead flat and perfectly square begins with understanding how to use a jointer properly. The jointer flattens, whereas the planer thicknesses. That means the jointer is the first step in the milling process. Success at the planer depends upon success with your jointer.
In this short video, Asa Christiana takes point’s from Marc Adams’ fundamentals article and demonstrates the right way use your jointer—including tips on which direction to feed lumber over the cutterhead, depth of cut, and how to edge and face joint boards while keeping your fingers out of harm’s way.
Still struggling? Don’t miss Asa’s video on How to Set Up a Jointer for tips on dialing in your machine’s outfeed table and fence.
More from FineWoodworking.com:
- Tool Test: 8-in. Jointers Comparitive Review
- The Physics of Machine Safety
- Get Better Cuts with Your Planer
- Essential Milling Machines
Comments
Good video. I especially like videos instead of still photos to show techniques. Your demo of the technique from that written article explained it much better (at least for me), and much faster!
As I commented elsewhere, it would be very handy to me to have a video that explains the causes of various edge jointing problems (e.g. a taper, or belly). Many problems may derive from jointer out of adjustment, but if there is a clear correlation between a problem and an adjustment, I'd sure like to know it (mainly because adjusting my jointer is very time-consuming. I have a Hammer A3-31)
That's a good idea for an article or blog. Hmmm.
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