edge jointing and other things with a planer

[stryped1]

Is it possible to edge joint and do other things with a planer meant for a jointer? Are the results as good?

[Puckdropper]

[e-mail] wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Sometimes. Edge jointing thicker boards shouldn't be too bad, but thinner ones (like 1x material) might be an issue.

Since planers tend to put pressure on the board, they can flatten the board out just enough not to take out a cup or ridge like a jointer would. You'll need to shim the board to prevent it from being flattened as it passes through the planer.

Leon will be along shortly to tell you how unused his jointer is. :-)

Puckdropper

[-MIKE-]

If you're just trying to flatten an edge and not straighten it, it will work ok. The blades are on top of a planer and it will only cut when pressure is applied by the feed rollers. This pressure is enough to bend most boards keeping the cut parallel to the warp in the board which you are trying to cut out.

The long in-feed and out-feed tables are key to straightening boards on a jointer. The in-feed and out-feed tables on a planer are much too short to aid in straightening.

I've used a planer to edge the opposite edge of already edge jointed boards before with great success. That's because it's using the already straightened edge as a reference.

As Puckdropper hinted to, there's another way to get a straight edge on a board. A good table saw that is properly set-up with a glue-joint rip blade will yield perfectly straight and flat edges.

[John McCoy]

-MIKE- wrote in news:m6n41k$ua3$ [e-mail]:

I would agree with this. It's a good way to flatten the edge of an odd-shaped glued lamination, for example.

I don't agree with this, except for very narrow boards. The pressure of the feed rollers is not likely to bend a 4" wide board on edge. Really this is only an issue for face jointing, not edge jointing.

This is reasonable, altho it seems like the hard way to do it.

Only if it has an already straightened edge for reference. If you're running a gently curved convex edge against the saw fence, no matter how well set up it is, you'll get a correspondingly concave edge on the cut side.

John

[-MIKE-]

If there's any bow in the board at all, then the rollers won't pull it all the way through because there will be a gap at either the ends or the middle. It's simply the wrong tool for the job.

It's actually one of a few easy ways to do it, which is why I did it.

Depends on bow bad the bow is and how long the board is. For longer boards with bad bows, use a straightening jig which anyone with a table saw has either already made or can fabricate from a straight edge or factory plywood edge.

For boards shorter than your fence, you can quickly get a straight edge by running the concave side against the fence. The peaks on the ends of the board ride against the fence and a straight edge is cut on the opposite side. Even if it doesn't nail it on the first pass, you can flip it over and use the newly cut edge against the fence and cut the peaks off of the concave side. One more flip usually gives me a perfectly straight edge.

If you have a good saw with a nice, long fence, this is fast and easy. The fence, like jointer beds, average out the imperfections on each pass until it's nice and flat and straight.

I've used that technique dozens of times with great success and often use it with longer boards as well. I will often forgo the jointer altogether in favor of this procedure just out of convenience when I have a rip blade on the table saw.

[Morgans]

"-MIKE-" wrote If you have a good saw with a nice, long fence, this is fast and easy. The fence, like jointer beds, average out the imperfections on each pass until it's nice and flat and straight.

I've used that technique dozens of times with great success and often use it with longer boards as well. I will often forgo the jointer altogether in favor of this procedure just out of convenience when I have a rip blade on the table saw.

******************************************* Morgans chimed in and said: I have used a combination of these to great success. When making cabinet face frames, I very much want square edges, sharp corners, straight and uniform (exactly) widths. I start by rough cutting the lengths of all the parts (plus a few for goofs) and then use a straight edge on the table saw to rip one edge then the other to about 3/16" over what I want my final face frame dimension to be. I made a jig that I C-lamp down to the bed of the plainer that is basically a tall square rip fence slightly lower than the width of the face parts. I cut out a little extra where the rollers might hit the fence. The other side of the gig to keep the parts firmly up against the jig, is a feather board on extensions so it will press on the parts while they are directly under the blade. I run everything through on one side so it takes off about 1/16" then set the height so the boards come out to the desired width

• 1/16". The end result is a square edged piece ready to go through the same treatment on a drum sander for both thickness and width to the specified size. With any luck, the frame will need very little sanding at the joints and that is it.

[Leon]

Yes but each situation will dictate a different method.

To just joint an edge you can, if your TS is set up properly, use a long narrow plywood sled to set your piece on, clamp down, and ripe it on the TS.