Jointer or Planer

A question to the group. Given a choice to buy a new tool, what would you buy first, a jointer or a thickness planer? Thanks for any suggestions.

Reply to
Sparky
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If I could buy only one, it would be the planer:

- with proper jigs and fixtures, you can face-joint on a planer

- with proper jigs and fixtures, you can edge-joint on a table saw

- ain't no way you can thickness-plane anything on a jointer.

If you can buy both, do so.

Reply to
Doug Miller

Joiner. Many, many more uses for a joiner.

S.

Reply to
samson

Yeah that was helpful. And he is asking about a joinTer not a joiner.

Reply to
Leon

Reply to
Leon

I got a combi unit. I don't know if you can get one in the US anymore though. Mine was a Makita planer and jointer. Not a helpful answer.

I would choose a planer first. I can get a straight edge on a board with a hand plane to rough in and a table saw. Or a router and straight edge.

Reply to
Jim Behning

Admittedly I have never felt the need for a planer. But if I had to reduce stock from, say, 3/4" to 1/2" I would just run it a number of times over my jointer until I got there. Anything wrong with that approach?

FoggyTown

Reply to
FoggyTown

Not if the two surfaces wind up parallel. They often don't.

Reply to
dadiOH

As you see, you get a difference of opinion...

I'll go along w/ both w/ "depends"... :)

On what your work habits are and what your more pressing need is.

They are, imo, complementary and for the work I do and the stock I use, I wouldn't want to be without either.

_But_, if I were forced to choose one only, I would probably take the jointer initially. I say that based on the fact that was the way I started and I did get along. That time was, of course, long before the day of the large router and I didn't have a tablesaw but a RAS at the time so edges were more problematical other than all neanderthal...

On the "jointing" by planer, I suppose one can manage w/ enough gyrations and jigs, etc., but isn't very effective imo. The planer feed rolls will mash anything thin flat as it goes through, so unless the board is flat but just two faces out of parallel, it won't help much on getting an initial surface. It's possible to shim and all, but far more work. Again, this is tempered by having an old "heavy iron" planer, not one of the modern lightweight guys -- it may be their roller pressure isn't so likely for a larger class of stock, I don't know.

--

Reply to
dpb

Not the answer you're looking for but if I had to do it all over my first buy would have been a good radial arm saw. No, not the Craftsman but something like a heavy duty Delta or DeWalt. If you have the right attachments, you could do most everything including crosscut, rip, plan, sand, mold, etc.

Reply to
** Frank **

Yep. You don't have any reference surface to ensure that opposite faces remain parallel to each other -- you're almost guaranteed to taper the board in at least one dimension.

Reply to
Doug Miller

Except your scribe line, just as you would use to hand plane. No problem. Matter of fact, you can also plan your work as the old boys who had nothing in the way of power tools to work with, and make precise thickness unnecessary.

If you buy unplaned lumber, planer's a good choice, given the easier workarounds for edging. Otherwise your board width is limited, for practical purposes, to the width of your jointer knives.

Reply to
George

Have you ever actually done that? Seems to me that it would be awfully hard to see the scribe line, what with the blade guard on the side toward you, and the fence on the side away.

Yes, of course you can. You can also get to the grocery store in a horse and buggy, too, and some folks still do.

Not really -- rip with a bandsaw, joint, glue up. Not perfect, of course, but some would prefer that, to jointing and planing a 15"-wide board by hand.

Reply to
Doug Miller

These are very different tools. It depends on the projects you want to build. I use my jointer with my table saw, and need that more than a thickness planer. One is not a substitute for the other.

Reply to
Phisherman

Jointer. Probably.

You can plane rough lumber with a planer and, if you're lucky enough to start with a straight and flat rough board, or tolerant enough to accept a planed board that is less than perfectly straight and flat, you can get acceptable results. Proper procedures, however, require that you joint (surface plane) your stock before planing (thickness planing).

It really depends on what kind of work you're doing, though, and with what woods.

I recently made up some pine boxes. Started with 1 x 12" #4 Eastern White Pine, sold S3S for board and batten siding. It was relatively cheap at .70/foot, and was about the only 1" kiln dried stock the mill had that hadn't been planed to 3/4" - I like to get a bit heavier than that if I can. Planed the rough side to about 13/16"+. The planing didn't take out the cupping that some boards had, but joining the corners took care of it. And, they weren't too fussy. Had I been doing a different project with different joining methods, using maple or another hardwood, I wouldn't have been happy without jointing first.

That said, you'll still find yourself using some hand methods or shortcuts, because you are probably looking at a maximum of an 8" jointer, and there will be times you'll want to use boards that are at the capacity of your most likely planer size - 12" or 15".

On the other hand, if you see yourself doing mostly rough work using lumber bought unplaned, I'd definitely recommend the planer first.

Eventually, you'll want both.

John Martin

Reply to
John Martin

I'd go with the planer. You can always have the lumber yard surface one face and join one edge until you get your own jointer.

Reply to
Nova

Don't you want parallel faces?

Reply to
B A R R Y

Same here. Let the dealer provide at leas one straight edge and face, finish it in the shop with the planer and table saw. A good glue line rip blade can create boards ready for edge gluing right off the saw.

That said, a jointer is a very necessary tool to have, too.

Reply to
B A R R Y

Yes, I have, and the line is as visible as the one on the opposite edge of the board I'm hand planing.

Reply to
George

If I could do it all over again, the very first woodworking skill I would have learned would have been sharpening.

Reply to
B A R R Y

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