JOINTING WITH A PLANER

[J T]

I've seen the posts about planing with a jointer, do I need a jointer, do I need a planer, and so on. I'm wondering if those people really find it that hard to understand, or they're just trolling.

Seems pretty basic to me, you can't really use a jointer in place of a planer, just "sorta".

Seems pretty basic to me, you can't use a planer in place of a jointer either. However.

However, I have found that by using a planer sled, it can substitute for a jointer. At times.

My planer sled will hold a piece(s) of wood clamped in place. So, sending it thru multiple times, taking just a bit off each time, it will give a straight edge. Then unclamp, flip the wood on one side, reclamp, send it thru multiple times, and you can thereafter send it thru without the sled. A bit of a PITA perhaps, but workable.

So far, I've only tried this with pieces shorter than my planer sled, which is about 18" long, so not sure how it would work with longer pieces. With the shorter pieces, I have noticed that apparently there is no snipe.

If I had a jointer I probably would never have tried this, but I don't, and I did. Don't bother telling me it won't work, because it does for me. But, if/when I get a jointer, I doubt I'll keep doing it this way. I made my planer sled with just glue for fastening, just in cae, and cam clamps to hold the wood. Works great.

JOAT People without "things" are just intelligent animals.

[Swingman]

Hell yeah it works.

Shim (off-the-shelf softwood shims) a wonky board so it lays flat on the sled without rocking, then thin multiple passes though the planer on a 13" wide piece of mdf with a stop glued at the end, to keep the workpiece going forward.

... pretty good way to start milling 1/4" or 1/2" stock out boards that are too cupped/twisted/warped to use otherwise.

[J T]

Sat, Jan 1, 2005, 5:42pm (EST-1) [e-mail] (Swingman) swears: Hell yeah it works. Shim (off-the-shelf softwood shims) a wonky board so it lays flat on the sled without rocking, then thin multiple passes though the planer on a

13" wide piece of mdf with a stop glued at the end, to keep the workpiece going forward. =A0=A0... pretty good way to start milling 1/4" or 1/2" stock out boards that are too cupped/twisted/warped to use otherwise.

With the cam clamps I don't need to do any shimming, they'll hold it in place nicely. Only thing, the present sled is only wide enough to take wood up to about 6" wide. Eventually, I'll make a wider sled for wider pieces, just haven't needed one yet. Anything less then the 6", I put some side shims in, so the cam clamps can apply pressure.

JOAT People without "things" are just intelligent animals.

[Kevin Craig]

This month's Fine Woodworking (February 2005) has a long article about this very thing. The author uses a 5 foot long sled, although it's a bit elaborate for my tastes.

Kevin

[igor]

They also have a good video of the sled and how to use it: