Planer or Jointer for a hobbyist shop?

[depictureboy]

Well, building a cabinet for my water softening system has endeared my wife to let me get a piece of heavy equipment. I know a tablesaw is important, and I have my dad's old 8" craftsman, plus I can cut pretty straight with a circular saw(or some jig if needed). I also have a hitachi 12" for crosscuts..Now I was looking at getting the dewalt jt360. But now I am thinking that maybe a thicknessing planer would be better. Some of the project I plan on tackling in the near future include:

Blanket Chests for my daughters. Shop Cabinets(plywood or PB Melamine) Face Framed Office Hutch Book Cases for the office

etc.

Most of the hardwood is coming 4/4 to 5/4 from a local dealer(not a big box homecenter) so even though its s2 its not s2 like you get at lowes or homedepot. So what should I be looking at?

I have a Ryobi router and table, Hitachi miter saw, old craftsman table saw, and a circular saw. I was really focusing on the jointer before I got the OK, but now I am unsure which is the more effective route.

[Jeff]

Honestly, I would get a good table saw. That's your workhorse, the tool you turn to first. I owner a DeWalt 735 planer and I still get my rough-cut planed at the dealer. A planer really comes in handy when it's coupled with a bandsaw (for re-sawing). A jointer is nice, but a good table saw in indispensible.

Jeff

[Lyndell Thompson]

Depending on how the finances are..........or if SWMBO gives you a blank check and says go have fun...check out this link below. It is both and IIRC Popular Woodworking gave it a thumbs up. FWIW it is available with a spiral carbide cutting head. Might last a hobbyist a lifetime. The individual carbide cutters each have 4 sharp sides. You hit a nail you turn one or two inserts and start cutting again. I am still in the dreaming stage but hey might as well dream big. Good luck Lyndell

[Phisherman]

A thickness planer becomes important when you need wood not sold in your area. For example, 1/2" wood for drawer sides. A jointer is used much more often in my shop and is important when using the table saw. You can get by without a jointer, but not without some effort and skill. What you need depends on your project and from what you have given the jointer gets the vote.

[Greg O]

I have both, and rarely use either, and tempted to sell both! If your wood is poorly planned, then maybe a planner would be a better fit for you. A jointer is really not needed unless you are edge gluing large panels. Face frames you can get true enough on the table saw. Like on other post stated a good table saw is a must, with a good blade. I tend to cut my wood to size and just give it a good sanding. In my opinion, you need to do allot of wood working to justify the price of a planner or a jointer, and you can do very nice wood working without either of them. If money is no problem, then I retract my statements! Greg

[Howard Kowall]

Yes the table saw is the work horse and prob the best dollar spent BUT lets not forget the Fence System

[Leon]

Planer, sometimes you need 1/4, 3/8. 1/2. and or 5/8' thick stock.

[Lee]

[Leuf]

Well if you are buying s2s from a lumber yard, how are you getting your first straight edge currently? There are many ways of doing so, but there are just some things that should be easy and getting a darn straight edge on your board is one of them.

I still don't own a planer. I do have a drum sander though. There are a lot better ways to make a board thinner than to turn it into a mountain of chips. If you are buying s2s and you don't really have that much of a need for thinner stock, and from your project list I think that's the case, then I don't see the need at this point.

So the question would be are you happy enough with how you're getting that straight edge now, or would the money be better spent elsewhere?

-Leuf

[russellseaton1]

Based on the projects you list, a table saw will serve you best. But that is because most of the projects you list don't really need flat boards. Or they are narrow and short boards so you can cut out the twisted part easy enough. Blanket chest does need reasonably flat boards but you can likely get away with less than perfectly flat boards. S2S just means the board is smooth on both sides. It can and will still be twisted and cupped. Unusable for larger furniture projects or if you are trying to glue up panels. Or use longer boards. As I mentioned, you can cut up a twisted and cupped S2S board so the final short, narrow pieces you use will be fairly flat and OK. A jointer makes one side of a board, or edge, flat and straight. Then the planer makes the other side parallel to the side you made flat on the jointer. Run both sides through the planer and you end up with a thinner, but most importantly, a flat board with no twist or cupping. Usable board. A table saw can sometimes put a straight and smooth enough edge on a board for gluing up. But I'd run it over a jointer before gluing. Either electrical or human powered jointer. You can also use a human powered plane to get one side of a board flat enough to run it through an electrical planer to get both sides flat and smooth. You don't need the whole side of a board flat for it to work in an electrical planer. Just flat enough not to rock when pushed down by the rollers in the elctrical planer. And you can run boards on edge through the electrical planer after going through a table saw to get an edge reasonably straight. So an electrical planer will likely be best for you if you already have a table saw and know how to use a human powered plane.

[Pat Barber]

"If" you buy rough stock for your materials, you need a saw,planer,jointer.

"If" you use mostly sheet goods and buy dressed material, you need a saw and "maybe' a planer.

In my opinion, "all" shops need all three power tools to be effective.

A LOT of folks get by without a jointer but you have to learn to work around the wood, which can/could be a pain in the ass.

depictureboy wrote:

[Leon]

I have a jointer, have had a jointer for about 25 years. It is much easier for me to put a straight edge on an 8' S2S boards using a simple jig on my table saw than using the jointer. One pass is all it takes. My jointer is fine for short stuff but for get it on athe long stuff. I hardly ever need to joint short stock.

[Adam]

You mention you barely use it. Why do you feel it isn't necessary? What is this simple jig you have created?

It seems that in most projects a jointer would be handy, but there is always that guy out there saying he has had one for X number of years and never uses it...

[depictureboy]

I havent bought any lumber from them yet. I only know what they offer. Any work I have done I used 4s from HD...which can get expensive. I want to use better wood for the same bd ft price I am paying for poplar....I do have an older table saw, but like I said I can cut fairly straight with a circular saw and jig. I know I will need both eventually, I just dont know which to do first until I get the "permission" again for another piece of equipment. I plan on making a panel saw, so cutting long sheets on a table saw wont really be an issue. I am more concerned about my hardwood needs for faceframes and glued up panels. My only real experience so far with glue ups is a couple cutting boards I made from scrap. At the time I had my dads jointer working(it died and is OLD), but I used a beltsander and orbital sander for the tops as needed. But I realize for quality work I am going to need better bigger equipment. I have tried jointing with my router, but i have a cheap ryobi table at the present(one of my projects it to build a better router table) and it doest work really well. I am really anxious to get my girls' blanket chests done, cause that could be the open to another piece of equipment....hehe. I just want this purchase to be 'right' incase its a while till I am able to get the next piece of the puzzle.

[Larry Blanchard]

I do own both a planer and a jointer. Since I got a decent bandsaw for resaw and a thickness sander, the planer doesn't see much use.

I don't get tearout on a thickness sander :-).

And a good tablesaw with a good blade can joint edges with a sled. But I do need the jointer for those really nice looking boards that aren't flat on either face.

[Leon]

I feel it is not necessary because I can turn rough cut lumber into flat and straight s4s lumber using only a table saw, planer and 2 jigs. To straighten a board I use a jig that is simply a 14" wide piece of 3/4" plywood 8' long. I screw 2 toggle lever clamps on to it near the right side along its length. Lay my crooked stock/rough cut stock on top of the plywood and clamp it down with the clamps with only a minimum amount of the boards crooked edge hanging over the blade side edge of the plywood. Set the fence so that the saw will cut off that crook edge and run it through. This is great for s2s lumber. There is also a jig I use to flatten rough cut lumber up to 12" wide using my planer.

A jointer works well if you have a large jointer or only want to straighten short stock. Otherwise the TS jig is very cheap and faster than a jointer.

[NoOne N Particular]

Almost all of the wood that I have purchased at the big box stores is supposedly all dimensioned. But in reality, the thickness of their lumber varies a little. One board may indeed be 3/4" thick, but the next may be 13/16" thick. This difference makes face frame edges ragged, and it takes a lot of work to clean up the glue line of edge glued boards. Lumber that I have purchased from hardwood suppliers is a little more consistent within species, but 4/4 lumber is more like

13/16" or maybe even 7/8" thick.

Since there are ways to finagle around getting edges straight, I think I would vote for the thickness planer first, and then convince SWMBO that the jointer is a companion tool. Gotta get bofum. :-)

Wayne

[J. Clarke]

Well, actually you need the band saw to go with the planer, and then when you see the kind of edges you get out of the band saw that sells the jointer.

[dpb]

I'd go for both, meself... :)

But, it's probably more effective to go the planer route next as there are relatively easy ways to get the straight edge w/ what you already have, but finishing to uniform thickness and/or after glue-up is much simpler w/ a planer.

That then raises the question of the size of panels you're likely to want to run through -- the only real disadvantage of the 12-13" portables (for other than real heavy stock of course, for which they're not suitable).

[beecrofter]

Start by upgrading your table saw, then buld a sled so that you can joint the edge of a board using the table saw. Odds are that you can beg borrow or steal the use of a planer when you need it by providing a set of new or resharpened knives to the owner. That frees up space and resources.