Jointer vs. Planer?

[Mark Largent]

I've got a mill nearby that produces really nice, rough cut lumber and sells them for a very affordable price. I will need to plane them for some furniture-building projects I have in mind.

I've been looking at planers - the Dewalt 734 and the Ridgid 4331 are within my price range. But I've also started looking at jointers. It would be rare for me to need to dimension anything larger than 8" ..... should I be looking at jointers instead of planers?

Thanks for your help,
Mark

[Dave Richards]

Jointers and planers really serve two different purposes. Jointers are used to get a straight edge and face that are also typically square to each other. The planer is used for thicknessing and making the face opposite the jointed one parallel to it. If you are buying rough lumber, you'll find that you'll want both. Of course you could joint edges with a router table and router or use handplanes to joint edges and flatten faces.

[Sean Hughto]

A jointer makes one side flat and straight. It can also make an adjacent face flat, straight, and at a right angle to the first. A planer make the other side flat, straight AND parallel to the opposite side. To get boards 4 square conveniently, you need both tools.

[Paul Murphy]

Mark, a jointer is only for making one surface flat.

A planer was made to make a board uniformly thick. Some folks build planer "sleds" to shim rough boards so they don't compress during planing and then spring back to their undulating rough shape. After one surface is planed flat [effectivly jointed] using the "sled", the board can be flipped and planed uniformly thick without the sled.

If you are in woodworking for the long haul, an 8" jointer and a planer will prove very convenient in producing flat and uniformly thick boards. A jointer is also great for producing a straight edge when edge-gluing boards.

[Prashun Patel]

If I had to start with one, I'd pick the planer.

There are several tricks to jointing on a faces planer or with handplanes (enough so that they can be run through a planer) and for jointing edges on the tablesaw or router. However, there are few tricks for thicknessing a piece (easily).

[Chris Padilla]

Get both and you'll love yourself for it. It just makes it so much easier to deal with rough lumber and if you have access to a lot of it, I wouldn't handle it any other way.

If you have space problems, there are combo jointer/planers out there. I happen to have a 16" one (MM FS41 Elite) and I love it love it love it.

[glenn bradley]

As stated, they are a team.

[Ole Anderson]

If your lumber supplier has the equipment, you could ask them to face one side on their massive jointer, then take it home and plane it to thickness. No shame in having that done, plus it will save you on not needing a wide jointer for 8-12" boards, a much cheaper 6" jointer will be fine for putting a 90 degree and straight edge on your boards. Frankly, the Ridgid and Dewalt machines aren't heavy production planers, they have induction motors and are LOUD. If you go with a lunchbox planer, as I have, also have them it run it through their massive thickness planers, it will save you a LOT of planer shavings and blade sharpening. I get mine planed to 1/16" over while I wait and help for under 10-25 cents per board foot depending on volume and I consider it worth it. I take the s2s wood home and I finish it up in my shop.

PS, add your location in your profile so we can see where you are from, it helps. Hey maybe you live in my town!

[Jon McElwain]

If I had to start with one, I'd pick the planer.

There are several tricks to jointing on a faces planer or with handplanes (enough so that they can be run through a planer) and for jointing edges on the tablesaw or router. However, there are few tricks for thicknessing a piece (easily).

I concur. I spent a lot of years hand planing edges for edge jointing. I don't know if you have a table saw, but if you can cut an edge straight and plane to thickness, you can hand plane the edges for joining fairly painlessly. An old Stanley #8 can be had on E-bay or a flee market for $100 or less. A little restoration and you're all set for edge joining.

[Joe Hillmann]

If you are going to get one before the other I would get the planer first. There are many many projects that I have done that I was able to cheat around not having a jointer but ways to cheat around not having a planer with rough lumber are more difficult/ time consuming.

[Julie Moriarty]

I started out with a Crapsman 6" jointer and later bought a Delta portable planer. The jointer is sitting in my garage rusting away because I can't keep the tables parallel anymore. It was cheap, about $300, and lasted over 15 years but the short bed made jointing anything over 4' a chore. Until I can afford to buy a real jointer (8" or larger) I have the lumber store joint the wood for me.

As for the planer, I use it a lot, especially after resawing. From what I saw, the DeWalt you mentioned runs about $400. That's the low end of the price range for planers. I think my Delta was about $350 when I bought it about 8 years ago. My biggest complaint is tear out on figured wood. But for that price... well, you get what you pay for. I usually resort to the drum sander for difficult woods.

The problem with woodworking is when you first get into buying tools you think "This is all I'll need", but it's always just the tip of the iceberg.

But I'd put the planer above the jointer when considering a purchase.

[Greg Portland]

I've got a mill nearby that produces really nice, rough cut lumber and sells them for a very affordable price. I will need to plane them for some furniture-building projects I have in mind.

I've been looking at planers - the Dewalt 734 and the Ridgid 4331 are within my price range. But I've also started looking at jointers. It would be rare for me to need to dimension anything larger than 8" ..... should I be looking at jointers instead of planers?

Thanks for your help,
Mark

My suggestion would be to have the mill joint 1 flat face and one edge for you. Then you can use your planer on the other flat and your saw on the other edge. This is a good compromise until you find a good planer deal. Some folks (pro and amateur) have the mill prep their lumber for them... they'd rather spend their time on other tasks.

[Mike Cutler]

Mark

As stated, they are generally a "pair" in a shop.
If you can only get one, it would be the planer. A planer can be set up to do some of a jointer's work with a sled, but a jointer cannot do a planers job.
There are many ways to do the edge jointing.
As an aside, a jointer does a few more things than just make one face flat, and joint a referenced edge to it.

[Joe Hillmann]

Mike,
What else can you do with a jointer? I am always interested in learning new ways to use tools.

[Marcus Isaacson]

Two more things that you can do with a jointer are rabbits and tapering pieces like table legs.