Considering a jointer

[Johanna Johanson]

After viewing Chris Schwartz's videos, I am seriously considering adding a jointer plane (I have two jack planes and several smothers). However, I am concerned about the size and weight of a jointer. I am small (5'2") and getting rather old, so I'm not as strong as I used to be.

My choices are the LN and the Veritas. I am leaning toward the Veritas BU.

I would appreciate comments and insights.

Johanna

[Luke Dupont]

You could consider a wooden jointer!

[John Vernier]

I've been surprised by how much I use a #6 plane for jointing, since I unexpectedly found an old one at a price I couldn't walk away from. It's lighter and more dextrous than a #7, but serves very well for most furniture-scale jointing work. Mine is an old Stanley so I can't comment on the LV vs L-N question.

I have also used wooden jointers and I agree they are another good option, but wooden planes are a different adventure.

[glenn bradley]

Love my LV BU jointer. Not real heavy. A wooden jointer would probably be lighter weight. I like a little heft.

[Jim Koepke]

I would appreciate comments and insights.

How about a question?

How long will the stock you are working be?

Like John, it surprises me how often my #6 gets used for jointing. Mostly it is used for pieces of 3' of less.

jtk

[lowell holmes]

In addition to a 607, I have a #6 Bailey and a 5 1/2 Bailey. I can joint with either of the Baileys.

[steven c newman]

Jointers? Any particular size?
IMAG0013.jpg
L-R: Stanley #5c,T-6 Stanley #5-1/2, T-17 Stanley #6c, T-10 Stanley #7c T-9 Stanley #7c, T-9 Ohio Tool Co. # 0-7, T-3 ( When a LONG time without a #7, all of a sudden, I have three of them) Love My #7s, though.. The #6 and the #5-1/2 kind of trade off a bit, one job might see just one, or the other. The #5c has a cambered iron, not much for jointing.

All depends on how tired the arms are, which size gets used.

[Stew Denton]

Hi Johanna,

The thing you will read about the BU planes, is that because of the lower angel of attack, the BU planes are a little more prone to tear out on wild grain. They are a bit lighter than the BD jointers, however. The BU jointers, however, are better on end grain, so are ideal for shooting boards.

I do have to add to be fair, however, that I do not have a BU jointer, only block planes that are BU. I do love my block planes, however, and use them quite a bit.

Stew

[Matthew Hills]

A vintage jointer will be a more moderate weight than an LN/LV.
I think my #7 is lighter than my LV bevel-up jack, and jointing isn't as much exertion as the initial roughing I do with a cambered #5.
How are your current planes for weight?

Matt

[Paul Sidener]

I will stay away from the Lie Nielsen vs. Veritas argument. They are both good companies, that make quality tools, you can't go wrong with either. Both companies offer bevel up and bevel down jointer planes. Me personally I prefer bevel down planes. My jointer is a Lie Nielsen #7. I do own planes from both companies.

I wouldn't worry too much about weight. If your plane iron is sharp and the plane is waxed, it isn't difficult to push. You don't really take a real aggressive cut with a jointer. That being said, you will save about one pound going to a bevel up plane, which isn't a lot of weight. The planes from both companies weigh about the same.

It comes down to the work that you do. If you are worried about the angle of attack of the plane iron, don't. You can get a second iron and change the angle of the bevel to get a higher angle.

[Phil Mueller]

I haven't seen Chris's video to know what he says about the merits of a jointer, so there may be some benefits I'm not aware of. I do have the LV BU jointer. I find it is only used for long boards (more than 4' or so) which is rare, and to flatten my bench top.

Because of its side design, it's difficult if not impossible, to use for shooting. The side appears to be dedicated to attaching the fence. The fence works, but does take a bit of fiddling to get it dead square to the iron.

My go to for jointing is a LN #62. And on shorter boards, a smoother.

[Allan Speers]

I definitely suggest a woodie.

Here's a small visual comparison, with a Gordon try plane, Stanley #7 & #8, a Primus, and an old English woodie.




Hands down, the one I would keep if I only could have one is the Primus. It's about the same size as the #8, but significantly lighter. It's nicely balanced, has a great blade, gives virtually no chatter, and is easy to adjust once you get the hang of it.
Also, it gives that lovely "wood on wood" feel.

Keep an eye on Ebay for a used one. They sometimes go for cheap.

-------------

Also heed Jim Koepe's post. Yo may not actually NEED something 24" long. For edge jointing long boards, then yes definitely. For anything else, maybe not.

[Warren Mickley]

I use a 22 inch beech trying plane ( 6 lb. 12 oz.) for face planing and a Record #7 (7 lb. 4 oz.) for edge jointing. The Record is heavier than I like, but since it is used for edges it is only used for a few strokes at a time so the weight doesn't matter.

Both the LV (7 lb. 8 oz.) and the LN (8 lb. 4 oz.) are heavier yet. The LN with its double iron is a better plane. If you are just going to use the plane for edge jointing, the weight does not matter so much and you could probably handle it. If you are flattening the faces of boards, you are looking at longer periods so I would consider other options.

As mentioned previously, vintage jointers are lighter and wooden planes are lighter. And the number #6 LN is 7 lb. 8 oz., a vintage #6 lighter. The slight length advantage that the #7 has over the #6 (and even the #5) will be lost if the thing wears you out. Better to take a few more minutes and be comfortable. Try at least to hold some of these planes before you commit.

[steven c newman]

I had resawn a 4 x 4 down into four planks, all will need a plane to work them over
IMAG0009.jpg
Knotty pine. There is now one that was surfaced S4S with a No.7c, T-9 Jointer plane, My Cardio for the evening. Both faces were roughsawn, and both edges needed planed straight and square to the faces. One down, three to go. Board is now 3/4" x 23-3/4 x 3-1/2" wide. The no.7 did not have much trouble with all the knots. I did NOT try for see-through shavings....would have taken three times as long to do the board. YMMV

I plan to try each board with a different jointer plane, to see how they compare. Of course, I will just have what I have got on hand.....

[Stewie Simpson]

Holly molly Steve; when was the last time you cleaned out your workshop.