Dumb question - extending jointer beds...

[Art Mulder]

I was reading Dave Richards' thread about a new jointer
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=44131
and the topic came up about the importance of jointer bed length.

And I suddenly had this thought... I've seen plenty of people make their own infeed/outfeed tables to extend the bed length of their planers. I've seen countless people do the same for their table saw. How come I've never seen anyone try to custom make a bed extension for their jointer? What am I missing?

People always chatter about how the longer the bed, the longer the board that you can edgejoint well. So it would seem pretty obvious to try and extend the bed.

Hmmmm

...art

[Frank Pellow]

I was reading Dave Richards' thread about a new jointer
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=44131
and the topic came up about the importance of jointer bed length.

And I suddenly had this thought... I've seen plenty of people make their own infeed/outfeed tables to extend the bed length of their planers. I've seen countless people do the same for their table saw. How come I've never seen anyone try to custom make a bed extension for their jointer? What am I missing?

People always chatter about how the longer the bed, the longer the board that you can edgejoint well. So it would seem pretty obvious to try and extend the bed.

Hmmmm

...art

Art I have used my General International Roller gizmo to, in effect, extend the length of the output bed on my Delta 8 inch jointer.

[Mike Null]

Well, I have a jointer of sorts, a small Ryobi 6". I made extension tables for it several years ago out of aluminum frames and mdf. With the extensions the bed is now 66" long. They are adjustable and have proven to be very valuable. My jointer was intended to be portable, it weighs less than 30 lbs. but it has been very good for the work I do. (boxes and some furniture)

[Kent Fitzgerald]

It's not a dumb question, but flatness is critical in jointer beds (much more so than saw tables), and it's going to be tough to maintain the required tolerance with shopmade extensions. There's a reason why jointers are usually made of cast iron, rather than particle board or MDF.

Like Frank, I've used roller stands, and I find them to be a back saver when handling long boards, but I don't rely on them as precision table extensions. Instead, I set them a little below the level of the jointer tables so they're not actually contacting the board during jointing.

[Art Mulder]

flatness is critical in jointer beds (much more so than saw tables), and it's going to be tough to maintain the required tolerance with shopmade extensions.

But is that not also true for planers?

[Richard Wolf]

Not the same with planers. Ken is right, the toerances are difficult to maintain. On a planer, the rollers will hold the wood down on the table, and you can supply additional support to put less stress on the machine. You may still end up with snipe on the ends but with your jointer setup, the snipe may be in the middle.

Richard

[Philip Glover]

Art,
You can buy jointer table extensions and "F Clamp" brackets from Felder that can be added to any machine.

Regards,
Phil

[Kent Fitzgerald]

But is that not also true for planers?

Much less so, I think. On a jointer, the entire length of the beds is a reference surface (which is why people care about bed length). On a planer, it's only the area right under the cutterhead and feed rollers that's critical.

[Adam Slutsky]

Mike: I also have Ryobi 6" jointer and no option of buying a better one right now. I'm curious how you extended your jointer beds. Do you have any photos or info. that you can share?

Thanks,

Adam Slutsky

[Art Mulder]

Adam, this thread is over a year old. At this point, I think you might want to send Mike a PM rather than count on him noticing this thread.

[Bob Aquino]

Many moons ago when I was having a house built, the finish carpenters had their own tools along with an older jointer that had extensions mounted on it. They were made of wood with some strap iron that was bolted on the side of each of the beds and into the wood extensions. No idea how well it worked, but they did very good work so it couldnt have been that bad. I would think that once you got everything aligned up and flattened out, it would be ok. Whether it would move with changes in temp or humidity or just in general usage I don't know, but I think if you were to rabbet the iron into the wood ends and then make your adjustments via oversized holes on the jointer ends it could be pretty stable.

[Eddie Darby]

With the right technique, the length of jointer beds becomes irrelevant.
But this does require you to think ahead and plan, before you plane, and involves partial cuts, whereas with longer tables you can just do full cuts until you reach your goal.

I have extensions for my General 6" jointer, but have them set aside, because I don't need them, and I have a small shop so floor space is at a premium.

[Adam Slutsky]

Thanks for the ideas! I'll send an email to Bob too.