Planer vs Jointer: Which do I need, or both?

[Paul Simmel]

A jointer and planer are essentially one tool joined at the hip. You really need them both.

>>> 2. A jointer is used to make to sides parallel to each other. True

Wrong. It is used to make one side of a board flat, and then the next 90 degree side flat if you want to. That means the opposing side/s (after jointing) will be anything but “parallel”.

The jointer accomplishes three things:

a)Flattens one side of a board (twisted, crooked, crowned)
b)Using the newly flattened side as a reference, held against a 90-degree fence, flatten a second non-parallel edge
c)Gives you *one* square side of the board

Off the newly jointed, squared edges, a thickness planer is then used to mill the board dimensionally parallel.

All the hand planes and table saws in the world will not give you the above result.

[Peter Quadarella]

You absolutely can do that with hand planes - how do you think people did it before jointers/planers existed?

The job of the planer is a lot more work to duplicate by hand though.

[Rob Will]

Kevin,
I'll keep this short.
If you can afford it and have the space, you need a jointer the same width as your planer.
I would recommend that you purchase a really wide jointer first because planers are all relatively wide - and easy to come by.

Dig down deep and get the jointer first.

If you can't face joint a wide board, you usually can't use it.

Rob

[Kevin Slankard]

The only thing keeping me from going with a jointer first is the width of boards (of the one I can afford) it will accept. I just know, as soon as I get a 6" jointer, I'll have a 8 or 10" board. Now I'm stuck. But, thinking of using a planer, seems like I'll have more options, even though I might have to use jigs, sleds, etc..... I do see where having both would be the ultimate, but for now, it only can be one.

Jointer first guys: If I do have a 6" jointer and a 8" board, after I get one side flat, where do I go from there? What would you have to do next to get the board perfect on all 4 sides?

Planer guys: Same scenario, 8" board, how would you go about getting one side flat if you didn't have a jointer? What seems to work best? How well does the "sled" work?

This is a tough one. I see both sides of the fence on this one. I can see how each group is aproaching my dilema. I just need to really think about which is more important. The only thing is getting me is the max width a jointer can joint.

Last, using the sled, with a planer you can "joint" a board correct? I hope joint is the proper terminology.

Thanks again guys/gals

Kevin

[Paul Simmel]

You absolutely can do that with hand planes - how do you think people did it before jointers/planers existed?

The job of the planer is a lot more work to duplicate by hand though.

No offense to the hand plane, or to those using them, but my response was referring to the consistency as measured in thousandths across the entire length of the board (or thousands of boards). IMO, it's not going to happen without machinery, no matter how good one is (or was) with a hand plane. It's a little misleading to say otherwise, IMO.. though I don't doubt there are very skilled people who may approximate similar results.

[Peter Quadarella]

Yes, with a sled you can "joint" (face plane) the board. Actually, all you need to do is put the board on something that will keep it from rocking around (or just roughly flatten it).

If you only have a jointer, there is no easy way to do what a thickness planer can do. I honestly can't see the point in only having a jointer. You'd never have wood with coplaner sides. (Unless you went totally neander.)

Edit: Re: Machined planing or hand planing - I believe the accuracy of either to be comparable. In fact, I believe many hobby lunchbox planers do not have as repeatable accuracy as an average hand planer has. Things like wixey might even the playing field.

[Paul Simmel]

Keven,

You asked... one or the other, or both.

In the end, you are going to find that these two tools are not inseparable and vitally dependent on one another.

You could use a sled to get a relatively flat side, then flip it over and run the board through. But it will never be as flat as that which a jointer will produce. And you will not be able to edge-joint on a sled.

There will be those who tell you that you can get a straight edge from ripping on a TS. No way could this edge be compared to one which was jointed. The reason being that wood moves after it is cut (ripped). When you joint and plane, you are flipping pieces back and forth to equalize stresses. Plus, MANY times a piece needs to be re jointed after planing, to get it "straight" again... then re plane for final thickness. The only way to accomplish the same with a TS would be to send it through MANY times, shaving off tinny slices at a time, flipping back and forth... a waste of time and utterly dangerous.

I'm answering your question, and trying to stick to the issue as is was presented.

[Harley Reasons]

The Big Orange Box Store has the tool sale going on right now. I picked up a Ridgid Jointer yesterday for $339.00. Reg price was $399. less $60 sales discount. Got it assembled tonight and I'm gonna like it. Plus the Ridgid has the lifetime service agreement (Free parts, free service for the rest of your life). Be warned the planner comes in a box that weighs 201 lbs so it won't fit in your trunk. Took about 3 hrs to assemble.

[Dan Barr]

im sorry,

but were talking about wood here. jointing a board with a plane is and has been working for hundreds of years. if you want to be really accurate about jointing perfectly square with a plane, then you can clamp a fence to the plane. you can even put a rabbet in the fence to accept the part of the plane without any blade protruding. then you can joint perfect 90 degree edges all day long ... by hand. even to the thousandth.

ciao,

dan

[Matt Benton]

Build a planer sled and be done with it. I can face joint boards up to 12" wide (would be 20"+ with a bigger planer) and get sufficiently straight edges from the table saw.

I'm having a really hard time justifying a large, heavy, relatively expensive tool to replace the sled that cost me 1 hour of time and virtually no cost...

[Jesse Cloud]

Go for both. Yeah you can do it all with handtools - if you have lots of time and are highly skilled. Yeah you can make a planer sled and fiddle with that to get it kinda flat. But if you really want to improve your joinery, then spend the time on developing your skills with the right tools, rather than developing work arounds that you will probably toss in a few months or years.

My two cents. I just wish I had got the right tools sooner and wasn't trying to learn how to do the basics this late in my life....

[Steven Wilson]

Kevin, to four square stock you need the capability to;

1) make a face flat (face jointing or face planing)
2) make an edge flat and perpendicular (edge jointing)
3) make a face flat and coplanar to the reference face (thickness planing)
4) make an edge flat, perpendicular, and coplanar to the reference edge (riping)

All four operations can be done by hand tools, power tools, or a combination. For me the easiest is to use a power planer to thickness boards and a jointer plane ( i.e. a Stanley #7 w/ a Stanley #386 jointer fence) to flaten one face and square one edge. After that you can rip to width with the table saw (or use a planer which can be fun). Face jointing (face planing) with a sled and a planer only works for boards that are very slightly bowed and/or twisted. Anything more pronounced and it's much better to use a jointer (plane or powered).

So, I would buy a planer first and at least a jointer plane, then as space and/or money allow pick up a jointer. BTW, if you remove the guard on a jointer you can run your stock twice to handle stock twice as wide as your jointer width. This will work for roughing, you'll still need to knock down a slight ridge with a jointer plane or skip plane that surface through a planer.

[Peter Quinn]

Other than in the case of using some serious reaction wood you can definitely rip (joint) one edge straight (enough for most practical wood working) using a table saw, then rip the other parallel. I have seen two successful methods for jointing on a table saw which I won't describe here to save on words, but I have used them and can assure you they work. A good skill saw can perform similar operations when necessary.

That said I typically only resort to these methods for preparing rough stock for milling. I gladly pay the fee when possible to have at least one edge of my stock ripped straight at the lumber yard, but occasionally have worked with air dried rough lumber given to me by a friend, thus these methods become my best option.

While most creative wood working types will rise to the challenging of devising or describing methods to prepare stock for use with the tools at hand, the quickest and least painful method IMHO is with a modern motorized jointer and planer in combination. Any move away from that will require more time and effort on your part, so you must decide what is your budget and where your energies are best spent. You can choose to joint and thickness your material with hand planes, winding sticks and a good set of calipers, which will take days, or you can use a jointer and thickness planer, which will take minutes. Other methods fall in between.

The question of what each machine does has been covered, and methods to accomplish these tasks otherwise have been offered. To the question of which should you get (planer, jointer, both) that really depends on you: what you enjoy doing (quick simple accomplishment vrs hand tools vrs devising creative work arounds), what wood you will be using, the time and budget you have available for wood working (as well as the space), etc.

If you are doing this for fun, remember to pick a method you enjoy and can afford.

[Chris Padilla]

If you are doing this for fun, remember to pick a method you enjoy and can afford.

And there ya go! Well said, Peter. Lottsa ways to "skin this cat" or "mill wood".

I'd also add that it isn't necessarily the tool...it is how the tool is used!

To that end, I bit the bullet and dropped a load on a Minimax FS41-Elite Jointer/Planer combo machine. That sucker is a 16" wide aircraft carrier and I personally feel that I'll never need to look any further than this. Sure, a 20" monster might've been nicer but I think this one will carry me for the rest of my life jeeeeeeest fine!!