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

[Kevin Slankard]

I've been around woodworking for a few years now. I've finally gotten to a point where I think I could use a jointer or planer. But, I have a few questions to ask before I make my purchase:

1. A planer is used to take thickness from the board. Generally this is done on the face of the board. True?

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

Wouldn't a planer be able to do the same thing as the jointer, as long as the board would feed into the machine? And, wouldn't the jointer be able to do the same thing as long as the face of the board was not to wide that the knives wouldn't get the whole face?

I'm sure its more complicated than this, but this is how my simple mind sees it. If a few of my assumptions are correct, I'm leaning towards the planer. Rigid and DeWalt both have a few options around the 400-500 dollar mark. I've searched for planer on here and found several posts about some users getting some nice discounts lately.

Thanks

Kevin

[Tim Byars]

Personally (that is, speaking as a mostly ignorant newbie), I got a lot of orientation to this issue first of all by cruising through all the planer vs. jointer threads on here, but visually by watching the "Jointer's Jumping" episode (no. 6) on the Wood Whisperer's site.

FWIW

[Gary Breckenridge]

A jointer is mostly used to put a straight edge on a board so that it will be 90 degrees to the next side of the board. I would go with a jointer. Most of the basic projects that people make can use store bought 3/4" lumber. I mill a bit of lumber and sometimes work in 5/8 and 1/2". I bought a planer years after I bought a jointer and use the planer about 1/3 as often as the jointer. Base your decision on what materials you can buy and what you make.

[Dan Barr]

well,

as for planing the face on a jointer. You can not, in theory, "thickness" a board on a jointer. all you can do is make the face flat and true. there is nothing above the board when it is passing through a jointer that will register the top of the board and keep the thickness consistent as material is removed by the blades.

As for jointing on a planer, since the top of the board is registered, you'll actually be thicknessing the edge and your edges will not come out perfectly flat. (if the board is slightly curved, it will stay that way to an extent even on the edge) Also, you will be restricted to 6 inches for most common planers and you will have the added difficulty of trying to keep the edge square while it passes through the planer. You'll never be able to joint a board larger than 6" in most planers. Even if you went way out and got a planer capable of 12" you would still be restircted to 12". then you would be jointing by hand with a plane.

You should think about the work that you do. if you work with mostly S2S, S3S, OR S4S (surfaced boards that come with 2, 3 or 4 faces already planed) then all you will "need" is a good jointer. to contrast, if you work with mostly rough cut lumber, then you will find yourself wanting both or the planer as a minimum.

I work with mostly S2S. Both faces are planed and only the edges are rough. i like my jointer, but have actually been using it less and less lately. i tend to joint boards with my jointer plane because holding a big board and moving it over the jointer is a pain. I can whip out the jointer plane in a second and make a few passes in the same amount of time it takes me to turn on the jointer, turn on the dust collector, and check the fence for square and adjust it if need be. its easier by far to throw the board in the vise on the workbench and joint the edge with the plane. the exceptions are when im working with lots of grain changes, or i have a lot of lumber to mill. then i'll gladly fire up the jointer.

I design things with the board's dimensions in mind. i dont incorporate dimensions that need surfaces that i cant buy pre-cut for the most part. I avoid needing a planer this way. once i have a board milled, im going to run over it with a smoother plane some time during the project anyway. So, i also dont need a planer for "finishing" any surfaces.

if you design using pre-cut dimensions; 3/4", 4/4", 5/4", 6/4", 7/4", 8/4", and so on, you can avoid needing the planer. also, if you dont mind hand planes and you have a good jointer plane, then you can also get by just fine without a jointer. I'll sell you my Grizzly 6" right now by the way. (im in colorado springs, Colorado)

ciao,

dan

[Johnny Kleso]

You can use a No5 Hand Plane and Planner to finish wood pretty well with a rip tool for TS

The hand plane you knock your higs down on one side and run the trued side down trew your planner..

Either than or build a Planner Sled

[Kevin Slankard]

Thanks for the quick responses. I revised my search from just "planer" to "planer vs jointer" and found many more helpful posts. I also checked out the woodwhisper's video which gave me even more ideas.

[Josiah Bartlett]

I've been working wood for years and never owned a jointer (have used one several times though), because I don't want to give up the space for one. I have a nice Bedrock #603 hand jointer that I use along with a good set of bench clamps to put a straight edge on a board when I need one, then use a good rip blade on the table saw to true up the opposite edge and then use the planer to clean up the top and bottom. If the board is excessively warped I either don't use it or true it up with a scrub plane.

As long as you aren't pressed for time, you can get away without a jointer just fine. I've made several doors and other pieces that rely on good jointed edges and they came out square and stayed that way. You just need to exercise some skill.

However, hand planing, scraping, and sanding a board to a consistent thickness is a real pain in the neck, and I would give up my table saw before I'd give up my 13" planer.

[Jim Becker]

Jointer: Flatten one face of a board and straighten and edge while making it perpendicular to said flattened face

Thickness Planer: Thickness board indexed on previously flattened face

If you can only buy one, buy the thickness planer. A jointer is only useful for edges if you don't have a thickness planer to compliment it.

[Mike Gager]

well i was in the same boat recently trying to decide which to buy. here is my experience

researched everything i could to figure out which to get first. decided to get a planer first because i supposidly could use a sled fixture to flaten one side and then use the planer without the sled to paralell the other side. once thats done i could use my router to jooint the edge

however in the real world it wasnt that easy, at least for me. the sled takes a long time to set up properly and i still wasnt getting the results i wanted and trying to joint a straight edge with my router was taking way to long as well.

i ended up going back to the store and buying a jointer so now i have both and its much easier to first joint the face and then 1 edge flat then run it through the planer to get the opposit face parallel then rip to width on the table saw. what took me 30 minutes using the jointer and router now takes about 3 or 4 minutes

again your results may vary but i would get both if possible

i got a delta planer for $197 and a ridgid jointer for $359

[James Carmichael]

Ideally, both. But, once again, Mr. Becker is correct, planer if you can only have one.

[George Sanders]

For a long time I had neither. Only option for me was to buy dimensioned, preplaned lumber. Very expensive. I happened upon something called a jointer clamp. You take one straight board and attach the clamps. Then you attach the board to be straightened to the other side of the clamps. Run the good board through your table saw against the rip fence. Now take off the clamps and the straight board. Then flip the board you just put a straight edge on and run it through the saw again. The result is 2 parallel sides. The clamps cost about $15 and do a pretty good job. I use my set to true up rough cut lumber from the sawmill before I run it over my jointer. This saves a lot of time and blade wear on the jointer.

[John Thompson]

If you have and can use hand planes.. you don't have to have either. If you don't, you really need both if you work with a wide range of prepped or un-prepped stock coming into your shop. I have hand planes and use them.. I also have a 8" jointer and 20" planer and use them.

Frankly.. I wouldn't give up any of the above as they all get the call on every project as they all have their respective place in my pecking order. But.. if I did not have them or use hand planes and was in your position.. I would go planer first but with the thought that the others would follow when budget allowed.

Sarge..

[Adam Cavaliere]

I was in your boat not too long ago.

I went with a jointer first because I wanted to ensure I had proper joints for glue ups and other issues I was running into. I realized very quickly that if I wanted to get anything done well I had to have both. I ended up picking up a planer not too long after the jointer.

I now use both and am really happy I can dimension boards rather easily now.

I ended up picking up a Steel City 6" jointer and a Steel City 13" planer.

Best of luck in your decision.

[Peter Quadarella]

1. True
2. False - A jointer does not make 2 sides parallel to each other, a planer does that. The jointer will just make one side flat.

I have a planer but not a jointer. Lately I have been using hand planes to rougly flatten wood. Once that's done I can run it through the planer to finish flattening. You can also build a sled and put the wood on that to perform initial flattening. Edges can be flattened quickly with hand planes or routers.

Doing the work of a power thickness planer without owning one is extremely time consuming and not easy. Doing the work of a power jointer without owning one is not as difficult, and there are other powered options.

Of course, having a powered jointer is a huge convenience though, and is quite handy to have.

[Chris Padilla]

I have a MM jointer/planer. The Europeans like to call a jointer a planer. They also like to call a planer a thicknesser. I like the European's verbage versus what we use here in the US.

A jointer (planer) can do two things:

(1) make one face of a board flat, often called face planing (make a face of the board coplanar)

(2) referencing that flat face on the jointer, it can also make an edge a fixed angle to that previosly milled flat face--typically that will be 90 degrees.

A planer (thicknesser) does one thing:

(1) makes one face of a board a uniform thickness to the referenced face of a board or in other words, it makes it coplanar to the referenced face.