1st jointer - what should i look for?

[petee_c]

Cheap.

I am a day or so away from drywalling my 10.5 x 23' shop. I have the following equipment to put in it.

small 7amp dust collector
cast iron (emerson /ridgid) craftsman table saw with accufence
ryobi lunch box planer.
cheap Cdn tire router table.
makita 10" SCMS

I'm thinking a jointer might be nice for glue ups. I'm looking at old sub $100 jointers on kijiji...

They come in 4" and 6" sizes... for most tasks, 4" is enough.

What is a jointer used for besides squaring up glue faces for making table tops?

Thx,
Peter

[Brian @ Muir]

I personally would stay away from the 4 inch jointers due to the fact they usually have a real short bed.I would also look for one that has an adjustable outfeed table.

Brian

[stevem]

i would also avoid the 4 inch machines, they are really short. although i do have and use a little rebuilt craftmaster as well as a beaver 3800 6 inch, although the old beaver and CM 4 inch machines are very well built and CHEAP

a search on kijiji using "planer" and "jointer"(many sellers dont know the difference) as keys words will show you whats out there

here's a decent older rockwell, i dont think the outfeed table is adjustable though, thats a pain sometimes

http://kitchener.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and...AdIdZ379842196

here's an old boyce crane machine at a great price

http://kitchener.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and...AdIdZ379495992

and a really nice looking beaver 4 inch

http://kitchener.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and...AdIdZ377851557

so there's a few to choose from, any of those machines would be far better than the mastercraft/craftsman stuff, ironically, CT used to sell craftmaster tools years ago
an a

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Peter, I also would consider nothing smaller than a 6 inch jointer.

As to what does a jointer do? Well it's really a two trick pony, aside from the less used functions.

The jointer is used as the first machine in the process of converting lumber into something that can be used to make furniture.

The first step on the jointer is flatten one face of the wood, yielding a flat, straight surface that's used as the reference face for the next two steps.

The second step is to hold the reference face against the fence, passing the wood over the cutter head to make the edge straight, and a certain angle to the reference face ( normally 90 degrees however most jointers can be adjusted for 45 to 90 degrees).

After the above, you can run the wood reference face down through the planer to make the second face parallel to the first face.

Fourth step is to rip the wood to width on the saw.

Jointers may also be capable of rebating and cutting tapers such as on cabinet legs................Regards, Rod.

[petee_c]

Rod, Steve et al,

Thx for the info.

Currently putting the finishing touches on the VB (went with 6mil instead of the old stuff I had), and the last little bit of soundproofing insulation. Then to order/calculate drywall.

I'll keep my eye out on a jointer, but am in no rush right now.

I heard there is a way to shim a piece of wood on a known flat board and run it through a planer to take the bows out....

P

[stevem]

there is!! but a jointer cant be beat for edge jointing

id be grabbing that boyce crane pretty quickly!!

[Don Burch]

Check out planer sleds. You may find the idea of interest.

Also, a quality glue edge table saw blade is every bit as good as a jointer. No grain direction issues = no tear out.

Don

[stevem]

Check out planer sleds. You may find the idea of interest.

Also, a quality glue edge table saw blade is every bit as good as a jointer. No grain direction issues = no tear out.

Don

some what true don, but a 100 bucks blade on a fairly decent table saw is beat by a nice old jointer thats freshly honed anyday

i tend to keep decent but not great blades in my tablesaw, then rely on a jointer for that perfect glueline cut and a well tuned up, carefully honed 4 inch jointer can produce perfect glueup lines

a nicely setup, carefully tuned and honed 4 inch jointer, will produce really nice glueups in material up to 36 inches long easily, i have a craftmaster 4 inch machine that does that and nothing else unless i have a bunch of rebates to do, does those easily too

hand planes combined with planer sleds can sub for a jointer, but when it comes to edge jointing, the jointer is king

[Don Burch]

Steve,
The 8" jointer was my had to have machine after my bandsaw. Once I got a decent TS and finally a glue joint blade a few years ago, my jointer collected more dust than it made.
Don

[stevem]

Steve,
The 8" jointer was my had to have machine after my bandsaw. Once I got a decent TS and finally a glue joint blade a few years ago, my jointer collected more dust than it made.
Don

that maybe true, but we're working with what the op has and a very strict budget

the tablesaw sounds decent enough, add a 100 buck blade, square it up and so on, then change the blade everytime he rips rough stock or crosscuts

a small jointer for the same money saves that and does a better job

a jointer for a 100 bucks put another 50 into it and dont change blades on the saw as often

the jointer is a far better deal in the long run

[Don Burch]

that maybe true, but we're working with what the op has and a very strict budget

the tablesaw sounds decent enough, add a 100 buck blade, square it up and so on, then change the blade everytime he rips rough stock or crosscuts

a small jointer for the same money saves that and does a better job

a jointer for a 100 bucks put another 50 into it and dont change blades on the saw as often

the jointer is a far better deal in the long run

The OP raised the issue of a sled in post #5

On everything else, you remain as dead wrong as I do, but I am sure we will survive :-)

Don

[Rod Sheridan]

Rod, Steve et al,

Thx for the info.

Currently putting the finishing touches on the VB (went with 6mil instead of the old stuff I had), and the last little bit of soundproofing insulation. Then to order/calculate drywall.

I'll keep my eye out on a jointer, but am in no rush right now.

I heard there is a way to shim a piece of wood on a known flat board and run it through a planer to take the bows out....

P

Pete, yes you can use a planer sled to simulate a jointer, however it's such a pain that you couldn't convince me to use one. Of course it would be really stupid for me to use one, I have the same width jointer as planer. ( Ihave a combination machine).

Regards, Rod.

[michaely]

Pete,

The machine jointer is pretty key to opening up the way to use cheaper and more varied roughsawn lumber (than what the big box stores have)... getting one face flat is important before you can use the thickness planer......

I would look for a 6" jointer.....
.....look for 'beefy' construction; just like a table saw, mass/weight is good, reduces vibration, makes putting a long/heavy piece of lumber on it safer....... a cast iron fence is more solid than an aluminum one..... looks to see that the tops of the bolts holding the knives aren't rounded over (sometimes loosening these bolts is sticky)..... realize that you will want the jointer to be mobile and hook it up to your dust collector; so extra points for a unit that is more complete in these respects...... sometimes the blade guard on a jointer is missing; you can make one out of wood,etc. so this is not necessarily a deal breaker.....test run the machine for reasonably smooth running, manipulate the infeed table control, the fence controls, etc.

Check the posts in this category and in the 'golden oldies' thread in swap meet for what is available.... my sense is that there is a reasonable supply used ready to go, classic iron 6" jointers in the $200 and a bit less asking price.... for $100 or less probably some restoration is needed.....

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com...page42........ can't tell if this is actually a 4"

here is a nice 6" Rockwell 37-220 that was offerred for $175..... needed dust collection chute/take off and mobile stand....
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com...-Kijiji/page27

good luck

michael