Jointer & planer size relationship

[LarryG]

So, my question is do folks get a lot of use out of their 6" jointers and 13" planers. We didn't have a drum sander in HS...where does this fit in?

I burn my planer and jointer to the ground. They're both used on virtually every project that's not made entirely of MDF or plywood. Both are essential if you work much with rough lumber, and highly desirable even if you don't.

I don't own a drum sander (it's the next tool on my list, and about the only thing I really need to fit out my shop other than a lathe [a whole sub-category unto itself]), but I know that the two primary usages are to flatten and smooth panels too wide to fit through the typically smaller planer; and to take thin veneers down to final thickness after resawing them on the bandsaw. It's the latter for which I most want a drum sander.

[Russianwolf]

To use our planer in proper prespcetive, you need to have one side "flat". The quickest and easiest way to eliminate "cup" is face joint it on the jointer. If you have 7"-8" stock, you can rip the stock in half to joint it and re-glue latter to cut down waste with a 6" jointer. If you have an 8", you eliminated a step. Same with stock over 8". Vicious cycle and a bigger tool is not always an option. :>)

..

There are other tricks. Let's take your 8" board with a 6 inch jointer and 12 inch planer.I don't like ripping and regluing, too much trouble.

If your remove the guard you can flatten at least 5 inches of the face. (only remove the guard when you will have the entire blade covered, either with wood or partially by the fence as in the case with rabbits) If you remove about an 1/8th inch of material from that 5 inches of width, you can then double stick tape a piece of 1/4 inch hardboard to that face. Send the piece through the planer (hardboard side down) to flatten the other face. Then flip and remove the hardwood for the final passes. Viola, 8 inches of flat and true wood from a 6 inch jointer. This technique is good up to about 10 inches on a 6 incher and 14 on a 8 inch jointer.

[SARGE..g-47]

I, like Larry will let the joiner and planer chop till it drops. I, like drumpriest will either rent time on a large drum sander for very large panels or hand-plane them (another thread required on that one) as it's an alternative al-beit a time conssuming one. I, kike Lichen agree that most end up with a 6" & 13" as it is what's in our budget when you first acquire the need. We don't always end up with a 6" or 13" if we get into it heavy, but at the time it seemed a good idea and you were able to squeeze out the money from the budget. :>)

From humble beginning's in 1972 with a Shopmate circular saw bolted to the bottom of a 4' x 8' piece of ply with a rectangular hole cut for the blade to protrude through, to a current fairly well-equipped shop; I would rate the my jointer behind a solid work-bench, TS, then the jointer and planer. When you advance beyond S4S and it's prices, it becomes essential unless you want to hand-plane (another story) it.

I have 800 linear feet of pecan in my rack. My uncle cut the trees and took them to the saw-mill. Stored them in his humid basement. What he didn't do was sticker them at that point to properly air-dry. Fungus, cup, bow and twist. The "deal" was to prepare 400 linear feet for him and he would give me 800 L feet. Done deal as I have a jointer and planer. The 800' almost paid for both in this lone instance. And the beat goes on, IMHO>

[Roger on the Rock]

Thanks for the input, guys. It's clear to me that I certainly won't go wrong with these machines. I guess all I had to relate to was the massive industrial jointers and planer I experienced in HS. I appreciate the help as I get going in this hobby.

Cheers,

Roger

[SARGE..g-47]

And you are correct, Russianwolf. If you are running long boards (my 6" Sunhill has a 55 inch table), I will definitely use support stands on both in-let and out-let sides to encourage balance and keep the stock under control. I do it with the gaurd on for that matter. I like those Ridgid flip-tops.

And with us advocating it I would add this word of caution! I'm not sure I would recommend the method to someone who has not put a few miles on a jointer. As you know, done with extreme caution it is not a major risk. But.. taking the guard off opens up a can of worms for someone who has not mastered the machine and the proper techniques of working safely with the gaurd on..

BTW.. nice coats on your dogs on that web-site!

Regards...

[drumpriest]

My response to the question about drum sanders. I definately use the wide belt sander and my friend's drum sander for flatening large glue-ups, desks, dining tables, that sort of thing. Other uses are for veneer or laminate prep. They are dead useful for doing bent wood lamination and for cutting your own veneers.

They can actually flatten, like a jointer, so they could be useful for flatening faces of wider boards.

[dtam]

Does it make sense to add a riser block to a 14-in bandsaw to increase the resaw capacity to 12-inches if you only have a 6-in jointer?

[LarryG]

Does it make sense to add a riser block to a 14-in bandsaw to increase the resaw capacity to 12-inches if you only have a 6-in jointer?

It does if you have large baulks of wood that require more than the standard 6" vertical capacity of the average 14" bandsaw. After the wood has been resawn into wide boards, if necessary it can be ripped to fit the width of the jointer.

[davidtu]

About removing the guard... other than the obvious danger of an exposed blade are there other safety considerations (ala "kickback" on TS)? I haven't seen much so far on jointer safety, I'll have to look around a bit.

[wassaw998]

Does it make sense to add a riser block to a 14-in bandsaw to increase the resaw capacity to 12-inches if you only have a 6-in jointer?

It certainly does if you are sawing veneers which would never see a jointer. And also, for example cutting blanks for a lathe, and I am sure other things that I can't think of off the top of my head.

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Does it make sense to add a riser block to a 14-in bandsaw to increase the resaw capacity to 12-inches if you only have a 6-in jointer?

I don't understand the correlation. Are you talking about the face jointing issue? As advised you can remove the safety guard, apply appropriate supports for larger material and joint the other side of the board resulting in 12" width.
I see a lot of questions from new folks on resawing. Are that many folks actually resawing (other than those of you doing specialty veneers)?
Seems most work is in 4/4 or larger, so I don't understand what all the resawing is about.

[dtam]

When you resaw (say you need thin pieces for bent lamanation, or you want thin pieces from an exotic wood for drawer fronts that match) , don't you need one side perfectly flat againt the tall resaw fence? I thought the way to do this is:
1) run piece thru jointer to get a flat face
2) resaw (with fence close to blade), run the piece thru jointer again so you get a new flat face, resaw, repeat again..
3) you then have a bunch of thin pieces with 1 flat side, and 1 side with bandsaw marks, so you run each thin piece thru planar. That way each thin piece has 2 perfectly flat faces that are parallel to each other

Is this how you resaw?

thanks.
David