Would I benefit from a jointer??

[Cutting Cathy]

Ok, I'm a little late with this post!!! I hope to get some quick replies as the auction is tomorrow!! It's at 10:00 a.m. and there are quite a few tools. I was thinking about the Dewalt jointer that's listed. Would I benefit from this tool?? Can someone explain to me exactly what you use a jointer for?? I've been told before, but I can't remember what the heck it's for!! I guess that should be my answer, if I don't know what it's for then I don't need it huh?? Any insight and/or advice is appreciated!! Thanks

Cathy in NE

[greatdane2]

A jointer will square up boards to be glued together. They come in many sizes both in lenght and width. A table saw will do the same thing and in my opinion do it better.
I was given an 8" longbed planer and had it sold in 1 week. It would be a good tool for a cabinet maker maybe.
My vote is pass on it. It would be the last power tool I would buy.

Alan.

[Gill]

As Alan says, it's designed to square up the edges of boards so they can be edge laminated together seamlessly. My experience is that they give a far superior finish to a table saw (sorry, Alan). If you're thinking of edge-joining boards together, a jointer is indispensable.

Make sure the model you're bidding on has knives that can be removed and sharpened.

Gill

[jim_mex]

Hi Cathy - I have a very small workshop and was hankering after a jointer for a long while but due to lack of space I gave it a miss.

I get by either as Alan says by using the table saw, or preferably by using my router in one of two ways.

a) For boards of over 4 " wide and up to 8 feet long I clamp a piece of 2" square and exceptionally straight aluminium box section to the wood and with a 3/4" diam straight bit I trim up the edge in question taking a cut of no more than 1/32" max thickness. I then just ease the guide aluminium back in 1/32" increments per cut until I get the perfect edge I need . The reason I say for boards above 4 " is that I need about 2 1/4"" space between the aluminium and the cut edge to accommodate the size of the base plate of my router and 2 " for the actual aluminium guide..

b) for narrower boards I use my router fitted under its table and I use a special fence I made, again from a piece of similar aluminium profile, which has a strip of formica glued to the side of the fence on the outfeed from the router bit. I then set the thickness of the cut - ie the distance between the bit and the fence without the formica - to the same thickness as the formica. Then all I need to do is run the board to be 'jointed' a few times down the table until it is perfectly straight.

These solutions allow me to edge joint to around 1 1/8" thickness - I use a long reach cutting bit - and I find this serves most of my needs.

Ref Gill's comment - Unlike the table saw, which I agree can sometimes give a bad cut if not properly set or incorrectly used, the router cut is perfect.

For me the router is the the workhorse of my shop and with a bit of imagination can undertake a wide variety of jobs you wouldn't normally use it for. I've been known to rip cut boards with it when my table saw is out of action and have even surface 'planed' boards down to thickness by using a purpose made jig.

Unless you aim on doing a lot of edge jointing work or have space and money to spend I wouldn't necessarily count the jointer as being an essential piece of workshop kit.

Hope this helps

Jim

[marshall]

Cathy : The guys are right , but now I brought one when I first started out and have learned to use it alot and when its been down due to the blades beening sharpened and I needed it I really missed it . And also space is also a factor in this matter for anybody, and also the money !!! But if you have the money and the space and can get a good deal , go for it . Now this is from someone that has only been doing this for only about 12 years , and by far not an expert !!! Wish you The Best in this matter !!! Marshall

[JohnB]

G'day all.
You blokes are all sissy's, I use a hand plane for jointing boards.

But getting a decent Buzzer/Jointer is definitely on my list.
If you use a thicknesser to mill your own timber than a buzzer is a necessity, they go hand in hand.

Cathy, you can get by without one, I have, but if you can get a good'n at an affordable price, go for it. There's no need to go without if you can afford not to.

[Ramjet]

Hi . I bought a used one about 20 years ago . I used it a little to square off wood to glue together when building a boat . The time came to sharpen the blades . Do you think I could get the blades level . I fiddled and fiddled . My boards never came out with a square edge after that . It now sits in a corner and has been for years . It gets moved out of the way once in a while . The other tool that I thought I must have was a thickness planer . After I bought it I found out that the model was discontinued . The newer model had self adjusting knives , which the old one did not have . It too sits in its box . A good table saw is my suggestion unless you get it for one hell of a good price . The only draw back for me was the knife alignment . You are probably on your way . It will be interesting to hear you make out . LOL
Roger

[Cutting Cathy]

Thanks so much for the quick replies. Two hours to go until the sale and still questions! I want to make sure I understand... All you use a jointer for is to square up boards to be edge glued?? I have never had the need to do that. However I do have/use a planner to create thinner stock and not sure how this goes hand in hand with the a jointer? This thought comes to mind... I have a band saw and want to start resawing my wood as I waste so much, planning it down. I thought someone told me at one time that a jointer would be helpful with this procedure. Does that make any sense to anyone?? You can all see I'm totally in the dark on this one huh?!?!?! Thanks again!

Cathy in NE

[JohnB]

Cathy,
If you run a board through a thicknesser and one edge is not square to the face the thicknesser wont correct the problem. However if you run your timber over a buzzer first it gives you square faces, so that as you run the timber through the thicknesser it remains square.
Another use is, if you have 1/4" or so to knock of the edge of a board you can use the buzzer to do this, when the board may be to thin to put through the thicknesser on edge.

When using a bandsaw, or circular saw to resaw timber, the face against the table and fence should be square to each other, a buzzer can do this for you.

I'm not saying to run out and get one, but I would like to have one, even though I've made it through 36 years of woodworking without one.

[Ocelot]

Originally Posted by Cutting Cathy

Thanks so much for the quick replies. Two hours to go until the sale and still questions! I want to make sure I understand... All you use a jointer for is to square up boards to be edge glued?? =

That's pretty much correct. If you already have a surface/thickness planer (which I'd love to have) then the main use is for squaring the edge for gluing or "jointing" as the name says. if it's a 6 inch jointer, it can also be used for surfacing narrow boards or reducing the thickness of narrow boards to.

One other thing, not often done, but sometimes useful, you can plane an angle like a 45 degree angle on the edge of a board if the fence is adjustable for that.