Milling question..

[Jason White]

I'm building a small project similar in size to a jewelry box, and have a question about milling the small pieces for it.

I'm working with rough red oak stock, and I've rough cut and milled the pieces "close" to their final dimensions. I did this because I wanted to let the pieces acclimate to my shop a bit more before milling to final dimensions (I read someplace that this is a good idea).

A couple of the "rough milled" parts are only 13" in length. Is it safe to run a piece that short through my jointer? Also, could my cut quality suffer?

Jason

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

A couple of the "rough milled" parts are only 13" in length. Is it safe to run a piece that short through my jointer? Also, could my cut quality suffer?
Jason

I don't see a reason why not.

The Planer may be different. I find it's best to leave the lumber a tad long when planing and cut to length later. Either that or use a sled.

A vacuum chuck sled is the best. You won't get the problems that DBBL stick tape cause and you won't get the chatter at the beginning and end of the cut

[Jason White]

Anybody else?




I don't see a reason why not.

The Planer may be different. I find it's best to leave the lumber a tad long when planing and cut to length later. Either that or use a sled.

A vacuum chuck sled is the best. You won't get the problems that DBBL stick tape cause and you won't get the chatter at the beginning and end of the cut

[Ted Evans]

I run stock as short as 5-6 inches across my jointer frequently. It depends upon the gap size between the in and out beds of the jointer, and, most importantly, using a push stick that you can exert even pressure on the stock. I use a "D" shaped push stick that is about 12" long and 3/4" wide with sandpaper glued to the bottom and a catch hook on one end.

The planer depends upon the spacing of the in-feed and out-feed rollers, the minimum on my Bridgewood is 9 inches.

[Glen Blanchard]

Jason - Small work is all I do. I run parts that size over my jointer all the time. Just use good technique and a push block that will keep your hands away from the blade and you will be fine.

[Frank Drew]

Edge jointing short stock is pretty safe because you can hook some of your fingers over the top of the fence; face jointing, take the precautions mentioned above.

[george wilson]

Take equal amounts off each face of the wood. That helps minimize warping.

[Frank Drew]

Good advice from George.

[Paul Steiner]

All the textbooks I teach with say 11" is the minimum for safe jointing. But I have run shorter, good push sticks help.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
Wouldn't a hand plane be just as quick if there's only a couple of pieces?

[Anthony Whitesell]

Check your manual. I know that the minimum length for a Delta 22-560 is 14". Others may be shorter or longer. (I wish it was shorter, 11" would be nice. FWIW, the minimum length on a Performax 16-32 is 2 1/2". There's an advantage usually overlooked when deciding whether or not to by a drum sander.