Help, 12' lumber but only 6" jointer

[Jeremy Bracey]

Help! I am getting ready to make baseboard for my new house. I have picked up 500 bdft of red oak in 12' lengths. For obvious reasons, I dont want to cut it shorter since I plan to use it for baseboard. The problem I have is putting a straight edge on one side. I have a Jet 6" jointer but the bed length vs 12'lumber isnt practical. It needs to be straight, but it doesnt have to be "glue line" perfect as I will be running it throught the moulder once I have it cut into 4" by 12' pieces.

Im thinking thier has to be a jig I can make to do this on the table saw. Any help is appreciated!

[Brad Olson]

Not to be too much of a galoot, but you can use a jointer plane to get a near perfectly straight edge. An equivalent of a stanley #6, 7 or 8 will do you good and save wrestling such a big hunk of wood on a TS.

[Dean Baumgartner]

Jeremy,
Find a good straight 14' piece of lumber that's a little wider than the wood you want to straighten. Use this to make a long sled to set the oak on and attach the oak to the sled. Toggle clamps work well for this. The sled rides against your fence and the cut from the saw blade gives one straight edge. You'll need some good supports front and back and probably a good helper besides.

Dean

[Jamie Buxton]

Uh-oh, are we about to dive into the guided-saw discussion again?

[Dick Parr]

Jeremy, I have strightened 10' oak on my 6" Jet. I used roller stands held steady by sand bags on the feet/legs. Worked ok for me, I just opened up the shop door and had the jointer in the middle of the shop with roller stands on each end. The wife did have to help support the long runs though. But it can be done.

[Mike Cutler]

Jeremy. I also have a Jet 6" jointer. I just got done jointing the edges on 13' long brazillian cherry ( Jatoba) that is 1 1/4" thick, by 8"-14" wide. Your jointer is capable of the job you need to do. If you are familiar with a single point resaw guide, you need to make two of them and clamp them to your jointer to aid in keeping the stock against the fence and perpindicular to the blades. You will also need some "auxilliary " infeed/ outfeed tables to assist you. Your biggest problem with the Jet 6" may be that you have enough leverage with those boards to deflect the actual fence itself ( Dang that Archimedes Principal)
Another option available is to use a router table and offset the fences 1/16th or so and joint the boards on the table lying flat.

[Dennis Peacock]

Uh-oh, are we about to dive into the guided-saw discussion again?

No we're not..... :D

[Dennis Peacock]

Jeremy,

I've done what Dick has done. roller stands at each end and joint away. I even used a couple of short finger boards (homemade) to help hold the boards against the fence. Other than that....a good Jack Plane will do nicely too.!! :rolleyes: