Power Planer or Jointer

[Tim Allaire]

I have a small shop with limited space. I have a jet benchtop jointer but the infeed and outfeed tables are short for face flattening. Is it worth buying a power planer for longer boards (thinking festool because I have the table and TS55 and love them) or should I invest in a longer jointer (thinking the ridgid), of course I would have to make room? Suggestions? THoughts?

Tim

[Roger Jensen]

They do different things - a planer is never going to give you a straight side, no matter how long it is. A planer is only going to make the second side of a board parallel to the first, regardless of whether the first side is straight or not.

I was in a similar situation and got a combo jointer-planer, tae Hammer A3 31. It may be beyond your budget, so if money is an issue look into the Jet or Grizzly. Check out users' feedback on this forum and other sites with tool reviews.

Good luck,

Roger

[Tim Allaire]

I am sorry. I already have a planer; I was referring to a power plane by festool (like a hand plane only powered). I understand the purpose of a jointer and sometimes I use my planer with a sled. I would just like a way to speed up the process while maintaining the thickness and width of my lumber. (Most is more than 12" wide)

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Tim, I have a Makita "power plane".

It is too short for straightening lumber, so when I don't use a power stationary jointer, I use a jointer plane.

You can purchase a nice new one from Lee Valley, or pick up a used Stanley #7.

Regards, Rod.

[Tim Allaire]

Wont the festool do the same thing in less time?

[Paul Johnstone]

I have a small shop with limited space. I have a jet benchtop jointer but the infeed and outfeed tables are short for face flattening. Is it worth buying a power planer for longer boards (thinking festool because I have the table and TS55 and love them) or should I invest in a longer jointer (thinking the ridgid), of course I would have to make room? Suggestions? THoughts?

Tim

The powered hand jointer (even a festool) is not going to give you the results you want. It's going to do a worse job than the benchtop jointer.
They are great for rough kind of construction where you need to take a little more off (to make a door stop sticking, etc) , but their uses are pretty limited in furniture constructoin. (There's usually a better way). Edit.. it's very diificult to get a perfectly straight edge with a hand powered planer, especially if you make more than one pass. You will get a somewhat wavy edge.. a tablesaw cut is better quality.

Longer jointer, hands down.. Put it on wheels/mobile base if space is a problem

[Roger Jensen]

Sorry, I misunderstood. Not sure if the Festool would be long enough for this purpose. Perhaps you can head over to the Neanderthal forum and get some tips on a jointer plane - it would have the necessary length to joint longer boards. I think a typical jointer plane is about two feet long...

[Tim Allaire]

I was trying to find a way build tables for my jet (I like having 8" to work with), but I guess I am going to have to take the plunge for the longer 6". To start with would the Ridgid Jointer be okay, or should I save up for the Powermatic 54A? (longer bed)

[Darius Ferlas]

Ideally you'd use both, but if I could have only one of the two (planer or jointer) then I'd go for a planer.

With an average 12-13" planer (plus a little creativity) you will be able to:

- flatten stock on both surfaces
- plane stock to uniform thickness
- edge joint most pieces (with a jig, or some creativity)
- handle stock that is around 12" wide
- a thickness planer takes little space for storage
- handle stock of virtually unlimited length

With an 6 to 8" jointer you will be able to:

- flatten stock on one surfaces
- edge joint all pieces
- handle stock that is up to 8" wide
- jointer takes significantly more space
- handle stock that is not much longer than 1.5x to 2x the length of the jointer's table.

[Rod Sheridan]

Ideally you'd use both, but if I could have only one of the two (planer or jointer) then I'd go for a planer.

With an average 12-13" planer (plus a little creativity) you will be able to:

- flatten stock on both surfaces
- plane stock to uniform thickness
- edge joint most pieces (with a jig, or some creativity)
- handle stock that is around 12" wide
- a thickness planer takes little space for storage
- handle stock of virtually unlimited length

With an 6 to 8" jointer you will be able to:

- flatten stock on one surfaces
- edge joint all pieces
- handle stock that is up to 8" wide
- jointer takes significantly more space
- handle stock that is not much longer than 1.5x to 2x the length of the jointer's table.

Darius, would a portable planer accept a 12 inch wide piece for edge jointing?

I've never owned one, however they didn't look that large to me.

I believe the OP stated most of his stock is about 12" wide.

regards, Rod.

[Rod Sheridan]

I was trying to find a way build tables for my jet (I like having 8" to work with), but I guess I am going to have to take the plunge for the longer 6". To start with would the Ridgid Jointer be okay, or should I save up for the Powermatic 54A? (longer bed)


I have a space issue myself and purchased a Hammer A3-31 to solve that problem.

It's a 12" combination jointer/planer, and doesn't take up any more floor space than a 6" jointer.

(Most 6" jointers have fence mounting stuff that sticks out the back, the Hammer doesn't)

In addition to a 12" jointer (with clip on table extensions that add either 16" or 31.5" to each end), you have a 12" planer built in.

Regards, Rod.

[Josiah Bartlett]

You could either:

A. Make longer tables for your existing jointer.
1. Get a jointer and sacrifice the space
B. Make a planer sled
C. Buy a bigger combo machine
D. Go neanderthal and use a #7 or #8 jointer plane

I have a bosch power plane- it is useful for planing door edges to fit, hogging off material, and making curved areas of surfboards but that's about it. It can't joint any better than a #4 stanley hand plane- too short.

[Paul Johnstone]

I was trying to find a way build tables for my jet (I like having 8" to work with), but I guess I am going to have to take the plunge for the longer 6". To start with would the Ridgid Jointer be okay, or should I save up for the Powermatic 54A? (longer bed)

I guess it depends on how long of pieces you generally work with and how long it would take you to save up for the longer jointer.

I started off with a basic Jet 6" jointer. It did the job for a long time. It was a struggle with 6' long 4/4 boards. 8/4 was even more difficult. Eventually I was able to get an 8" jointer. I did have some initial buyer's remorse, because I did almost spend the extra $200 or so for the 54A.. I wish I had.. but on the other hand, the basic Jet served most of my needs for a long time.

When I needed a long true board, I just searched through my wood pile and found a piece close to perfect that I could just plane. I saved the pieces that needed to be joined for shorter pieces.

[Darius Ferlas]

Darius, would a portable planer accept a 12 inch wide piece for edge jointing?

I've never owned one, however they didn't look that large to me.

I believe the OP stated most of his stock is about 12" wide.

regards, Rod.
Most lunchbox planers will limit your edge jointing to 6" only (6 1/2" with mine). For wider boards I did use a sled on a TS with a glue line blade and I had great results. You need to flatten the stick first to make sure you get 90 degrees of face to edge.