Using the jointer as a planer???

[Joe Shinall]

I have some curly maple to work with. I have a Shelix head for my 8" Grizzly Jointer but still have my regular knives on my 15" planer. Rather than spending the $600 for a shelix head for the planer, for now, couldn't I just keep jointing it down to get the thickness?

Really concerned about tear out, first time working with curly maple. I know it will take a while since the jointer takes really really light passes, but better than spending the $$$$ right now.

Does anybody else do this?

[Steve Bracken]

I have some curly maple to work with. I have a Shelix head for my 8" Grizzly Jointer but still have my regular knives on my 15" planer. Rather than spending the $600 for a shelix head for the planer, for now, couldn't I just keep jointing it down to get the thickness?

Really concerned about tear out, first time working with curly maple. I know it will take a while since the jointer takes really really light passes, but better than spending the $$$$ right now.

Does anybody else do this?

You could rough out on the planer, and do the finish cuts on the jointer.

[glenn bradley]

Does anybody else do this?

Probably. The jointer uses the exiting surface as the reference surface. It has no way other than luck to keep the two surfaces parallel. How much are we talking about removing? If it is more than 1/8", resaw it first.

I suppose you could joint one face and edge, use those as reference surfaces to resaw and then joint the opposing face just enough to get the tool marks out. they wouldn't be perfect but they may get you close enough to finish up without too much hand planing.

Just some ideas and maybe none of them good ;-) I too cringe when I have to put figured woods through a knifed machine. Even with brand new knives the potential for tearout is pretty high in my experience. The next big dollar spend will probably be a spiral head planer. There are other things I could spend that money on but . . . . I need them less.

[Van Huskey]

You could rough out on the planer, and do the finish cuts on the jointer.


+1 needs to go through the planer to get the faces parallel, then through the jointer to final thickness w/o tearout. Plus it is possible to find out the planer doesn't tear out in your wood.

[Loren Hedahl]

Don't suppose you have, or know anyone who has a drum sander?

[joe milana]

Fabricate a simple router bridge. I'm sure you'll find info on this website on the concept if you don't already know. Follow that with a light final pass on the jointer (if necessary) and you should be good to go.

[Greg Book]

Probably. The jointer uses the exiting surface as the reference surface. It has no way other than luck to keep the two surfaces parallel. How much are we talking about removing? If it is more than 1/8", resaw it first.

I did something similar with ebony recently. I had 12" billets that I was turning into dominos. I resawed on the bandsaw, to reduce waste, and then took a couple light passes on the jointer to get to right thickness. I agree that the jointer can do nothing to keep the planes parallel, so you'll need to let the table saw or band saw do that step.

[mreza Salav]

+2 on planer then jointer.
Also, spraying the surface with (preferably distilled) water before planing will help to reduce chip-out.

[Joe Shinall]

Thanks guys, i have read up a little more on it and I think I will start with the planer and finish up on the jointer. I really don't want to take much off, just want to smooth it out evenly. I wish I had a drum sander, I would just use that. :(

[Michael MacDonald]

in Chicago, if I want to plane something to thickness, but am worried about chipout, I take it to Owl Lumber in Lombard. They have a wide-belt sander. Only done this once, but it worked nicely. Cost is nominal. You might call your local GA resources to see if any lumberyards have a big sander.

[Joe Shinall]

in Chicago, if I want to plane something to thickness, but am worried about chipout, I take it to Owl Lumber in Lombard. They have a wide-belt sander. Only done this once, but it worked nicely. Cost is nominal. You might call your local GA resources to see if any lumberyards have a big sander.

I would, only thing is, closest lumber yard is more than an hour away.:eek:

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

If holding the faces parallel is necessary for your project, maybe you can plane to almost proper thickness, take a pass face side on the jointer then take a whisker kiss pass on the back side with the planer just to complete the thickness and assure parallel. If both sides must be perfect, waste the hour traveling to someone with a wide belt. You will lose way more than a hour horsing around with a poorly machined piece.
fmr

[Joe Shinall]

If holding the faces parallel is necessary for your project, maybe you can plane to almost proper thickness, take a pass face side on the jointer then take a whisker kiss pass on the back side with the planer just to complete the thickness and assure parallel. If both sides must be perfect, waste the hour traveling to someone with a wide belt. You will lose way more than a hour horsing around with a poorly machined piece.
fmr

Would agree with you on the driving, except it would take more in gas than I paid for the wood to begin with. Would rather do it in house. That's the only way I'll ever learn how to do it :D

[Eiji Fuller]

joint one face, plane the other, then joint that face.