Jointerless Woodshop?

[Craig Regan]

Is it possible to produce good work in a shop that has no jointer?

[Bill Huber]

I think so, I have one but its not much of a jointer, I just use it to flatten a board now and then.

With the really good blades we have now, that make a glue ready cut I don't see why not.

Now I am just a hobbyist....

[Van Huskey]

Sure.. plenty of ways to edge joint without a jointer and face jointing can be done on the planer. Without a planer it gets harder...

You could build with hardwood plywood and S4S wood but you would be severely limited in many ways AND the costs of a decent small planer and jointer would be spent pretty quickly on the extra costs of S4S wood.

Consider a small jointer and planer can be had for under $600 it seems like a hard row to hoe to do without them.

[Jamie Buxton]

Sure. It depends a bit on what you want to build. For instance, turners don't have jointers, and can produce jaw-dropping woodwork. For another instance, there's a company down the street from me that makes Euro-style cabinets, and I don't think they have a jointer. So you might be more specific about what you intend to build.

[Peter Quinn]

Yes, but it's not really possible to do fine work with joinery unless your boards are flattened, and a jointer is a fine way to flatten boards quickly. So use a jointer, or use some other method, but be ready to prepare your material flat somehow. Even curved work generally gets flattened first! I suppose you will find exceptions in specialized cases where stock is never really flattened but good work is achieved, there are always exceptions, but these are few.

[Nathan Callender]

Sure - it is just easier with a jointer. I don't have a jointer and I've produced a bunch of kitchen cabs, doors, etc and other woorworking things. So, it can be done. Now, the truth is that I would love to get one though.

[Mike Henderson]

I don't have a jointer - just no room. I flatten my stock by hand and then run it through the planer. Not all that difficult but it does take more time than if I had a big jointer.

Mike

[james susick]

I have a jointer but I also have a planer sled for wide boards. My jointer is only 6" due to my 200sq/ft shop. I made the sled to use my belsaw planer for 2 face on 8"-12" boards. My edge come out just as clean with a Glue Line rip blade as my jointer. I do end up jointing one edge cause I have one but the other I cut to size with glue line rip blade. If you get a 6" jointer you will wish you had an 8" .....then a 12"....or at least thats how I am. If I only had more room!

[Stuart Gardner]

Is it possible to produce good work in a shop that has no jointer?


Not Really ------ After struggling for years, I found it really is necessary to have the holy trinity of woodworking --- Tablesaw, Jointer, and Planer.

[Stephen Cherry]

It's just a guess, but hasn't the moulder replaced the jointer in professional shops? I look at irs auctions at used equipment, and there are lots of molders and only a few jointers. I'm guessing that things like cabinet door parts come out finished on all four sides with only one machine.

Personally, I really do not want to spend a lot of time flattening out boards, so one face and one edge flat, with a jointer, is a great start. I know there are ways around it, but a tuned up jointer makes flattening very easy.

[ian maybury]

I guess if you are working in sheet material you can manage with a saw. Perhaps also if you only need small dimension strip wood.

I'm no expert, but over here the 4 sided planer/shaper (not sure of the exact details) seems to have become very popular with those doing cabinet work - because it's a big time saver.

ian

[Mike Cutler]

Is it possible to produce good work in a shop that has no jointer?

Absolutely, but it will take a little bit longer.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Is it possible to produce good work in a shop that has no jointer?
Sure!

It's also possible to kill a Polar Bear w/a .22Mag.....

Unless you have to do either,,,,,,

[Lynn Floyd]

[QUOTE=Stephen Cherry;1522639]It's just a guess, but hasn't the moulder replaced the jointer in professional shops? I look at irs auctions at used equipment, and there are lots of molders and only a few jointers. I'm guessing that things like cabinet door parts come out finished on all four sides with only one machine.
Some modern round-head molders do have jointing infeed beds and edge-straightening rebate cutters on #1 head, but they don't entirely replace the jointer. We hit-or-miss door parts on the jointer and straight-edge them either on the jointer or straight-line ripsaw before running them through a 6-head molder. They come out beautifully surfaced and profiled on 4 sides.
My guess why molders show up at irs auctions more than some other machines is that more larger professional shops have folded recently than smaller shops.
As to the question of doing without a jointer, yes you can have a perfectly good shop without one. It will save a lot of time, however, allowing you to spend it on more interesting and productive parts of your projects.
When I retire from this business, I plan to build a shop in my backyard and take up woodworking as a hobby. I will have a tablesaw, jointer, planer, and bandsaw at the least.
Work safely.

[glenn bradley]

Possible? Yes. Desirable by me? No. I did get by with a planer sled (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=58735) for a long time. Very doable. My shop time is limited so, although I enjoy hand planing, as a method for generic truing of a board face it holds little romance for me. The planer sled solved that. The eventual purchase of a large jointer made it more convenient. I still use the planer sled for the occasional wider board.

Just a precaution. . . You will hear many folks say that edge jointing can be done on the router table or the tablesaw and that is 100% correct. It also assumes that you already have a flat face to use as a reference surface; that's the rub.

[Lee Schierer]

Face jointing is difficult without a jointer unless you are a really proficient neander tool user.

Edge jointing can easily be accomplished with a good blade and a well tuned table saw. I worked for many years without a jointer in my shop. None of my TS jointed edge joints have ever failed.

I now have a 6" jointer and it makes the work a lot easier and faster.

[Gene Waara]

As always, it depends on the type of project and your definition of "good". I did without one for years and am happy with my results. My dad had a 50's era 6" planer that I would use when I felt I had to have planed material. After he passed, my brothers didn't want it so it is now in my shop. I have to admit, I'm not sure how I got along without it. Since it was my dad's I'll never get rid of it but I can see why many who start with 6" planers move to wider ones with longer beds.

[Andrew Joiner]

I have no need for a jointer any more.

I use a thin lightweight sled on a flat infeed table to flatten faces of stock. It's like a jointer with power feed. Another plus,you don't have to press heavy,long lumber down flat on the jointer tables.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=134633

I use a table saw rip sled to straightline rip, or I order S3S stock.
I rarely used my jointer after carbide saw blades replaced steel saw blades around the mid 70's. The saw marks were less noticeable than the jointer knife marks and NO chip out! One chip out of errant grain means you've wasted lumber and I'd wind up sawing the edge straight anyway.

I know we all love machines. Call me a rebel,but I'm happy to be jointer free.

[Paul Canaris]

Just my two cents worth. If most of your work is with solid wood, a jointer is pretty much a necessity.

When I started furniture building in the early 80's I could go to a number of hardwood dealers and find wide flat stock straight off the pile. Over the past fifteen years the lumber I see has taken a real decline in overall quality and it is a real challenge to find some reasonably flat stock. I find that sometimes even with careful picking, I still have to go with, as an example, 6/4 rough just to end up with 5/4 finished flat. I'm not sure if this is a lack of old growth trees, poor kiln drying or poor transport and storage but it exists in my opinion. Without a jointer it would be a real ordeal for me. If I were to buy a whole pallet of wood bulk and take what I get I can’t imagine how I could even use a good portion of the lot. I've had this observation confirmed by a number of hardwood dealers who all seem to say that that mills simply send what they want and tell them "too bad if you don’t like it".

[Jim Becker]

It's possible to produce incredible work without any power tools at all. That said, my jointer is part of the heart of my shop...not for edges, but for flattening the wide boards I prefer to work with. There are many techniques for working edges straight and perpendicular to a face, but there are a limited number of methods for getting that face flat to begin with. Aside from hand planes, one can use a sled with a planer, for example, to flatten a face.

Now, if you are very careful with material selection, you can minimize the impact of not having a jointer...and many folks do just that, either because they don't have the space for a jointer or because they don't feel the need for one.

[johnny means]

Is it possible to produce good work in a shop that has no jointer?

Every single piece of authentic Chippendale and Queen Anne furniture was created without a jointer, or a shaper, or a tablesaw, or a powered lathe, or sand paper, etc... They also didn't true their machines up to 1000ths of an inch or use lasers to mark site their cuts. The only absolute necessity to produce good work is the will to do good work.

[Dan Karachio]

You know, there is another jointer you could look into - a lot smaller, but does the same kind of job.

http://www.lie-nielsen.com/images/8_lg.jpg

[johnny means]

You know, there is another jointer you could look into - a lot smaller, but does the same kind of job.

http://www.lie-nielsen.com/images/8_lg.jpg

That one might actually cost more than an electric model.

[Jim Becker]

Every single piece of authentic Chippendale and Queen Anne furniture was created without a jointer, or a shaper, or a tablesaw, or a powered lathe, or sand paper, etc... They also didn't true their machines up to 1000ths of an inch or use lasers to mark site their cuts. The only absolute necessity to produce good work is the will to do good work.

Johnny, the tools used "back then" may be different, but the concepts of craftsmanship were not. Workers still aimed strongly for straight, true and flat material and worked the wood until they achieved that goal. A well tuned set of hand planes and a set of winding sticks can absolutely result in a board that is very exacting in dimension, straightness, flatness, etc.

Power tools are merely just a different way to achieve the same end and might be easier in some respects, especially for those who have not had the time, inclination or tooling to learn the older methods. In the last few years, I've started to learn how to use my hand planes effectively, but as a hobbyist with limited shop time, I'd be hard pressed to not use my power tools, including my jointer extensively. And most of my jointer time is for flattening as I'm blessed with a slider for a table saw and can straight-line glue joint ready edges once I have a flat and true board from my jointer. My hand planes get used more and more for refining the finish of that surface, however, rather than sanding.

[Gary Hodgin]

I didn't find my 6" jointer wide enough to be a particular useful tool for the boards I wanted to flatten. Why I didn't realize this beforehand, I have no idea. This wasn't high level math. Besides the jointer was loud (even with hearing protection), and I didn't think it was particularly safe. I didn't have space wiring, or budget for a larger jointer.

Now, I flatten with a jointer plane, straightedge, and winding sticks. I edge joint by hand also. I find it more enjoyable. There was a learning curve, but one I enjoyed for the most part. As strictly a hobbyist working on things for the simple enjoyment, I'm not in a hurry. Not that doing this by hand is particularly slow, but I like to take my time. I figure I have 10-15 yrs of ww left (God willing) and only about 2 years of projects if I stay busy. Unless I add some, I run out of things to do. I may add pen-turning to my projects. If I'm not working in the garage, my LOML will find me something else to do.
BTW, I do use a small planer to thickness.