Edge-Jointing Without a Jointer

[Steve H Graham]

I may possibly have succeeded in creating two 3-board halves for a solid guitar body. If the whole mess doesn't explode when I take the clamps off, I will have to edge-joint each half and then glue and clamp them to make a bookmatched body.

I was amazed yesterday when I found out how hard it is to glue boards together. I thought this would be extremely easy, and it turned out to be a real job. I don't want that to happen again, so I am trying to get tips on the jointing.

I have two slabs. Each is about 1 7/8" by 7" by 17". I have to glue them together along the long sides, and the result has to be a very nearly flat slab, so I won't lose half of it planing it flat.

I have been told I can stack two boards on top of each other, run them through the table saw, flip one, and glue them up. Problem: these are too thick for that. I have also been told I can orient them as they will fit on the guitar and run the table saw between them, and that the result will be gluable. I think that would require some kind of sled or something.

Suggestions welcomed. Suddenly I want that jointer more than ever!

I just received a No. 6 plane, but I doubt I could manage this job with it.

[Dave Stuve]

Hi Steve,

Before I bought a jointer I would do this - put both boards in a vise so that the edges you want to join are facing up, and the tops are facing outwards, like you've just folded your panel in two. Then shave the edges to be joined with your hand plane, trying to get them nice and even with each other. This worked nicely for me, but my boards were < 1" thickness. You could try it on some scrap and see if it works for you. Have any friends with a jointer?

Dave

[Steve H Graham]

Not only do I not have friends with jointers; I probably don't have a single friend who has a planer or a real table saw.

[Roger Jensen]

Do you have a router table with a fence? I did my jointing with my router for a couple of years before I got a real jointer.

Roger

[Steve H Graham]

I have a table-mounted router. I don't have anything I would trust to use as a fence straight enough for jointing. Bill Hylton says you can cobble fences together from the edges of sheet MDF; maybe I should give that a shot.

I really have to work on my routing skills. I manage to get some amazing errors.

I wonder if I could do this on my mill. I could get excellent precision, and I guess the cutter would fit in a mill collet. The speed only goes to about 4500 RPM, though, and forget dust collection.

[Roger Jensen]

You can use one long piece of MDF attached to your fence, then glue something thin to the out-feed half of the fence that is the thickness of your cut (I imagine there is something in Hylton's book about this). It is surprisingly easy to do and gives you a nice straight edge. You'll need to find a long straight router bit of course.

Wish you lived closer - I could run it through my jointer and have it done in two minutes. Put a nice jointer on your Christmas list. It makes woodworking a lot more fun.

Good luck.

Roger

[Steve H Graham]

I may go ahead and get the little Rikon combo machine. It's supposed to be based on an old Inca design everyone liked, and it won't fill the remaining air space in the garage.

[Derek Gilmer]

I used my router table before getting a jointer. I made a fence of mdf.
Here are the steps I used.

Take a good piece as the front of the fence, and a piece for the base that you know has a straight edge.
I glued the face to the base like this _| so it would keep the face straight.
Then I cut some triangle pieces of mdf so the 90 degree side can be glued in every 8 or so inches to keep the face perfect.
Then route a hole in the fence face slightly wider than your straight bit and slightly taller.
Glue a piece of formica to one half of the fence
Get a straight edge and adjust your fence position by putting the straight edge on the formica side, spin your bit so the blade is the farthest out it can be and slide your fence back until the straight edge touches the bit.


At this point you can run stock through and it will square it to the table and take off the thickness of formica from the stock.

If that doesn't make sense let me know I'll try and find some pictures of what I did.

here is a good woodsmith video about this principle: http://www.woodsmithtips.com/2010/04/08/jointing-on-the-router-table/

[Steve H Graham]

Thanks for the help. I guess I better man up and give it a shot.

[Bill Huber]

Steve, this is how I have done it and it works very well.

First you have to have a flat table saw, if it is not flat it will not work.

Put the fence on the right and cut the first board, then move the fence to the left side and cut the second board on the matting side.

They will fit together like a glove, even if the blade is not at 90 degrees.

[Steve H Graham]

I checked my saw with a Wixey magnetic protractor, and it was leaning by 0.02°. I had to crawl around under it and fix it. I hope it will work for jointing now.

I am working on a router fence. I can't believe how challenging it is to put two pieces of MDF together at exactly 90°. I found two good MDF edges and cut out two 24" pieces of MDF and several 90° wedges to go behind it, and then I realized that as soon as I tried to attach the supporting wedges, I would throw all the angles off.

I decided to glue the MDF pieces as precisely as possible, with clamps. I figure that way they can't move too much while I'm putting the supports in back. I guess I'll find out tomorrow. I think I'll probably have to glue the wedges in, using clamps, and then secure them with screws. So two more days, just to make a rudimentary router fence.

I'm sure I'm making it harder than it should be.

[Erik Christensen]

know anybody that has a festool track saw?

I saw this demo'd on another woodworking site - tried it myself to see how it went and it was pretty good - you just butt the 2 pieces together aligned as you want to book match them & clamp them down - position the rail so the saw blade rides the line between the 2 and let it rip

the festool rip blade left an edge ready for glueup

[Pat Barry]

The idea of stacking the two boards and cutting a common edge will work just as well to cut the two boards individually orienting them in the same fashion. You need to make sure that your finish cut is a light one, and the you are very careful to keep the edge up against the fence. I have done this and it works but you have to keep the orientation straight, have a sharp blade, and keep both both pieces against the fence. It helps to use a consistent and steady feed rate also.

[Mark Ashmeade]

know anybody that has a festool track saw?

I saw this demo'd on another woodworking site - tried it myself to see how it went and it was pretty good - you just butt the 2 pieces together aligned as you want to book match them & clamp them down - position the rail so the saw blade rides the line between the 2 and let it rip

the festool rip blade left an edge ready for glueup

Couldn't you do that with a table saw? Maybe make a sled, clamp the blanks to the sled, and cut along the joint line.

[Steve H Graham]

I managed to create a 2-foot-long router fence. Today's amazing woodworking lesson: you can't put #8 screws into 1/2" MDF from the side. Thank God for glue.