Tablesaw and Jointer: How short is to short? (Long)

[Ray Dockrey]

My fourteen year old son just finished his first semester of woodworking. He has learned the basics on all the machines and feels pretty comfortable using all of them. He especially likes to turn but does some flat work to. I try not to go against what his shop teacher teaches him when it comes to safety. We were working on a project over the weekend and we had a six inch piece that was a slightly over an inch and a half and we needed it at an inch and a half. I told him to run it over the jointer and it would take off what we needed. He said that his teacher told him never to run anything less then twelve inches in length over the jointer or through the tablesaw. I ended up running it over the jointer with no problems. I practiced the cut with the machine off and could see no problems in doing this. Was I wrong? It seemed safe to me but I could be doing this all wrong and I am willing to change if need be. Sorry for this being so long. Thanks in advance.

[Don Carkhuff]

I assume you planed the surface of the 6 inch long piece. If you do this with a longer push block and cleat on top of the 6 inch piece, it's safe. His teacher is also correct, liability is a strong incentive to have his students only surface joint 12 inch pieces.
There is a device that fits into a drill press and/orradial arm saw called "Saf-T-Planer". It planes very small pieces safely with 3 rotary cutters. Each cutter projects 1/64" beyond a bearing surface. There is no kickback with this rotary planer. The smoothness of the surface will not be equal to a jointer but sanding will make it fine.
Powermatic jointer cutterheads also have very small projections of knife edge past the circumference of the cutterhead. Rockwell Delta does not. The most dangerous of all are square cutterheads made in the old days.

[Alan Turner]

Ray,
I won't promise to do what I say, but that shop teacher's advice is generally regarded as correct. If the front dips a bit as the feed is started, or if there is a catch during the feed, then your hand has a decent chance of a very serious injury. I'd say your guy is getting good lessons in his school.
Alan

[Byron Trantham]

I agree with your son's teacher, however, I have done what you did. The problem is it worked. As has already been pointed out, if anything hangs, you're WAY TOO CLOSE TO THE BLADE! Maybe in this particular case, a thickness planner would be safer - maybe. :rolleyes:

[Dick Latshaw]

Sounds like a job for one of those non-electron eating planes. :)

[Daniel Rabinovitz]

Thanks Al and Byron,
Taught "shop" for 30 years and told the students that 12" was the minimum length to put through the jointer, planer and table saw. It's was a liability thing as well as a safety issue.
You figure that the opening (throat) at the jointer knives is 2 inches or there abouts, so with a six inch board you only have 2 inches on the front table and 2 inches on the back table when the board is half way through the cut. Too short!
Also Don, does he hook his "little" finger over the fence as he is pushing the board through the jointer, we made our students do that.
Also Don we made a push "plank" with a trailing "block" that was twelve inches long. The 12" was to rmind and visually impact and reinforce the 12" length to the students.
Enough!
Best Regards
Daniel

[Jeff Sudmeier]

One more vote for no short peices on the jointer. I was using a pushblock in high school jointing a 5 inch long piece... launched it across the shop! As someone else said, as I was jointing it right in the middle, the cutter head had more of the surface of the board than the beds!! Learned my lesson there... If I had to do it I would use a push block that was a foot long and carpet tape the peice to the block.

[Ray Dockrey]

Thanks so much for all the replies. I figured that was right but didn't know if they were taught that way because of liablity or because it was just unsafe. I do have the joiner setup where it only takes off a sixty fourth of an inch at a time and we leave it set there. I had shop in school but it has been a long time. Thanks again for the replies and helping me make the shop a safer place for the both of us.

[Steven Wilson]

It's a job for a hand plane. A couple of strokes and you're done.

[Tom LaRussa]

I used to do that too -- with a push block -- until the day the piece dipped just ever so slightly going into the blades. I was lucky -- no injury. But it tore big hunk out of the plastic push block and flung that piece of maple against the far wall of the shop at high speed.

BTW, my jointer is only 1/2 hp. Think what some of the big iron many of you guys use could do.

I strongly suggest hand planes for such things in the future. Besides being safer, and giving a better finish, you can talk to your boy while you work, which is kind of the point, no?

JMHO, YMMV, ETC.

ps I have my jointer set up to take less than 1/64th per pass too.

[Steve Roxberg]

I agree with the 12 inches and wouldn't run anything shorter. I had one get caught and it torn the push stick and board out of my hands. I didn't get near the cutter, but it about took my thumb off and it was weeks before the hurt went away, and the grip returned.

Use a hand plane, smoother finish anyway.

[Steve Cox]

12" is what I've always been taught. On bigger jointers (12" and up) I'd probably go with even longer.