Long straight edge for jointing?

[Mike Johnson - Chicago]

Hello,

I have a pair of boards that need their edges jointed for gluing. The boards are 66" x 20" x 1-1/2" and heavy. I don't have confidence that I will get a clean square edge with my little 6" jointer.

I guess if I had 2 friends come over, set up roller stands and built some tall feather boards...it would work. But now I'm thinking that it would be much easier to use a router.

Problem is this is a critical glue joint, so I don't want to take any chances. My first inclination was the the factory edge on 3/4" mdf is very straight. But upon inspection at the borg, most are dinged up. Maybe a 6' level? Hmm...

My next thought is to make a mdf "carriage" for the router so that I have a long edge to ride on and that should "hide" any low spots...but not raised bumps.

So before I went too much further, I thought I'd ask what yall would do!

I'm curious,
M.J.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Mike,

It sounds like you don't want to buy a tool for this task, but if you do, investigate the Eureka Smart Guide (http://www.eurekazone.com). I just got one and it sounds like the perfect task for it.

If you would rather go with a cheaper, shop built option, you should be able to use the edge of the mdf. The key to doing this, is to clamp the two boards that you want to joint, together along the edge you want to joint. Now run the router down the straight edge cutting both peices at once. That way if there is an imperfection in your straight edge, both peices will have it and they SHOULD fit together perfectly.

[Mike Holbrook]

Ez Smart, Ez Smart, Ez Smart..........you need one anyway & Dino will fix you right up.

[Mike Johnson - Chicago]

I looked at the EZ smart guide, but I'm not confident that there will be a smooth glue joint transition where the 2 - 50" edges come together...but that may not be true.

There are a lot of nice uses shown on the website, but not this one....glue joints with a router. Is this because they haven't got to it yet...or becuase it is not reliable for that use?

Curious!
M.J.

[Chris Daigh]

Mike

I had the same issue with some 8 foot boards. Tried a straight edge with a router and clamped both boards and couldn't get it. My Eureka guide is coming on Friday. I didn't buy the base for the router for this, I am going to use my skil saw clamp both boards together and run the blade so it cuts a little from each board at the same time. I have seen the thread on here where someone does the same thing with the Festool guide and it worked great.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

I looked at the EZ smart guide, but I'm not confident that there will be a smooth glue joint transition where the 2 - 50" edges come together...but that may not be true.



Mike, I have assembled mine into the 100" quide. The joint is very smooth. So smooth that I don't think that it would show up in the finished product. With the router plate, I do not think even a straight edge over the cut joint, would show any movement in the cut line. However, I have not used it in this way yet.

Either way, good luck in getting these boards jointed.

[Steve Clardy]

I looked at the EZ smart guide, but I'm not confident that there will be a smooth glue joint transition where the 2 - 50" edges come together...but that may not be true.

There are a lot of nice uses shown on the website, but not this one....glue joints with a router. Is this because they haven't got to it yet...or becuase it is not reliable for that use?

Curious!
M.J.
Not a problem. The two 50" rails fit together perfectly.
Your boards can be done with a skilsaw or a router. Either will give you a excellent glue line.:)

[Mike Johnson - Chicago]

For those using the Smartguide...

Does the puck that slides on the extrusion have any adjustments? Or spring loaded rollers?

For things to slide there has to be clearances. So, I'm curious if you have to load/hold the router such that you maintain contact with one side of the rail..to maintain repeatibility. Or if there is some kind of built in preload. Or?

As well as, will it wear and become loose. If so, can you tighten it up?

Too bad I didn't hit the show that was just in Chicago..

Thanks for any insights,
M.J.

[Mike Cutler]

Mike. I believe it can be done on a 6" jointer, however if you are still not comfortable with doing it that way, my suggestion would be to make a long split fence for a table mounted router, offset the fences ~1/32", make the router bit just a few thou' proud of the outfeed fence and joint away.
Do a search on router fences, and you'll quickly see what I mean. It will take you awhile to actually make the fence and table, if you don't already have one.You may also want to use a 1/2" spiral upsweep bit to clear the waste material.
It won't be expensive to make one of these, but it will take some time to get everything dead on 90 deg.

[Mike Johnson - Chicago]

Thanks for the suggestion Mike.

My issue is that the boards are so cumbersome, I'd rather move a small router than a big board. It seems like it would be *much* easier to control.

That begin said, I may still end up doing it on the jointer...with roller stands, feather boards and a friend :)

[Dan Gill]

How about a hand plane? I admit I'd be looking for an electrically-assisted way to do this myself, but the hand plane may be your best bet. And think of the practice you'd get.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

For those using the Smartguide...

Does the puck that slides on the extrusion have any adjustments? Or spring loaded rollers?

For things to slide there has to be clearances. So, I'm curious if you have to load/hold the router such that you maintain contact with one side of the rail..to maintain repeatibility. Or if there is some kind of built in preload. Or?

As well as, will it wear and become loose. If so, can you tighten it up?

Too bad I didn't hit the show that was just in Chicago..

Thanks for any insights,
M.J.

The "puck" does not have any adjustments in it. However, it also has no slop when running on the guide. I don't know why, you would think with no slop it would bind, but it doesn't. Over time I would think that the router mount may wear, but I have heard any problems yet. This is a realativly new system. However, I am sure that if yours did wear and developed some slop, that dino would fix you right up. It just the kind of guy he is!

[Bob Hovde]

A perfect glue joint can be made by using a router. (If you can find a bit that's 1.5" long) Place the boards together, just slightly less than the width of the bit. Using a straight edge, run the router down the gap. If the track isn't exactly perfect, it doesn't matter, since you have mirror images of the bit track on each board. It works great for 3/4" boards. I haven't tried 1.5" boards.

Bob

[Steve Rybicki]

Mike, I don't have a jointer, so I'm doing this all the time. You can make a guide out of MDF that has a couple quick-release toggle clamps screwed to it, and then run it through a table saw with the MDF against the fence, and the clamps holding the board. If you have a side that will not show, you can simple screw the guide directly to the boards to be jointed. It helps if your table saw blade is at a perfect 90 degreees. If not, simple flip one board and the two edges will match up. I get good glue lines with this method all the time.