Planer of Joiner?

[Bob Yarbrough]

My next major purchase will be either a planer or joiner. Comments, suggestions, reasoning for one over the other would be appreciated.

(I have family orders for several blanket chests, say 7 or 8. The provide the material and I try to do it justice.)

Bob

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Bob,

First off welcome to the creek! You have just joined the best forum on the net! IMHO. As far as jointer or planer first... the question would be is the wood you are receiving rough or S4S? If it is S4S I would think that a Jointer for better glue joints would come first. If it is rough, I would say a planer first.

[Bill Arnold]

Bob,

Planer first -- jointer later. You can use a tablesaw with a good blade to joint a board. The Freud Glue Line Rip blade gives a very clean cut.

Regards,

[Ted Shrader]

Bob -

Glad you found the Creek. Recommend you do a search on jointer vs planer. Many comments have been made on this subject. It all comes down to what is right for you and the immediate tasks you have planned.

My bottom line is you need them both - or suitable hand plane substitutes. The jointer flattens and straightens and the planer gives you the proper thickness. That said, there are many alternatives to use when flattening or straightening the stock. Thicknessing is a little tougher and the planer moves way up the short list.

Ted

[Jim Becker]

Welcome aboard, Bob! And my comments absolutely mirror Ted's.

[John Bailey]

Bob,

I have neither, so I can't help too much. I can, however, welcome you to the Creek. I'm pretty new here, and this sight has been a wealth of information.

John

[Charlie Plesums]

I hate to say it, but you need both...

To get a smooth, straight edge, you can use a well aligned saw with a good blade, arguably even better than edge jointing. But the real value of the jointer is to flatten the face. I played with a warped board yesterday, trying to get the face flat without using the jointer, trying the tricks recommended by people who don't have a jointer. Somebody may be able to do it but I failed. When the board was down to 1/2 inch thick from all the playing, I flattened it with a pass or two on the jointer.

Once I had a flat side, the other side was not parallel. Edge can be solved on the saw, but I had to use the planer to get the face of the board to an even thickness with parallel sides. A drum sander may have worked, but the ordinary size units cannot remove a lot of wood if it is the wrong thickness.

[Doug Shepard]

Since you're forced to make a choice, I'd say get the planer first. There's other ways you can do the jointing - handplanes, good setup and blade on the TS, good straight edge and router, sleds for use on the planer, etc. Ultimately you'd want both but unlike wood, money doesn't grow on trees.