Jointer table length vs. stock length

[Dick Parman]

I have just purchased a Grizzly 609X jointer, and would like to edge joint 8/4 slabs which are 25 inches wide and 8 to 9 feet long. This jointer has a 83 inch bed. Will that be adequate, or do I need to build extension tables. I am a farmer by trade, and have access to extensive metal working tools. Therefore construction of the extensions would not be an issue. Any ideas and/or experience would be appreciated.

[Sam Babbage]

Normally it is mostly dependent on technique, but at that sized stock I'd think you might have issues at the end of the pass when the board's centre of gravity passes the end of the our feed table. It would certainly be doable with a helper, or probably just an out feed extension. Have you got any width to play with, the old "try it and see" comes in handy and will save you havinG to build, possibly unnecessary extensions. I'd set the cut to minimal and give it a go, worst thing that will happen is the end of the board will lift out of the cut at the end of the pass.

Edit: alternatively, with the machine off, rotate the cutter block so no knife is above the table, place the middle of the board at the start of the out feed table and simulate pushing it out, if you can control it easily without the end of the board lifting as it goes over the knives you should be fine. The in feed side of the equation should be fine, you can gently lift/take the weight of the board with your right hand as you push into the fence with your left.

[pat warner]

25 x 100 x 8/4!!! You gotta be Charles Atlas to handle a board that big, at least a 100 pounds/stick.
You'll never control a stick that big on edge, fuggetabout the jointer supported or not.
Set up for a hand router and straight edge; as bad as that may be.
Note, close router jointing is predicated on reasonable thickness planing. Are the sticks flat/thicknessed or pretzled?

[Sam Babbage]

I think it's borderline possible, solo, definitely possible with a helper. For reference, last week two of us jointed two 14' x 25" 12/4 slabs on a
machine that's only slightly longer, if a bit more industrial.

[Dick Parman]

Thanks for your input.. The slabs will be flat planed using a homemade contraption where I use a router with a bowl bit. Kind of like screeting concrete. The process works quite well. I am edge joing two slabs to make a dining room table.

[Mark Wooden]

You can joint it, just set up a few supports in and out and have a helper. You might want to extend the fence vertically so it doesn't roll over easily and stays square to your surfaced face.

[glenn bradley]

I'm in Pat's camp. You may joint it but, the result will be questionable. So, this begs the question; is this the finished size of this board? If not, break it down and joint the more workable sized parts.

[Rod Sheridan]

For kicks, take a 25" wide piece of plywood (don't turn on the jointer) and see how little control you have against a fence that maybe supports 25% of the stock height.

Then take the slab to a shop with a sliding table saw so they can straight line rip it for you...........Rod.

[David Kumm]

At the very least you need an auxiliary fence and a helper. It takes a stout jointer for the tables to not move when you drop the timber onto the infeed. Dave

[Andrew Joiner]

I straight line rip wide slabs on my table saw. I made a jig that's nearly as fast as a jointer. To do a few boards you can tack a straight board to the slab to ride on the saw fence. With the right blade you can get glue joints as tight as if they were jointed with no knife tear out. No worries about tipping. No pushing down heavy slabs to the jointer tables. Google straight line rip jig for images.

[Joe Angrisani]

For kicks, take a 25" wide piece of plywood (don't turn on the jointer) and see how little control you have against a fence that maybe supports 25% of the stock height....


Yep. This is the top thought in my mind.

[Steve Jenkins]

I agree that the sliding table saw is the easiest and safest. You don't say where you are but there may be someone within a reasonable drive to help you out. I do this sort of thing often.

[Sam Babbage]

For kicks, take a 25" wide piece of plywood (don't turn on the jointer) and see how little control you have against a fence that maybe supports 25% of the stock height.

Then take the slab to a shop with a sliding table saw so they can straight line rip it for you...........Rod.

I really don't see the problem, I'll happily run the bottom of a 5-6' wardrobe door, for example, over the jointer. It's just a matter of pressure positioning, and a little bit of lube.

[George Gyulatyan]

Circular saw and straightedge.

[Dick Parman]

I just finished jointing the walnut slabs and it worked great.
I made extension tables which increased the bed length to
15 feet, and the fence height to 24 inches. The extensions
were the secret. The extensions were attached to the jointer
by drilling and tapping the existing bed and making all four corners adjustable.
I also added a 24 inch tall fence extension which clamped to my existing fence.
My slabs ended up being about 20 inches wide and 9 1/2 feet long.
I first cut them with a streight edge and circular saw,
then cleaned the cut up with the jointer. No way could I make
the saw cut good enough to glue without clean up. Even with
new Freud 7 1/4 by 54 tooth blades the cut had some blemishes
which were 1/16 inch deep. That is too much wood to cut without
a big streight line rip, or sliding table saw. Any way, the jointer
worked great with the help of my brother to handle the 80 pound
slabs.