Narrow Jointer; Is it a sin to rip, joint, and glue?

[Bob Stroman]

I have some 15" wide maple and oak planks on the air dry pile that are begging me to buy a 16" wide jointer. However, I've also got a checkbook that is saying firmly NO! I'm trying to figure out the best way to deal with this problem, and I'd like to know what you think of this procedure:

1. Mark the both sides of the boards so that I can glue them together correctly later.

2. Rip them in half on the 14" bandsaw. Should I follow the grain lines if possible?

3. Face joint each piece and mark the jointed face for registration.

4. Plane the other side only enough to make the thickness comparable for gluing back together.

5. Glue it back together.

6. Run it through the planer and wide belt sander to final thickness. Check for the glue line.

Advantages:
The bandsaw minimizes the kerf so the line should be nearly invisible.
I may not cut it straight on the bandsaw but it's going right back together without any further work.
I won't have a planer toboggan taking up space in the workshop.

Disadvantages:
It just does not seem right, but a 16" jointer will find 17" wood.

Anyone have any experience with a technique like this? What type of bandsaw blade should I use?

Bob Stroman

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Bob,

You could also build a sled for your planer to "joint" the boards. Basically one big peice of melamine or similar. Then take VERY (1/64th) passes until you have the board flat on one face. Then flip it over and plane as normal. I have done this with up to 10 inch wide boards with good sucess.

I couldn't bring myself to rip and re-glue wide boards, if I had an application for the wide boards.

[Tim Farrell]

I am ashamed to say that I have done the exact same thing with some wide cherry. My thought was that I really had no choice. I am pleased with the results and think you are the right track.

One other option is to find a local resource with the proper sized jointer. The local community college may be a possibility. The shop teachers are generally very understanding and will help you out.

Good luck

[Tim Sproul]

There are other ways of jointing (face or edge) besides an electrically powered cast iron bedded jointer.

[Maurice Ungaro]

Bob,

You could also build a sled for your planer to "joint" the boards. Basically one big peice of melamine or similar. Then take VERY (1/64th) passes until you have the board flat on one face. Then flip it over and plane as normal. I have done this with up to 10 inch wide boards with good sucess.

I couldn't bring myself to rip and re-glue wide boards, if I had an application for the wide boards.

What Jeff said, OR...you could use some time honored Neander techniques.

[Bob Stroman]

I'm Tim Allen on TV so hand planes are for display only in my shop. I wish I had the skill, time, and physical horsepower to flatten large planks.

I've considered grinding the fence off my old benchtop jointer, flipping it over, and using it as a hand power planer. So far, no one has encouraged me to do this.

Bob Stroman

[Bill Lewis]

Oh hey, that japanese ww'r discussion that came up recently has some interesting pics on his website on how he flattened boards. I think he used a router, and the framework of his lumbermill.

You could easily set up a similar jig to using a router running on tracks to do the job, at least enough to get it to the planer. I think I've even seen this mothod in some ww mags, but can't point you in any particular direction.

BTW if you do decide to rip it down, just do it on the table saw. Rip it down, flatten the boards, joint the edge, and reglue. Depending on how the wood is used, the joint will barely be noticable. It'll give you a tighter joint to do it this way.

[Jim Becker]

What Bill suggests is the best solution to preserve the wide boards with a sled as the second choice. I am one almost never in favor of ripping them down; no matter what, the joints will be visible in some way. Therefore, I'd only rip if the board had a really nasty problem and it was the only way to preserve thickness while getting it flat and true. But that's me...

[Chris Padilla]

There are other ways of jointing (face or edge) besides an electrically powered cast iron bedded jointer.

:confused: :confused: :confused:

Could you expound on this, Good Sir? :p

[Tim Sproul]

I wish I had the skill, time, and physical horsepower to flatten large planks.


For feeding a power thicknesser, face jointing requires little in the way of skill, time or physical horsepower.

You'll want 2 planes. A scrub and a jack. The scrub will have an obviously cambered iron and the jack will have a mildly cambered iron.

Don't forget winding sticks....and a straight edge (4 foot level works just fine)....and a sturdy, heavy bench to work on.

Anyways....doc is always tellin' all of us to get out and excersize more!

[Ian Abraham]

I think the router on the sawmill was my jig. Lets me joint 30-40" wide boards :D

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=20288

Easy enough to make a sensible sized hand held version out of ply and a couple of straight rails. One of the options in Dino's EZ system would work as well using a hand planer or a router.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=20522

It's a way of approaching the problem from a different direction. The board can stay still and you guide the tool over it.

Cheers

Ian

[Kurt Voss]

Check out the April/May issue of Wood magazine page 90. They demonstrate a method in which a router is attached to a sled that is moved over a piece of wood that sits between two level and parallel rails.

[Michael Pfau]

Bob, I have ripped many times and glued back up. If done right, you really have to look to find the seam. Only you will know! Also wide boards can warp and cup on you with weather changes, ripping them and gluing them again solve this problem somewhat. I had some beautifull cherry boards last year making a hope chest, and had to rip them. I had a tough time finding the seam. And look how much money you will save, buy not gettting the bigger jointer!

[Bob Stroman]

... And look how much money you will save, by not gettting the bigger jointer!

Right! With all these techniques to try, I can put away the catalogs for many months. http://sawmillcreek.org/images/smilies/smile.gif

Still no takers on the inverted 6" benchtop jointer? Oh, with rails to guide it.http://sawmillcreek.org/images/smilies/wink.gif

Bob

[Richard Wolf]

Still no takers on the inverted 6" benchtop jointer? Oh, with rails to guide it.http://sawmillcreek.org/images/smilies/wink.gif

Bob

Reminds me of a Headline that read "Seventeen fingers lost is lawn mower accident" It seems four guys used a gas lawn mower to try and trim a hedge. Someone dropped it and loped off 17!!

Richard

[Bob Stroman]

Reminds me of a Headline that read "Seventeen fingers lost is lawn mower accident" It seems four guys used a gas lawn mower to try and trim a hedge. Someone dropped it and loped off 17!!

Richard
Okay, I'll make sure Tim Allen sells the old Ryobi jointer with everything intact including the guards.

Bob

[Alan Turner]

Before I had a wide jointer, I used a sled, and while it takes a bit of effort, it is not too bad. I did not use a fancy one. Just a sheet of mdf, with wedges hot glued to the bottom where there were gaps. When the top is flat enough, flip it over, knock off the wedges, and go from there. This is a worthwhile expenditure of time to preserve a wide board, IMHO.

[Bill Lewis]

I think the router on the sawmill was my jig. Lets me joint 30-40" wide boards :D Yes that's the one I remember.

I think it was the Wood magazine article that also suggested the router on rails jig.

[Bob Stroman]

Before I had a wide jointer, I used a sled, and while it takes a bit of effort, it is not too bad. I did not use a fancy one. Just a sheet of mdf, with wedges hot glued to the bottom where there were gaps. When the top is flat enough, flip it over, knock off the wedges, and go from there. This is a worthwhile expenditure of time to preserve a wide board, IMHO.
Now that's a design that's easy to remember and quick to implement when necessary.

Thanks everyone!

Bob