A Bandsaw or Jointer or Planer Oh My!

[John Peterson]

Hey everyone!

Welp, it looks as if the home improvement projects (construction related) are coming to an end. Most of my tools revolve around said projects. I'd like to make the transition into furniture and built-ins (kitchen cabinets). I have a fairly decent set of tools so far but Im looking at purchasing the "anchors" of the shop, mainly the Planer, Jointer, and Bandsaw.

Heres what I have so far:
Ridgid TS3650 Saw
Festool Domino
Festool OF1400 Router
Dewalt Slider Miter saw
Blah blah

The problem is I really have not safe/effective was to make curves, and resaw hence the thought about the bandsaw. As we all now there are many other areas where the bandsaw shines. Id also like to delve into rough lumber hence the Jointer and Planer.

The problem is I can only purchase one tool a month, Im working overtime to offset the cost.

Which would you choose first?

I really could use a bandsaw now as I have a sofa table that the wife want with tapered legs but I'll most likely be knocking that out this weekend.

Also the planer Jointer combo is out because of cost because if I would buy one it'd be a 12"

Unless I can find a screaming deal locally, Ill mostly likely be going through Grizzly, 8" Jointer (G0656P), 15" Planer (G0453P), 17" (Leaning towards G0513X2)

[Erik Loza]

"Bandsaw" would be my vote.

Best of luck with your quest,

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Ralph Butts]

+1 on what Erik said.

[Bryan Rocker]

In order,
1. Bandsaw the bigger the better, used would be my vote
2. Jointer 8" min did see a 16" Delta jointer this morning at an auction but it was in Colorado.
3. Planer, lunch box ones are ok, however, I picked up a 20" jet for $600 off Craigslist......

Bryan

[Chris Padilla]

You'll want (need?) all three eventually.

Keep your eyes open for all 3 and when you find "the deal" for one of them, get it.

Personally, I don't think it matters which one you get first. You'll find each one very useful.

[John Peterson]

Keep your eyes open for all 3 and when you find "the deal" for one of them, get it.

There's a 12" Crescent jointer for $750 about 1.5hrs away, there's no way it'd make into the basement though.

[Jeff Duncan]

"The problem is I can only purchase one tool a month, Im working overtime to offset the cost."

Hmmmmm……only 1 tool per month eh…..I've spent months saving for certain tools, so I'd have to say just pick one! Your worst case scenario is you have to wait a month for the next one:rolleyes: Yeah that's not such a bad place to be;)

good luck,
JeffD

[eugene thomas]

Honestly when I was starting my shop years ago wish had you problem. was like buy tool then if lucky few months later maybe nother. Buy the tool need the most right now...

[Rich Riddle]

1. Bandsaw-make it at least 16" so you aren't looking to update next year. take it from the voices of experience.
2. Jointer-make it at least an 8" model for the same reason.
3. Planer.

[John Peterson]

So far I'm leaning towards a bandsaw likes what has been suggested. I am wondering why the jointer for the 2nd machine though. I understand the function and how each work, but once two faces are jointed how do I get parallel surfaces? I don't own any hand tools besides some Marples chisels so hand surfacing is out :confused:

[Steve Rozmiarek]

So far I'm leaning towards a bandsaw likes what has been suggested. I am wondering why the jointer for the 2nd machine though. I understand the function and how each work, but once two faces are jointed how do I get parallel surfaces? I don't own any hand tools besides some Marples chisels so hand surfacing is out :confused:

+another for the bandsaw. You use the jointer to flatten one face, parallel can be made on the bandsaw or tablesaw. Personally I think the planer is the second most overrated tool in a woodshop.

[Brian J Jenkins]

I had cheapo Harbor Freight and older Craftsman versions of a Jointer and Bandsaw. I upgraded first to an 18" Jet Bandsaw and a planer. Then last week replaced my old table saw with a cabinet saw (G0651), and a new 8" jointer is coming Friday. (G0495x)

I would advise against Chinese tools, and find something at least made in Taiwan. I saw a huge quality difference between the two.

[nicholas mitchell]

+another for the bandsaw. You use the jointer to flatten one face, parallel can be made on the bandsaw or tablesaw. Personally I think the planer is the second most overrated tool in a woodshop.

John, you said in your initial post that you needed the bandsaw right now, so you've already answered your question of what to buy first.

The J and P , just wait 2 months and buy them together.
They work together. They are both planers. One is a surface planer and the other is a thickness planer. On the surface planer (jointer) you flatten one face, then put that face up against the fence to flatten one edge and make it perpendicular to the milled face. You can use a table saw or bandsaw to make the other edge parallel to the planed edge, but your still left with an un-milled face that isn't flat or parallel or perpendicular to anything. So you send that face through the thickness planer and all is flat and square and perpendicular and pretty.

Steve, maybe I'm reading that wrong but how do you make 2 parallel faces using a table saw or bandsaw?
If the thickness planer is the second most overrated, what's the first? :)

[Mark Carlson]

It would be tough for me to build furniture without a planer and jointer. I could live without the bandsaw if I had too. Wouldnt want to though. So my list would be planer, followed closely by jointer, then bandsaw. If youre milling rough lumber you are going to need tablesaw, planer and jointer. Then a bandsaw if you need to resaw. Thats the way I work anyways. Have fun buying your machines.

~mark

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Steve, maybe I'm reading that wrong but how do you make 2 parallel faces using a table saw or bandsaw?
If the thickness planer is the second most overrated, what's the first? :)

LOL, figured I'd get called on that one. Before you all throw things at me and say bad things about my upbringing, let me opine. The planer is for dimensioning wood with parallel faces, yes? They are not ready for finishing off the machine, they still need hand planed or sanded to a final finish, so why not set your bandsaw up accurately and skip the planer? It's much easier to plane a surface flat after an accurate resaw on the bandsaw then it is to follow a scrub plane. If your bandsaw won't do that, it needs work. It's even easier actually. Look at any old antique furniture, and see how few boards were finished on both sides to a show quality finish. You don't have to turn all that wood into planer chips, resaw it and quit, it's been good enough for 1000's of years, it probably still is.

Just to stir it up some more, the router is the most overrated. A couple molding planes and a drill press will do anything a router will and much quicker. Unless you are running a furniture factory, there is a much more peaceful and usually faster way.

That all being said, I'm not sending my planer back, and I do keep a couple routers around to collect cobwebs, just in case.

[John Sanford]

There are SO many ways to work the wood. The most versatile stationary tool is a bandsaw. With the portable tools that you currently have, you can joint and thickness wood, although doing so is more time consuming and finicky than using a jointer and thickness planer. You can't cut curves well... So, I'm on board with the bandsaw also. Go big.

[glenn bradley]

Obviously the answers to these questions are as varied as the people responding. Although hand tools are integral to the way I work, I mill my own boards and don't enjoy doing that by hand. A typical process with a roughly prepared piece of lumber would be to face joint, edge joint, resaw to rough thickness and plane to near final thickness. Ripping to width and crosscutting to length follow these steps. So, as mentioned these tools work as a team for this task.

Alternately if I am "making" several boards from a blank I will face joint, edge joint and then plane the opposite face before resawing. This leaves me with an already flat face on both pieces following the resaw. I set the resawn "keeper" aside, plane the opposite surface of the blank and repeat the process for as many boards as I require.

As to the tapered legs, I do this on the tablesaw with a jig but, if the leg dimensions exceed your tablesaw's capacity the bandsaw would be my next choice. For curved work the bandsaw can't be beat. It is also the go-to tool for ripping unprepared stock that would be unsafe for the tablesaw, cutting tenons and many other sorts of work.

When selecting figure patterns I often bandsaw a blank out of a larger piece and then mill as described above. The freedom that the bandsaw, jointer and planer machines give you lets you "make" the board you need instead of searching for a piece that will work out of commercially milled stock. Choose the tool that you need the most and the rest of the team can come later as required.

[nicholas mitchell]

Okay Steve, I'll give you a "partial save" on that one. Ha! The thickness planer is for dimensioning wood with 1 flat face or 1 flat edge initially. It can then be used to bring a stock to final thickness but it only needs 1 flat reference point.
I'll still disagree on the bandsaw method you describe but I'll admit that there are many ways to reach the desired result.

I couldn't imagine not having a planer

I'll agree on the router. :)

[Daniel Rode]

I miss my bandsaw but I can get by without one. I can create curves with a coping saw, compass saw, spokeshave, etc. There are many ways, inexpensive ways, to create curves. What I can't get by without is a jointer AND planer. For me, being able to prepare stock that is flat, square and to a consistent thickness is critical. It's the foundation I start with for most builds. Pre-milled lumber, in my experience, is not reliable. I have some hand planes and they help but I really only use them for cleanup and fitting, not dimensioning. If you can (or want to) do that with a hand plane, then a planer and jointer are unnecessary.

If you're buying one per month, and plan to acquire all 3, then which you buy first is not critical.

FWIW, tapered lags are often formed on the table saw. I'd only use a band saw if the legs were over 2" thick or I wanted curved legs rather than tapered.

[Thomas Hotchkin]

There's a 12" Crescent jointer for $750 about 1.5hrs away, there's no way it'd make into the basement though.

Take it apart. Tom

[Jim German]

I was in a similar situation and went with a jointer first. Without a jointer you can't work with rough stock, and even the supposedly 4S stock I was getting wasn't really good enough to be used without jointing. Without a jointer you can't glue up a panel. (Ignoring handtools, which I don't have the patience, time or skill to use) Curves can be handled with a jigsaw, tapers with a table saw.

I got a reasonably cheap lunchbox planer (DW734), and it has served me well for a few years. I'll upgrade it at some point, but when I sell it used I won't take to big a loss.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Okay Steve, I'll give you a "partial save" on that one. Ha! The thickness planer is for dimensioning wood with 1 flat face or 1 flat edge initially. It can then be used to bring a stock to final thickness but it only needs 1 flat reference point.
I'll still disagree on the bandsaw method you describe but I'll admit that there are many ways to reach the desired result.

I couldn't imagine not having a planer

I'll agree on the router. :)


LOL!, I'll take a partial save. Another point, how often do you actually use lumber that is some thickness other than 4/4 6/4 or 8/4? Anything thinner is usually for frame and panel construction, which construction style begs for bookmatched resawn stock, anything thicker is bandsaw work unless you have a 12"+ tablesaw anyhow. Of course the rough lumber question comes up, but in my area and I suppose others, I would have to process many thousands of board feet of lumber to save enough over s4s to pay for doing it myself. If rough sawn was half the cost, maybe, but it's not unless you are buying wet, which is a different animal altogether. So, for the average Joe, that is not going to be processing a stack of rough lumber that they bought many years before and air dried, but instead buys lumber that is something other than rough, a planer will only be used to make something thinner. So, why not resaw or buy stock of the thickness that you need?

Of course this is all academic, we all do it differently.

[Patrick Curry]

Where I live and work, reclaimed old growth, hardwood lumber is plentiful and too cheap to pass up. I don't do vernier.
My approach was to buy a good used box top planer (Rigid $200), and then spend my budget on a good band saw (Laguna 18" China), and 8" jointer (grizzly helix).

I intend to resell the box top planer later and may nearly get my money back.

Could have done it for less but for the $3,500 spent, I'm 2/3 the way home.