Tapered Boards

[Dimitrios Fradelakis]

I acquired 2 cherry boards that are tapered width wise. They are wider than my 9 1/2" wide, is there any hope of correcting this problem? My jointer is 8" wide so ripping them on the table saw and jointing them is probably not going to work.

[David Eisenhauer]

Maybe I don't understand the problem, but can you not just set your table saw to index off of one edge of a board and then rip the board to the narrowest width that runs full-length down the board?

[Dimitrios Fradelakis]

I was thinking that, and will now have to do it. What's worse is that the taper is not even from end to end length wise.

[Bill Huber]

What David said......

If you have one good edge the put that against the fence and rip it...

[Prashun Patel]

I still don't understand. If the taper is in the width, then your jointer's capacity has nothing to do with this. In this case you need to joint the edge, which can be done as Bill and David say, or you can just run either the tapered edge or 'straight' edge on the jointer, then rip to width.

If the taper is in the thickness, then consistency will be gained at the planer, not the jointer. Am I missing something?

If your real issue is being able to face joint a wide board, then there are a couple jointerless ways to do this.

[Dimitrios Fradelakis]

One edge is better than the other so off to the table saw it goes.

[Dimitrios Fradelakis]

I still don't understand. If the taper is in the width, then your jointer's capacity has nothing to do with this. In this case you need to joint the edge, which can be done as Bill and David say, or you can just run either the tapered edge or 'straight' edge on the jointer, then rip to width.

If the taper is in the thickness, then consistency will be gained at the planer, not the jointer. Am I missing something?

If your real issue is being able to face joint a wide board, then there are a couple jointerless ways to do this.


The taper is in the thickness. I forgot to mention that the previous owner attempted to join the boards on a 6" jointer. The other side of the board is still rough and obviously not even.

[Prashun Patel]

Ok, do you have a planer?

First, I'd cross cut and rip the boards close to final width/length

Then you can build a sled to 'joint' it on your planer. To be honest though, I never use a sled. I plane tiny amounts through multiple passes, flipping (ideally) each time. If one side looks way better than the other, I might not plane completely fairly on each side.

Everyone says 'banana in, banana out' about the planer, but I find unless the part will ultimately be complete end-joined with another part (say if it's a box or case side) I just don't find that it matters.

[Dimitrios Fradelakis]

Ok, do you have a planer? First, I'd cross cut and rip the boards close to final width/length Then you can build a sled to 'joint' it on your planer. To be honest though, I never use a sled. I plane tiny amounts through multiple passes, flipping (ideally) each time. If one side looks way better than the other, I might not plane completely fairly on each side. Everyone says 'banana in, banana out' about the planer, but I find unless the part will ultimately be complete end-joined with another part (say if it's a box or case side) I just don't find that it matters.


I do have a planer. I took your advice and the boards are now a uniform thickness across the entire length. Thank you to everyone who responded.