Jointer vs. Planer and Resawing Nightmares

[Chip Clark]

Hey all - new here. I'm at a place now where I want to add either a thickness planer or jointer to my shop. I build mostly custom furniture - and most of that is various types of tables - 50% or so of which is with exotic hardwoods.
Up until recently I was leaning more towards a 13" planer, but since I'm typically working with boards that are in the less-than-8-inch width range now I'm thinking an 8" jointer would make more sense. At least I could do some jointing
and surface planing. Any suggestions about this?

As for resawing - I've been making my own veneers using a Wood Slicer 1/2" blade, on a 14" Craftsman bandsaw. It's a really nice for general use, but I'm finding resawing on anything wider than 3 to 4" is just horrific. Regardless of how much I adjust the fence for blade drift, the results are awful. It's not as bad with softer woods, like poplar, but anything harder than that and the blade has a plan of it's own! Suggestions?? If anyone knows of a good quality fence for a Craftsman bandsaw that I don't have to do major surgery to the table - please let me know!

thanks!
chip

[glenn bradley]

A recurring topic ;-)

Jointers and planers; apples and oranges. These tools are not interchangeable although this is a widely held misconception. Jointers make one surface flat, planers use that flat reference surface to make the other side parallel.

Another recurring topic ;-)

Bandsaw drift is the stuff of fairy tales in my shop. I setup my saws to cut straight and just use them, switching blades with impunity. This is a 1/16" slice off a chunk of walnut using a Grizzly saw and a Timberwolf blade.

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Time spent aligning your saw will be repaid ten fold.

[Robert Engel]

You've got a good blade, so tuning up your bandsaw should be the key.
Tensioning the blade way up is necessary for good resaw.
Bear in mind, also, a saw of this type can be stretched to its full capability.

Jointer/planer: I don't see how you can't be without either.
Jointer: the wider the better. I have an 8" now and wish I had a 12. If I had a 12 I'd wish I had a 16"....
Planer: Minimum 13", 15" better, 20 even better.

[Matt Day]

+1 to everything above.

[John Schweikert]

I have to agree with Glenn. I too don't have any issues with blade drift on my Grizzly 14", and all I use are Olson blades. The saw is tuned well. I use the normal fence set straight and square and just feed wood. Largest project I've re-sawn was several hundred feet of cedar planking, worked great.

How exactly are you building things now without a planer and jointer? Just curious.

[John TenEyck]

Well, different opinion here about the Woodslicer blade; I found it to be useless if the stock moved just a few thousandths. It would bind or bow. Worthless to me. I use Lennox Diemaster II 1/2" x 4 tpi or Olson or MVP 1/2" x 3 tpi blades on my 14" Delta with excellent results. My resaw fence is nothing more than a 7" high piece of 3/4" MDF bolted to my fence. It is adjusted absolutely parallel with the miter slot and vertically parallel with the blade. I can cut veneer slices with less than 0.005" difference.

Drift is different though, and is a sign the blade is dull on one side or not properly centered on the wheels. Higher tension helps, but doesn't correct for the other two. You should not have to adjust for drift if your saw is set up correctly. Those who do aren't willing to solve the underlying problem(s) with their saw.

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John

[Jim Becker]

If you can only buy one...the thickness planer is a good choice over the jointer. But as noted above, these are complimentary tools that are normally used together for best results. And for re-sawing, you really need the thickness planer to clean things up. The jointer is helpful with re-sawing, too, because you can flatten the face of the material that runs along the band saw fence before making the cut, resulting in the potential for a better "thinner" board in the end.

[Eric Schmid]

Are you resawning stock that is out of square and/or not straight? I'm wondering if the lack of a jointer and the resaw results are related, at least in part. Your description of your bandsaw sounds like what happens when the blade is dull or the stock is rotating or both.

I have a 14" Rockwell. The wheels are not co-planar and the fence is adjusted for drift; and yes it does drift, but predictably in one direction. I set it up years ago and have never touched the fence since. I'm not sure if it will do what Glenn or John's saws are capable of, but it will cut thin veneer. I used to center the blade, now I center the gullets on the center of the wheel. Lots of opinions here and I don't really have a strong opinion either way. It's just how my saw is set up currently.

If my blade stops following the cut line I know it's time to change blades, slow my feed rate or join my stock. If you don't have a reliable starting point it's difficult to narrow down the variables. As is recommended by others here, start by adjusting the saw until you can get repeatable results. Use joined stock and a sharp blade to confirm your adjustments.

I have a Kreg fence on the Rockwell and have been happy with it. It fit without modification as I recall.

[Jim Finn]

I have found that "drift" is caused by a dull blade. Woodslicer blades work well but dull quickly. I now use "Supercut" carbide blades. 1/2" for re-sawing. Last a lot longer and are cheaper than woodslicer.

[Prashun Patel]

I agree with Jim and John Lennon:

"Driftiness is a worn blade, Mama."

That's what I'd test first.

However, it may be that your Craftsman is underpowered for even a 1/2" blade. You may try slowing your feed rate down to a crawl, or resawing with a 3/8" blade.

Regarding jointer vs planer: I vote to get a good planer first. Get the largest, spiraliest one you can afford and use your table saw, and a planer sled and hand tools and a router to joint. If you decide this is just too much work, then you can get a jointer.

For table tops, I have found that often the stock can be 'jointed flat enough' with a planer if you are taking light passes and flipping. YMMV, and I realize that is not standard practice.

[rudy de haas]

You may want to get both - a machine like Grizzly G0675 takes up a lot less space and offers both functions at the cost of some set-up time.

FYI: Their Amazon ad still says it's made in the U.S. but I don't believe it is - when I looked at it more than a year ago they were made in China and I was told they would be moving new production to Taiwan, but I haven't followed up on that since.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi, as others have said, you'll need both as a jointer and planer do different things.

Blade drift on a band saw is due to a poor machine (unable to tension the blade properly), or poor adjustment or a dull or damaged blade.

I've also had a new blade that had to be sent back to the supplier.

I went with a 12" wide jointer/planer, it gives me the correct width jointer for the planer..............Regards, Rod.

[Jerry Thompson]

Youtube Alex Snodgrass. That is what did it for me.

[Mike Schuch]

I agree. Asking Planer vs Jointer is like asking whether you should get a table saw or a drill press. They are different machines for different operations. I would recommend both! Of course recommending both is a lot easier than paying for both.

I spent 25+ years doing all of my woodworking with a $149 Harbor Freight 6" jointer and I used it a LOT! After 25 years I sold it to a friend for $100 when I inherited my fathers 8" jet jointer. My friend also uses the snot out of that HF 6" jointer and loves it. What I am trying to say is a jointer isn't a very complicated machine and you can get a lot of functionality from a low end machine.

[Chip Clark]

I spend a LOT of time sanding! Lost near 10 lbs. working with Zebra wood!

[Chip Clark]

Hey all - thanks for everyone's feedback. All very good stuff and based on what I'm hearing here it looks like a planer will soon be driving my neighbors nuts. Your support is greatly appreciated!

[Frank Drew]

Welcome to the board, Chip; you'll find lots of good advice here (even if some of it seems contradictory at times!)

Since you're in the business of woodworking (selling stuff you make), I recommend aiming towards getting both a jointer and a planer sooner rather than later. Time is money in business and both machines will make short work of necessary operations. Since a jointer, also called a jointer/planer, can machine both the edge and face of a board, I consider it necessary in a furniture making shop, especially one that currently specializes in tables. But I also wouldn't want to be without a thickness planer.

If you really think that this will be your future, buy the best you can afford, and larger is usually better than smaller if it's within your budget and shop size.

[Phillip Mitchell]

I'm going to echo what most have said so far in this thread. If you want to be efficient and not have to constantly fiddle around with setting up jigs, you really need both a planer and a jointer, unless you are quite skilled with hand tools and don't need to make much money for your time. I wouldn't really consider woodworking as a business without a decent (reliable, tunable) planer and jointer. Do what it takes to get a decent example of each. It really makes a difference having dedicated tools set up for their intended tasks, especially when you have repetitive production work to do on even a small scale. Even if it means constantly cruising classified ads, saving money for months, and spending a whole day buying and hauling one home...it will be worth it, once you get it tuned and running well.

I guess it depends on what you're really working with as far as rough stock, but I would really recommend at least an 8" jointer. A lot of rough stock that I get is between 6 1/2 and 7 1/2" wide and a 6" jointer is useless with that size stuff. That means you have to rip those boards down before you can even think about milling them square, which sucks most of the time. Sometimes that may not hurt your process or project, but most of the time for me, I need that extra 2" width (or more.) I found a used but well kept Delta DJ-20 on craigslist for $600 after looking pretty good for a while.

As for a budget, first planer: I can recommend the Dewalt DW735, which is quite popular. I feel like it's a great value for the money, especially if you can find one at a discount or used. I was lucky to get mine new for more than 50% off normal price, but I still think it's worth it at $500-600. Of course, like any machine, you know and respect its limits, but it has been great for me. If looking new, I would look hard at a Grizzly/Shop Fox 15" model as well for not too much more money.

Be patient, do your research, but be decisive when you find what you need. Best of luck.

[Frank Drew]

It really makes a difference having dedicated tools set up for their intended tasks, especially when you have repetitive production work to do on even a small scale.

Important point by Phillip: if you get into multiples on any scale the repetitive tasks multiply accordingly -- four tables mean sixteen legs, sixteen rails, etc. -- and your productivity will increase greatly with production equipment. Not necessarily heavy-duty, top-of-the-line, but good, reliable stuff that will do the job accurately and reasonably quickly. There's a good deal of used equipment out there and with some research you might find just what you need.

Good luck in your endeavor!

[Johanna Johanson]

I like your comments on jointer/planer size. I can say, though, that I got rid of a 20" planer - it took up way too much space and I found that there just is not much that I would ever do that needed that wide a planer. My jointer is 8" and I wish it were wider. Thankfully I have access to a 20" jointer at Santa Fe Community College - guess I'll keep taking classes there forever so I can continue to have access to that aircraft carrier!