Recommended In feed/out feed space for jointer?

[Todd Mason-Darnell]

So I am looking at getting either 6 or 8" jointer--most likely a PM. This will be my first jointer and I am unfamiliar with how much in feed and out feed space I should allow for the tool in my shop (I am trying to decide where I would put it).

For those of you that have a similar length unit, how much space do you allow at either end of the tool.? To put the question a different way, what length of board can you run on a jointer with a 66" bed length and still get good results?

[John TenEyck]

I've never considered bed length much of a handicap. I used to face and edge joint 6 - 8' boards on a little Inca. Of course it's easier on a longer machine, no question. So I look at the space needed as twice the length of the longest board I need/want to run plus a little bit. I run 8' lumber fairly regularly, so I have about 17' of space with my jointer centered in the middle. That's how much space I had with the Inca, and still how much space I have with my MM FS35.

John

[Mike Cutler]

I have a Jet 6" jointer. There is about 12' behind the cutter head, and 15' in front of the cutter head.
The jointer table is at the same height as my table saw, which sits in front of the jointer. The longest board I've put through my jointer was 10' long, and 15" wide.
Get the biggest jointer you can fit into your shop. The material will be longer than the jointer many times.

[Jim Becker]

You'll get a lot of advise about how long a board you can joint on a jointer bed of x length. Honestly, it comes down to technique and sometimes some auxiliary support. But my advise is to not joint long boards if you don't have to no matter what your machine bed length is...break lumber down into manageable pieces for components before you flatten it and thickness it as well as attend to edges. That's the way to get best results. The only time I ever put really long material across my jointer/planer is when I'm skimming rough cut material to see what I have to work with. From there, I mark out with chalk, rough cut to generous length for a given component and then mill the pieces to size.

[Brian Holcombe]

I agree with Jim, but there are special circumstances where you want a little more length, or perhaps need to work around a very long board. I built a full bed recently (very recently) and needed to flatten boards 80" long, had it been a queen they would have been 85" long or longer depending on the layout. So I put Aigner tables on my jointer to accomplish this and I have 20' of space which can expand to about 25'.

[Don Jarvie]

Put it on wheels and you can move it around to suit the size of the boards. I move mine and open the door and have plenty of roon.