Jointing Boards

[john schnyderite]

I'm working on jointing some boards. On the first couple 7 footers, I noticed more material being taken off the front of the boards with little to none being taken from the back. I'm worried that by the time I get the front and middle of the board planed down enough to where the whole board is flat I'll have a toothpick in the front. What is the best method to fix this? Can I start jointing a few inches in on the board instead of the front to change the angle a bit and take more material from the back end? Should I flip the board to joint the back first? I don't have a lot of extra boards so I was hoping someone had some ideas so that I don't waste these ones.

Note, I jointed a few 3.5' boards and those were fine so I'm pretty sure the machine is set up ok. I'm just having trouble with longer boards.

[Warren Lake]

simple answer spin your board around some passes from each end. More to jointing and understanding material than simple answers but that will work

[Patrick Walsh]

Long boards may require additional in and outfeed support. Not always but sometimes.

Lay the board on a flat surface where the board can be viewed end to end. If it has more than a 1/4 of spring or twist and your machines tables do not offer enough support it can be hard to get rid of the spring.

It’s hard to tell you exactly how to feed the board without seeing it in person. In the case of a severe spring joint face the spring up “or like the way a rainbow arches to the sky” then get support for the board the full length of at least the infeed. Your gonna wanna use a level to make sure whatever you rig up is Co planer and level to the machine tables.

Throw the rule of placing all your pressure just past the cutterhead on the leading edge of the outfeed table and instead gently glide the board from the rear of the infeed table to the outfeed table from the trailing edge of the board with no pressure till you get close to the end of the board.

Do that a couple times till you get most of the spring out then proceed as normal.

[Dave Cav]

How big is your jointer? Smaller machines are a lot more sensitive to technique than bigger, and the jointer requires more practice and attention to technique than about any other woodworking machine. Make sure you are jointing with the convex side down and keep the downward pressure on the outfeed side. Longer boards on a smaller jointer can be a pain, but practice will help.

[john schnyderite]

How big is your jointer? Smaller machines are a lot more sensitive to technique than bigger, and the jointer requires more practice and attention to technique than about any other woodworking machine. Make sure you are jointing with the convex side down and keep the downward pressure on the outfeed side. Longer boards on a smaller jointer can be a pain, but practice will help.


the jointer is an 8" delta.

I've got a roller for support on the outfeed. I'm not really having trouble keeping the board on the outfeed table towards the end of the run. Just some times where it seems like it should be taking material, it isn't. It cuts at the beginning through about 3/4 of the way through the board, then not. Both ends have some light coming through on a straight edge.

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[Tom M King]

Almost every board run over the jointer needs to be sighted, and a strategy planned. The jointer itself doesn't do all the work automatically. A seven foot long board should be no problem for that jointer, or really, any other one. Having knives too low makes it close to impossible though.

[Darcy Warner]

I drop in all the time edging and facing.
It takes practice and confidence.

[Matt Day]

Agreed with Darcy. Sometimes if there’s a lot of room under the rainbow i’ll Take a pass or two off the leading edge then place the middle of the rainbow over the cutterhead (without jointing the leading edge) and take just material off the trailing edge.

First step though is to make sure your jointer is aligned properly.

[Andrew Hughes]

I would like to suggest lowering the outfeed 1 or 2 thousand.

[john schnyderite]

I put a straight edge on the outfeed and spun the blade manually and it was just barely kissing the blades, so I took your advice of lowering the outfeed a hair and ran a few new boards through. I was able to flatten them in just a few passes. So I picked up one of the boards that was giving me some trouble before and I'm still not having luck with those. Maybe because the middle is a bit bowed due to the way it cut before.

What is the best method to try to fix those boards? I was thinking of just trying the fresh side of those boards, but they are bowed slightly during the drying process so I have no choice but to figure out how to work these bows out on the jointer.


I would like to suggest lowering the outfeed 1 or 2 thousand.

[Tom M King]

Take the high parts off first. Sometimes only the last few inches of a board need to be taken down. If a ten foot board has a two inch long crook on one end, there is no need to run the whole board over-just the last few inches. If you have an 18" long board with the same crook on one end, there would be no need to run any more of the ten foot board over the jointer than you would with the 18" board. Sometimes you take some off of one end, turn the board around, and take some off the other end.

That's what I was talking about when I said develop a strategy. Sight the edge, and see what you need to take off before just running the whole board through. Take off the high parts until it's straight enough to run the whole thing.

[john schnyderite]

I'm face planing, and the bow is the other way (smile, not frown).. Should I make a pass or two of just the middle?

I've tried running it through normally with no pressure on the outfeed until a few feet of board has passed through, but it still takes material on the front of the board.


Take the high parts off first. Sometimes only the last few inches of a board need to be taken down. If a ten foot board has a two inch long crook on one end, there is no need to run the whole board over-just the last few inches. If you have an 18" long board with the same crook on one end, there would be no need to run any more of the ten foot board over the jointer than you would with the 18" board. Sometimes you take some off of one end, turn the board around, and take some off the other end.

That's what I was talking about when I said develop a strategy. Sight the edge, and see what you need to take off before just running the whole board through. Take off the high parts until it's straight enough to run the whole thing.

[Tom M King]

To take a belly out, I start at the peak of the belly, and only take a little off. That will give you a small flat spot to key off of for the next pass, and so on. It can be a bit of a balancing act to start with by holding both ends up equally, but if you can visualize what you want to accomplish with each pass, it helps a lot. You will probably need to sight it after each of the first several passes, and decide what to do with the next pass.

[Jacob Reverb]

Unless you need straight boards 7' long, you're better off cutting to a bit longer than final length, then jointing, then doing final cut to length (to ensure squareness). Less waste that way.

And as others have said, trade end for end.

You can also tack a straightedge (such as the edge of a piece of 1/4" lauan) to the concave edge of the board, rip off the convex edge on TS, then remove the tacked-on straightedge and use the (new) straight edge to rip off the concave side.

ETA: Never mind -- just realized that you're trying to flatten the board, rather than to joint the edge...

[Paul Girouard]

I'm face planing, and the bow is the other way (smile, not frown).. Should I make a pass or two of just the middle?

I've tried running it through normally with no pressure on the outfeed until a few feet of board has passed through, but it still takes material on the front of the board.


Sure you can take some off the bottom of the smile, but you need to start a couple of feet from the one end and lift the board free about the same two feet from the end of the board.


IF you have a 8’ straight edge , or factory edge of a piece of plywood strike lines on the board to give you reference lines to trim to.

IF the boards are really crowned , use a circular saw and a straight edge , or a track saw IF you have one to straighten the boards before you go to the jointer.

Like others have said it’s a balancing act and a technic issue most likely.

[Patrick Walsh]

Beyond the above once a while a board just want to retain its lack of fltness. Not often but it does happen and when it does I normally use it for smaller stuff or just throw it away.

Normally I run into this at work with pg maple and I’m tying to joint a piece for a ff that is something like 13/16x2x100 some odd inches. It often happens with boards much wider but the same length and thickness.

I attribute it to improper drying and or. Tree tht just doesn’t want to be made into something and wanted to be a tree really really bad.