jointing a warped board

[Brian Runau]

I cut some 39" pieces out of 4/4 lumber this morning. The end of one was pretty warped up off horizontal. I cut what I needed from the other end, only using the bad end as much as I had to. When laid on the jointer bed there was a pretty good rocking motion from corner to corner. I was taught to try and joint the board by splitting the gap as equally as possible between the two opposite ends on the first few passes. Hard to do with this board with as much play as it had in it. One trick I know of is to put some sawdust under the bad back corner to try and split the difference and do this on the first few passes.

This was pretty warped and when I got one side flat I had @ 1/16 left to play with from a 4/4 board. I'm really bad at this this or the board was really warped, probably a combination of both.

Any other ideas or trick when jointing a warped board?

Thanks.

Brian

[Malcolm McLeod]

Other than supplementing the firewood pile, I try to dedicate these UGLY boards to small components - and break them into smaller/smallest sizes before jointing/planing. (Sounds like you did this too.)

A pre-CITES Bubinga board got hugely ugly as I tried to joint it - and since I needed it long and thick - I finally cut it in half with a compound miter, then glued it back together, and put a big key across this splice. It wasn't fine furniture, so it became a "feature".

[Myles Moran]

I agree about breaking down the worst wood into smaller pieces. I'll buy a 12' board with some bow because they break down into short components so easily, but when you get into more complex warping you'll likely have more internal stresses that result in more movement as you get the lumber milled (and it's also very easy to forget about this when you rip a piece down to final size)

That said, if you have a warp giving corner to corner movement, I'd tape a shim in place to get a flat on each corner. It's a lot of work starting and stopping the machine to do this safely, but usually after 4 passes max it's flat enough to run without having to shim it for balance.

[Bernie Kopfer]

I would suggest the use of a planer sled to flatten one side. If you still end up with a 1/4 in thickness you will know it is not your jointer technique

[Mel Fulks]

Sounds like the board is more twisted than warped. Twist is harder to fix than warp since warp can be ripped in center of width , faced and planed ,then jointed and glued back together. When the problem is twist and the project demands a refined matched look it is sometimes worth band sawing diagonally,facing
the two pieces on jointer then gluing. Be careful,and don’t try that method without serious care if using a machine jointer. Using a glued on
small block in the right spot can help stabilize twist to get the end safely across to outfeed table.

[Scott Clausen]

A twisted or warped board on a jointer or planner is like a dog chasing it's tail, lots of action but nothing much happening. I think the most efficient way to keep as much wood as possible is to go at it with a hand plane and then go to power flattening. Me, I have so much fun with hand planes I would make it totally flat just for the fun of it!

[Steve Eure]

I was taught that on a warped board to make a sled and secure the board to it. Run it through the table saw, cut it in half, and then try to joint and plane it. Once that is done, glue it back together. It has worked several times for me. Sometimes you just got to get what you can out of it by using small pieces.

[Brian Runau]

I agree about breaking down the worst wood into smaller pieces. I'll buy a 12' board with some bow because they break down into short components so easily, but when you get into more complex warping you'll likely have more internal stresses that result in more movement as you get the lumber milled (and it's also very easy to forget about this when you rip a piece down to final size)

That said, if you have a warp giving corner to corner movement, I'd tape a shim in place to get a flat on each corner. It's a lot of work starting and stopping the machine to do this safely, but usually after 4 passes max it's flat enough to run without having to shim it for balance.

Tape with shims is good idea. Thanks brian

[Brian Runau]

Sounds like the board is more twisted than warped. Twist is harder to fix than warp since warp can be ripped in center of width , faced and planed ,then jointed and glued back together. When the problem is twist and the project demands a refined matched look it is sometimes worth band sawing diagonally,facing
the two pieces on jointer then gluing. Be careful,and don’t try that method without serious care if using a machine jointer. Using a glued on
small block in the right spot can help stabilize twist to get the end safely across to outfeed table.

Twisted is correct thanks brian

[Jim Becker]

I tend to take the route that Malcolm mentioned...beyond a certain twist, I use a different board for the project component and religate the twisted board to very short components and secondary uses. (I don't normally throw stuff out, but will mark it "twisted" with chalk both sides before returning it to storage)

Relative to the technique, it's a balancing act. I've never used the sawdust method you mentioned, but I can see how it might help with those initial passes until you get enough of a flat spot on either end to keep it stable through the passes until you have a flat surface.

[Thomas Wilson]

I made some decorative panels for a porch rail out of treated pine.
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I dried the stock for the verticals between panels in the shop for a few months and it did this.
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This one had a full 45 degree twist in 12’. I had to get four 2 3/4 x 3 1/4 verticals out of this 4 x 4. In all, I had to get 20 verticals out of five 4x4’s. This piece was the worst piece, but all five were twisted. I cut to approximate length and I hand planed the corners of one face on each of 20 pieces to eliminate rocking, and then jointed and thickness planed the pieces normally by machine.

Here is one of the boards in progress. I worked it until the diagonal was straight and flat.

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It was the first time I had hand planed before milling to true up the surface. It really was not too much work. The milling went fine. It all came out straight and square. I had plenty of material for the required dimensions.

[Justin Rapp]

If I have no other material for the project and it can't wait till I get a new board, i'll rip the board on the bandsaw and then flatten the two halves separate and glue it back together. There is less twist in 1/2 the board then the whole board.

However, if the project can wait till I get more wood, the wood goes back into the stock pile until I need it for smaller parts. I know wood is expensive, but if I am buying wood for a specific project, I buy extra. Any left over gets put into the 'use for something' pile.

[Mark Hennebury]

To remove twist; I work from the outfeed end of the jointer, no blade guard. Hold the wood up off the jointer, lay one end down on the start of the infeed table, lower the other end down onto the outfeed table, pull the wood toward you, nip off the high corner from the infeed end, make a couple of passes, flip around and do the other end, repeat a few times. Then go back to the infeed end of the jointer and feed as normal. You can balance the wood better from the outfeed end, to equalize the twist, and get maximum yield from twisted stock.

[Justin Rapp]

To remove twist; I work from the outfeed end of the jointer, no blade guard. Hold the wood up off the jointer, lay one end down on the start of the infeed table, lower the other end down onto the outfeed table, pull the wood toward you, nip off the high corner from the infeed end, make a couple of passes, flip around and do the other end, repeat a few times. Then go back to the infeed end of the jointer and feed as normal. You can balance the wood better from the outfeed end, to equalize the twist, and get maximum yield from twisted stock.

For some reason, this just does not sound super safe?? I'd suggest getting new wood to work with before risking any kind of injury. Maybe it's me - a bit over-cafeful.

[Mark Hennebury]

Just think it through for a few minutes.



For some reason, this just does not sound super safe?? I'd suggest getting new wood to work with before risking any kind of injury. Maybe it's me - a bit over-cafeful.

[Mark Hennebury]

For reference, this is my jointer, and that's the way that I work, I am comfortable working that way, I am not suggesting anyone copy me. It's your fingers. look after them how you see fit.

For most of the time I owned a 24" machine, downsized to this little fella, Its a 20" Wadkin.

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[Warren Lake]

I dont know looks kinda light to me.

[Mel Fulks]

Well….I would have photographed that “carrier” with a lot of little airplanes all lined up in neat threatening rows.
And I would have insisted that the seller scrub off “planer”, ….don’t think he was much of a planner. Kinda hard to get that thing to a job-site ….with the HANDLE missing !!
But overall …that is a heck of a nice machine !!

[William Hodge]

A twisted board should end up thin, so there's not much strength for it to twist back.

To flatten a board with twist I put the concave side down and take light passes on a 16" two knife rough milling jointer. Using push pads and a guard, I nip 1/32" off the bearing surface corners. It's OK if the board rocks, the next few passes will true it up. The push pads and a light touch help. Press too hard, take too much, and go to slowly, and the wood hits the lead edge of the outfeed table.

If things are really troublesome, I take out the junk power plane and pretend I'm hand planing it.

[Brian Burns VT]

I don't tape shims I just put a shim under the infeed part of the twisted board so that the gap on the front and back of the board are close to even. Then I joint the board, dragging the shim with it until I'm close to the blade guard and then I remove it, either manually or by taking slight pressure off that side of board. Repeat until the board stands on it's own and you're good to go. Always have a shim by the jointer for this purpose. Hope that description makes sense. Good luck