Face jointing woes

[Tyler Bancroft]

I'm a jointer novice and I'm having some trouble with face jointing – my boards usually end up coming out with a bit of a bow in them when face jointing. I'm assuming it's a technique issue, as I've checked the alignment of the cutterhead with the outfeed table and it seems fine, and I also don't have trouble getting a straight edge when I'm edge jointing. Any tips?
Cheers,
Tyler

[Kevin Jenness]

In terms of technique, get a flat established and then push down on the outfeed table. Some boards have internal stresses that are released when surfacing. I generally get the best results by facing with the convex side down on the jointer. If the piece bows after facing and is too thin to be re-flattened on the jointer I will remove material from the convex face with the thickness planer. Doesn't always work but usually gives the best odds.

[Jim Becker]

Face jointing has to be done with minimal downward pressure on any board, especially for the first pass or three and from there any pressure...minimal...needs to be just behind the cutterhead on the outfeed side. You push the board through with your right hand and your left hand is merely there to make sure that the board doesn't jump around. If you don't do this, you're not shaving off the high spots and leaving the low spots...which can result in a bow that stays in the board.

[Richard Coers]

You have the knives a few thousandths higher than the outfield table? After the board is safely over the cutter, move your feed pads to the outfield table side and never go back to the infeed side. Too many TV woodworkers go back and forth over the cutter and that ends up putting a rocking motion in the board. Same goes for a push block used on the infeed side, that's not the way to do it either.

[Andrew Hughes]

Lower the outfeed. Since your not have trouble with snipe a condition that indicates a low outfeed the opposite must be checked.
If the outfeed is slightly too high the wood will bump into the lip of the outfeed table and get lifted out of the cut usually somewhere close to the middle of the board. Then the operator pushes it back down naturally to continue cutting the second half.
Dull knives and big nicks will also act like a high outfeed.
Carbide inserts too.
Good Luck

[Thomas McCurnin]

My joiner skills suck. I often use a No. 7 handplane and straighten out both sides at once, the same time, so any bows will be offset. Alternatively, I rely upon the table saw to straighten the edges.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

My big jointer has a power feeder option which works beautifully for face jointing if I take the time to set it up. The difference between using it and hand feeding is the pressure being uniformly applied on the outfeed table side. I think 90% of my face jointing problems when hand feeding come from inconsistent pressure on outfeed end. Think like a power feeder.

[Prashun Patel]

Sorry if this repeats the obvious. It wasn't obvious to me when i started.

The outfeed is the flat reference. There are issues with taking a pass that is too deep or too light. Too deep, you have to push too hard; too light (this was not intuitive for me) and the cut surface that rides on the outfeed isn't flat enough longitudinally to register properly. Couple that with too much downward pressure on the infeed, and you can get bow.

The best technique for me is to have a downward pressure on the outfeed using a non-slip or serrated push block, and forward pressure on the infeed using a hooked push shoe. Use minimal downward pressure on the infeed.

Before you take the wood to the tool, scribble it with pencil and identify the high spot. As you joint, confirm that you are getting the high spots.

I like to work the convex side if possible, because that leading edge on the concave side can sometimes get stock on the outfeed lip forcing me to pull the piece back. It just feels dangerous. If I have to work the concave side i will take a hand plane cross grain on the leading edge to minimize the chances of that catch.

All this assumes technique is your issue. For pieces thinner than 1", jointing and planing can release enough tension to bow.

[Warren Lake]

Drop on and do the tailing edge of the board first then spin it around do the other side if you are jointing concave otherwise hand plane if you have extra time.

We are all power feeders, some more than others. You only have to watch you tubes to see some dont get it. start stop start stop. Do hand over hand then the pressure is always there.

As much as blocks might make sense for traction I dont see them. Awkward angle and you loose feel. If I was ever in another shop enough of the old guys would never use that stuff so I never wanted to get used to a gizmo then be somewhere and not have them. Get you want traction. I tried sticky gloves but cant do it, there were no sticky gloves back when we learned. It was just no gloves. I see people wear gloves for hand protection. Some loose and its stupid. Joint enough rough material and your hands will be like leather.

I use a wet sponge and just touch that as I go and its enough that your hands get more traction. Depends on the wood, depends on if its rough or not as you have more traction. One job I did always started with skip planed so less traction on that. Tables need to be as slippery as possible. Knives need to be sharp and set right and and.

[John TenEyck]

If the board is bowed before face jointing, it's likely to still have bow in it afterwards if all you do is pass it through from one end to the other, and almost guaranteed if the board is much longer than the jointer bed. You have to consciously remove the bow on one or both ends first to get the board generally flat before jointing the entire length in one pass. Warren's method of doing the tail of the board first, off the outfeed table, often works best, but it doesn't matter all that much as long as you focus on removing the bow first.

The best approach with bowed boards, whenever possible, is to cut them into shorter lengths. Then there is less bow to remove and if the resultant pieces are shorter than the jointer bed then it's an almost trivial task.

John

[Warren Lake]

thats not my method that was just the solution for Prashun. I dont joint that way.

The board should already be 1" over the finished length being sure there was no end cracking on the painted end. Drop the end off cut on the floor and see if it breaks or like Mel throw it down.

Too many dynamics with Tyler saying he is new to this.

[Curt Harms]

You have the knives a few thousandths higher than the outfield table? After the board is safely over the cutter, move your feed pads to the outfield table side and never go back to the infeed side. Too many TV woodworkers go back and forth over the cutter and that ends up putting a rocking motion in the board. Same goes for a push block used on the infeed side, that's not the way to do it either.

I found being able to push horizontally without putting down pressure on the infeed side difficult. I started using a push shoe which made it easier to push horizontally without putting significant downward pressure on the infeed side. All down pressure should be on the outfeed side.