A Question About Procedure

[Ron Robinson]

As a novice hobbyist I am constantly wondering if the methods I use are "right".

My latest thought: The first major project this year will be two end tables and matching sofa table in the arts and crafts style. I have the QS white oak in the shop and have begun thinking about milling.

Say I have a board that will make four legs. I joint the face, one edge, then run it through the planer until I have the thickness I need. Then I put the jointed edge up against my table saw fence and rip to...?? This is my question: Is it better to rip to size or to rip a bit heavy and then joint or plane to final size? I need thoughts and opinions please.

Thanks,

Ron Robinson

[Tom Donalek]

I'm a newbie too, but I thought I might chime in. One issue is: how much to you trust your tablesaw blade/fence versus your planer for accuracy? I'm pretty confident in my TS fence setup for accuracy (and I don't have a planer, so that settles things for me!)

The other factor would be wood movement after cutting. I've pulled some good sized offcuts out of the bin a few weeks or months after cutting them and noticed a fair amount of movement. People talk about 'stresses' in the wood being released when it's cut. Sometimes you see it immediately, like the wood closing up behind the blade, other times it shows up after a while like my offcuts. If you suspect that the wood will move a bit after cutting, then you'd be best off making your initial cuts oversized, then allowing the wood to 'relax' for a while, and finally jointing/planing to final size.

[Robert Waddell]

I normally rip heavy and use joiner or planner to final. This allows me to remove any burn or saw marks.
As far as the correct procedure or methods of work, I think you'll find as many ways of doing somethings as there are woodworkers. The main thing is to use sound and safe methods when using your machinery. Learn those and the rest is trial and error until you find procedures that works for you.
Rob

[Michael Ballent]

I would flatten the face, then put the freshly flatten face on the jointer fence and straighten one edge. After that it goes to the planer with the flat face DOWN and get it to the required thickness.

Next comes the fun part of your question :)

I would just rip to the dimension I need, but my TS is perfectly tuned (to the best of my abilities) and I have a good blade.

Just to toss in a little fun into the mix some people like to rip 1/32" oversized and then run that edge over the jointer. I personally do not do that because it could send your perfectly milled board out by a little which could affect your joinery... But that is just me :D

[Kent Fitzgerald]

Cutting a wide, thick board into 4 pieces is likely to cause some wood movement. QSWO is pretty stable, but OTOH it isn't cheap, so I would play it safe: rip oversize, re-joint if needed, then rip to final dimension.

[Jim Becker]

You'll get a nicer pre-sand or scrap surface if you rip it a little proud and make a final pass on the jointer to clean it up. It's hard for any human to get a "perfect" cut on the table saw, even with all kinds of hold-downs.

BTW, for a QS look on all four sides of the leg, you want the grain to run diagonal across the corners of what will be the square. You can usually get this material from the edge of a flat sawn board (which is much less expensive than a QS board)...the rest being available for non-grain critical parts in your project or future projects.

[David Duke]

I would flatten the face, then put the freshly flatten face on the jointer fence and straighten one edge. After that it goes to the planer with the flat face DOWN and get it to the required thickness.

Next comes the fun part of your question :)

I would just rip to the dimension I need, but my TS is perfectly tuned (to the best of my abilities) and I have a good blade.

Just to toss in a little fun into the mix some people like to rip 1/32" oversized and then run that edge over the jointer. I personally do not do that because it could send your perfectly milled board out by a little which could affect your joinery... But that is just me :D

What Michael said..

[Alan Turner]

Ron
White Oak, 8/4, is a hard wood to dry properly, and the result is often moisture differences between the outside and inside. When sawn, I have nearly always found there to be some wood movement. So, I would rough joint and plane and then rip, and sticker and stack for a few days. After that, it is up to you.

[Tom Jones III]

If the side in question is going to be seen, then I rip it 1/32" wide and pass it over the jointer. But, how often do you use a piece that will be seen on both edges? With my current project I've got several 3/4" dividers that will only be seen on one edge so I ripped them to size and didn't bother to finish up the inside edge on the jointer.

[David Abel]

As a novice hobbyist I am constantly wondering if the methods I use are "right".

My latest thought: The first major project this year will be two end tables and matching sofa table in the arts and crafts style. I have the QS white oak in the shop and have begun thinking about milling.

Say I have a board that will make four legs. I joint the face, one edge, then run it through the planer until I have the thickness I need. Then I put the jointed edge up against my table saw fence and rip to...?? This is my question: Is it better to rip to size or to rip a bit heavy and then joint or plane to final size? I need thoughts and opinions please.

Thanks,

Ron Robinson

If you can rip to precisely the size you need, and the cut quality is acceptable, that's all you need to do. If you can't do both, then you'll need to clean up with a plane or jointer. I usually go with just the TS rip, unless further refinement is necessary. I'm flexible.

[Chris Mann]

Whenever I rip a board (or resaw), especially for something critical like legs, I usually rough cut to length, rough cut the width and joint an edge and sticker it for a few days before jointing and thicknessing to final dimension.

[Peter Gavin]

Rip to size and then scrape. The amount removed by the scaper is insignificant and it will remove the milling marks from both the jointer and/or the saw. And it will look better than sanding esp. on oak.

Peter

[Gary Herrmann]

I agree with Alan and Chris. Rough cut to oversized final dimensions, then sticker it for a few days. When ready for final, I joint and plane two adjacent sides, rip to slighly oversize on the TS and then make a last pass through the planer to remove any saw marks. This assumes your fence is parallel to your blade.

When I made my first table, I made a 5th leg, just to go through the whole process and allow myself to learn from any mistakes that might occur.

[Roy Wall]

I agree with waiting a few days before final sizing. Face joint, edge joint, and rip an 1/8" oversize on TS or the BS.

Then, after a few days I would use the Planer for final dimensioning, not the jointer. Put all the legs together wiith planed edge down - and run them all thru at the same time. For square legs, then roatate 90* and run thru planer again - now your square.