Router Table as a jointer?

[Ted Baca]

I am limited on space and budget. I am a rare duck, I know. I have looked at some router tables that claim to have a fence that is joiter capable. The widest board I can ever imagine jointing would be 1.5 inches. Anyone use their router table as a jointer and do you think it has the same quality
as a jointer?

[Jim Becker]

Router tables can be used for edge jointing with no problem with a split fence that can be shimmed out on the outfeed side. Face jointing is pretty much not going to happen, however. You also need to absolutely make sure that your router fence is perpendicular to the table top...right at 90º, but even then you should be sure to sequence your passes on adjoining boards to take out any minor error in angle. (Same as you would on a regular jointer)

[glenn bradley]

I only do this occasionally and if properly set up it works fine. A high quality 'glue line rip' blade on the table saw is how I normally deal with this.

[Ted Baca]

Glenn and Jim thank you for your responses and advice. I failed to mention that I would by planing these but then just using it for edge jointing. So if I understand what you indicate, if I take the time to get a perfect set up on cutter angle I should acheive the same results?

[Bill Huber]

I have a split fence on my router table but I use the table saw.
Like Glenn said, a good blade and that is really all you need.

My fence comes with shims that go behind the fence front. So you cut the board 1/16 wider then needed and then with a 1/16th shim behind the fence board you make you cut.

[Jim Kountz]

A good spiral bit does a nicer job than a straight bit too if you have one.

[glenn bradley]

Glenn and Jim thank you for your responses and advice. I failed to mention that I would by planing these but then just using it for edge jointing. So if I understand what you indicate, if I take the time to get a perfect set up on cutter angle I should acheive the same results?

Right. Your router fence must of course be at a reliable 90* to the table for the whole pass. The face of the board that is referencing the table will also have to be nice and flat. I use those 'make believe' credit cards that come in the mail as shims to make my outfeed fence proud of the infeed but any consistent material will do.

If you are running a straight bit, I find larger diameters leave a cleaner edge (thanks somebody at SMC for the tip). Spiral bits also do a nice job but I find I can hone the straight bits and keep them fresh where the spiral bits, while lasting longer, exceed my sharpening abilities.

[Pete Bradley]

I did this for years before I got a jointer. I used 4-flute 1/2" cutters designed for metalworking machines. 2-flute cutters work fine too. I did most of it with a handheld router, boards clamped together face to face, and a clamp-on straightedge ("Clamp-N-Tool guide").

Pete

[Ted Baca]

Thanks Gentlemen, some great advice here. That tells me to maybe invest a little more in the router table fence and table since I can save the money not buying a jointer and save the space as well. Thanks again to all.

[Jules Dominguez]

I don't have a jointer. I do have a router table, but with only home-made fences, and I've never tried to use it for jointing.
I agree a good clean rip on the tablsaw is all that's needed - if you do a really smooth, steady job of feeding the boards through the tablesaw and have a good rip blade. I agree the Freud Glue-Line does a nice job.
However, when I screw up and get serious blade marks on a board (not totally unheard of), I clean up the edge with a handplane and make the final passes with a Lee Valley 90 degree edge plane. I've found the edge plane to be really handy, as I don't have the handplane skill to keep the edge of a board at 90 degrees to the face for the full length of anything but a short board.

[keith ouellette]

I have never done this but would think the table would have to be dead flat, especially it respect to the router bit being exactly 90deg to the table at all areas. If it is only 90 deg to the point nearest to the bit and another part of the table lags down a degree or two the board will twist and the joint will be off. Thats why jointer table can have no twist in them.

[John Schreiber]

I do this pretty regularly with my homemade router table and fence. The fence is split and I use playing cards as shims to get everything aligned and to establish the offset. I have a nice 30" straight edge so I can see what's happening. I also use featherboards to keep everything in place during the cut.

I use a 3/4" straight bit, but if I had my druthers I'd get a spiral bit. I can't remember which is upcut or downcut, but I want the one which pulls the wood into the table as it spins.

[Greg Narozniak]

I believe that www.woodshopdemos.com had a piece on this. It can be done as long as, like Jim B said, everything is square on the router and fence.

[JayStPeter]

I used a router table for edge jointing once. At then end of the day I just feel like there are easier ways to accomplish the same task. It takes a while to setup and tweak the thing to work right. Even then, the capacity is pretty small.

A straight edge and bearing guided bit do the job well. That's what I used most when I only had a cheap TS and a router. A long time ago I bought a $20 tool guide that is 8'+ long from the borg. That thing is straight enough of an edge to do the job.

My jointer gets used for face jointing as much as edge. I could never make a door that wasn't somehow warped until I got a jointer and started face jointing my parts. Might be something to consider for the tool short list.:cool:

Jay

[James Carmichael]

I've edge-jointed using the router either HH with a straight-edge or table-mounted (the former is easier for longer boards, IMO). Either way, I found a bearing-guided bit essential, I never could get the cutter on a straight bit perfectly aligned with the outfeed side of my split fence. A spiral bit would probably work just as well as a bearing in this regard.

Life sure is better with a jointer.:D I am space-challenged as well, I just keep everything on mobile bases.

[Eddie Darby]

Anyone use their router table as a jointer and do you think it has the same quality as a jointer?

I use my router table for jointing, and I think I get a better joint this way, than with my 6" jointer.

The number of cuts are way higher on a router, 20,000 RPM times 2 or 4 blades, 40,000 to 80,000 cuts per minute. The jointer is 5,000 RPM times 3 blades or 15,000 cuts per minute.

I use the Lee Valley shims for fine cuts.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=41801&cat=1,43053,43885,42837

[Gary Curtis]

It will be about 6 months until I can buy a jointer. So until then, a router table will have to perform that function.

An additional point to bring up here is that the relatively small diameter of router bits (compared to a jointer cutter) presents the cutting blade at a large angle to the workplace. As in "chop-chop", instead of "slice-slice". It is much the same quality difference that one gets with a shaper vs a router.

I would guess that a spiral bit would help a lot in that regard. Whatever, I'll be forced to use my router until I buy a jointer.

Gary Curtis

[JayStPeter]

Google "sawboard". You can make one of those for your circular saw and for your router with straight bit. Both will work to get one edge jointed well enough. You'll need to align your circular saw base with the blade and get a good blade to get a glue ready joint, but it's easily possible. It's easy with the router, but you might have to trim really rough boards with the circular saw first anyway. The wood can split if you take too much with the router.
Even though I have an 8" jointer, I still occasionally use a circular saw and guide to straighten a wildly curved edge. It's just quicker and easier than umpteen light passes on the jointer. The sawboard and good blade are good to have around anyway for sizing down plywood.