Do I need a jointer?

[Ray Schafer]

I have just about everything else. I am going to build some office cabinets with face frames and shaker-style doors. I figure that I can get S2S wood and use my tablesaw, router and planer to surface the wood. (I will get a jointer eventually.)

I must admit that buying wood for "nice" furniture is still the part that alludes me.

[J. Z. Guest]

Ray, before I bought a jointer, my problem was that I could buy S2S or S4S lumber that was straight when it was milled, but not when it acclimated to my shop's climate.

It's worth a go though. For smaller pieces, maybe you'll have better luck than I did. Otherwise, work with plywood as much as possible until you get a jointer.

[Paul Greathouse]

Ray

I do light jointing work with a straight bit and split fence on my router table. I will eventually get a jointer but for the work I do (Cabinets/Casework) a jointer is not high on my list right now.

[Joe Jensen]

I think it depends on how much time you are willing to spend, and how high your expectations are around quality. If funds are tight, buy a used machine from Craig's list. A quick scan of Craig's list in Phoenix suggests that you could find a 6" for around $100.

Once I got a jointer and a planer, the quality of my work went up tremendously. S4S wood is not nearly as flat and straight was the stuff I work with now. I would hate to go back.

Plus, if you out grow the $100 jointer, you should be able to get that much back selling it used..joe

[Mark Roderick]

If you're going to be using only plywood and MDF, you don't need a jointer.

If you're going to be using real wood, then you absolutely 100% need a jointer UNLESS you prefer to flatten your stock using handplanes instead.

I don't own a jointer. I use handplanes instead. This is because (1) I don't really want to clutter my shop with one more big machine, and (2) by using handplanes I don't worry about the width of the wood. At least once a year I think about buying a jointer anyway.

But in any case, you need one or the other. I learned the hard way that you can't work with wood that isn't flat.

[glenn bradley]

It is interesting how often folks ask this. It of course depends on what you do. If you need a flat reference surface on a board to start any other activity, you need a jointer. If you can acquire flat wood that is within your tolerances, you don't. I have never found anything other than some sheet goods that was workable without establishing a flat surface. YMMV.

[Steve Mellott]

I used to ask myself this question all the time. Since I've purchased a jointer, I use it all the time. The quality of my work has improved and the frustration of trying to fit together supposedly flat work has significantly decreased.

[Jim Becker]

I'm a believer in the jointer. Not so much for edges anymore since I have a slider and can clamp down material for a great straight line cut, (and there are many ways to effectively get a straight edge) but for making sure that the components I create are flat before I thickness and dimension them.

There is a lot of work you can do quite well using 2S2 material, but as someone already mentioned, it may not be stable lumber once it's in your shop and you cut into it. Further, there can be some surprising variability in thickness with 2S2, even when buying from the same rack at the supplier. Depending on how it was milled, it may not even been flattened prior to thicknessing...again, depending on the supplier.

[Peter Quadarella]

If you work with solid wood, you need to flatten it. A jointer is one way to do it (the fastest/easiest usually), as are hand planes and a sled with a power planer.

One way or another, you are going to have to flatten the wood - only you can decide how you want to do it.

[Sam Yerardi]

I'd recommend getting a jointer. Either 6" or 8". I have one and rarely use it as I do most work by hand, but there are times when it's just the right tool.

[Matt Benton]

I've just finished skip-planing the walnut for my first project, a blanket chest for our church auction. I have a DW735, but no jointer, so I built a planer sled out of MDF. I was amazed at how well it worked, and it took about 30 minutes to make.

Now if I can just find a quick and easy way to edge joint...

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Need? No. Not if you are adept at and enjoy doing it with hand planes.

[Danny Thompson]

Two low-cost and fairly speedy options, assuming you have a power planer:

1) hand plane one face roughly flat (doesn't have to be perfectly flat, just no wobble, and make sure any twist is removed), then send the board through the planer with your roughly flat face down. The opposing face should come out perfectly flat. (an idea proposed by John White from FWW)

or 2) use a planer sled

[Rob Will]

Yep, you can have flat wood one day and the next day some pieces will have warped or twisted.

I think you need a jointer the same width as your planer.

Rob

[Joe Chritz]

You don't "need" a jointer but after you have one you will wonder how you ever managed without one.

Joe

[Lee Koepke]

Two low-cost and fairly speedy options, assuming you have a power planer:

1) hand plane one face roughly flat (doesn't have to be perfectly flat, just no wobble, and make sure any twist is removed), then send the board through the planer with your roughly flat face down. The opposing face should come out perfectly flat. (an idea proposed by John White from FWW)

or 2) use a planer sled
I just used Danny option #1 on a piece of 11.5" cherry, and it worked well.

Keep in mind, I spent a couple of hours ( of peace and quite ME time ) with the hand plane first, then SECONDS with the planer ... haha....

[Jim Cunningham]

I have had one for several years and the quality of my work went up and the frustration in fitting went down. I only have a 6"(Ridgid) and use it mostly for edge jointing

[James Carmichael]

Put me down as for the jointer, the bigger, the better.

Edge-jointing can be done a variety of ways with TS, router (table or hh), circular saw, and, yes, hand planes. But there's no substitue for an aircraft-carrier for flattening board faces.

I also discovered, as others have noted, that when you lay a piece on the jointer bed, a lot of S2S stock is not nearly as flat & straight as it looks in the yard.

[Ray Schafer]

I found a used Ridgid 6 1/8 jointer. It was a great deal. I am going to test it tomorrow. That pretty much completes my shop. The only thing that I can think of that I will need now is a couple of good hand planes.

[J. Z. Guest]

Hey good deal! That's the one I've got, except I paid full price for mine. That extra 1/8" is pure gold. It means you can actually face joint 6" lumber. It's one of the hardest working machines in my shop.

With Dowelmax, a jointer, a planer, a drill, and a table saw, you can do a LOT.

I bought the 7" block plane from Home Depot, and it has already been quite handy for trimming miscellaneous things. It didn't have a very good each from the store, but it is going to be quite handy when I put a razor edge on it. It's probably one of the "worst" planes out there, but it does the job.

The trick now will be to NOT buy tools you DON'T need. Or to put it another way, to buy tools you "need." :D

Did you get the manual with the jointer? Make sure the outfeed table is level with the knives, or you'll get snipe.

[Scot Kelley]

I am of the belief that if there is a tool you do not already own, it is a "need."

All kidding aside, the jointer allows you to purchase timber cheaper, make stock flatter, and will increase your ability to produce fine work.

I started with a jointer that did not have all of the covers and safety equipment for $60. A few months later and one finger which was slightly shortened, I upgraded to a 6 inch jointer by Jet. I now have a restored Delta 8 inch jointer with a spiral cutterhead.

My advice is to watch Craigslist. Buy the biggest and best you can afford. NEVER use a tool without all of the safety equipment it came with originally.

[Ray Schafer]

A response to both you and Scot ...

Yes, it came with all safety equipment, the manuals and the RECEIPT! ... which is very handy, because the Ridgid tools have a lifetime warranty. I am going to read the manual today and try to start it just to make sure that it works. I was assured by the previous owner that he used it a total of ten to twelve times and that it will run fine, or he will come pick it up and give me my money back.

Jeremy, I also have a bandsaw, two routers, a Kreg pocket jig, two circular saws, a belt sander and a drill press! I feel pretty well equiped! I am sure that there are still tools I would like, such as a grinder, a drum sander, etc. but there are lots of ways to provide the same functionality -- such as using my bench table saw (I have a Unisaw, too) as a disc sander. I know I am not the MOST equiped shop, but I think that I have everything that I NEED. (I do suffer from the "all tools are needed" disease that Scot mentioned.)

[Fred Voorhees]

I can't imagine a shop that can't use the services of a jointer. Pure and simple, it is one of the first two to three machines that must be purchased to start up a wood shop. Period!