Large farm tables

[Dan Russ]

I build lots of farm tables and one of my biggest obstacles is getting good glue joints. All these tables are from 8' to 10' and 4' wide. I currently cut boards to rough length, plane both faces, joint 1 edge on my ridged 6", and then rip to width. It's very hard to joint 8/4 boards that are 8'+ on that little jointer. My question is....do I purchase a 8" long bed jointer or a track saw?

[John Broomall]

I use both the jointer (DJ-20) and the track saw (Festool TS 75) approach to these tables. The track saw approach is actually faster and makes material handling easy. Occasionally the sawn joint needs to be touched up with a pass or two from a hand plane but you have ripped to width and jointed in one operation and only had to move a track. Boards from the jointer frequently need to go back for another pass or two and they get heavy pretty fast. If you decide on the jointer route go with the longest you can find (longer than a DJ-20). If you go the tracksaw route the TS 75 has more than enough power to handle your boards but go with the 116" track. Don't rely on joining tracks, it is possible but you would have to be prepared to check alignment for every single cut.

[Andrew Hughes]

Dan if you really want cut down your time and make up your boards for a 7 or 8 ft table.Look at a jointer with long beds nothing gets the job done faster.
For me glue lines are unacceptable on a table whether it's pine or nice walnut.
Heres a pic of my jointer with 99 inches of overall length I can face and joint 8 ft boards easy.Its always ready.
You don't need one like mine.Pleanty of machines out there with long flat tables, ready to save you time and make some money.

[Mel Fulks]

The first thing I would do is try jointing ,ripping parallel ,then a final jointing of the edges. And after jointing all of edges you might have to finesse some ; like dropping part of the board over cutter to just cut high areas.Sometimes when you rip off edge the wood can move in one or even two directions. Test your jointers adjustment on some boards about 4 feet long ,if you can't get them fitting together well you stand no chance with the longer material. No matter what kind of jointer you have or buy later you will have to master adjustment issues. If you can master adjustment you move into a much smaller skilled group. Andrew ,fine machine there!

[Peter Kelly]

I use both the jointer (DJ-20) and the track saw (Festool TS 75) approach to these tables. The track saw approach is actually faster and makes material handling easy. Occasionally the sawn joint needs to be touched up with a pass or two from a hand plane but you have ripped to width and jointed in one operation and only had to move a track. Boards from the jointer frequently need to go back for another pass or two and they get heavy pretty fast. If you decide on the jointer route go with the longest you can find (longer than a DJ-20). If you go the tracksaw route the TS 75 has more than enough power to handle your boards but go with the 116" track. Don't rely on joining tracks, it is possible but you would have to be prepared to check alignment for every single cut.

Couldn't agree more. The TS75 and 116" rail also won't take up any space in the shop, doesn't require 220v power or additional ducting for dust collection. The only better way of jointing edges is with a slider IMO.

[Jerry Wright]

Poor man's simple approach. Long straight edge and hand router with 2 in. long straight bit. Works very well. edp

[Robert Engel]

My question is....do I purchase a 8" long bed jointer or a track saw?

No question about it: Jointer.

IME very long boards like this are still a challenge to joint. I use roller stands in feed and outfeed carefully lined up with the jointer beds (a 6' level with a magnet strip on one side is very helpful.

Even after using a machine, I find its often not perfect enough to suit me (my be OK for a farm table, tho) so I generally fine tune the edges with a hand jointer plane.

So my answer is: a jointer and a jointer plane.

[Wayne Lomman]

Take your pick. Both ways work although my preference is to use a sliding panel saw. As Andrew says, visible glue lines are unacceptable. However, contrary to Andrew, saw straightening does not result in visible glue lines if you use a half reasonable carbide tipped cross cut saw blade. The issue I have with jointer straightening is that it leaves the surface too smooth and leads to an inferior glue surface. That is a critical issue with Australian hardwoods which are generally dense, tough, and interlocked, none of which is good for planing.

That aside, a 6" jointer is way too small to run 10' boards across. Get a bigger one. I reckon the workout you do every time you put that size timber over it will make it a breeze doing the same job over a long bed.

I think investing in a slider should be on your to-do list however.

I do take exception to the implication that farm tables somehow may have a lower standard applied to them. Farmhouse is a reference to a style, not a Dad and Dave bodgie up. Cheers.

[Frederick Skelly]

Another option is a #7 or #8 hand plane...

Edit: This is the type of plane that Cody mentions in a later post - a jointer plane. (Thanks Cody!)

[Roy Turbett]

Poor man's simple approach. Long straight edge and hand router with 2 in. long straight bit. Works very well. edp

+1 Can even be done on a router table with an offset fence and in-feed/out-feed support.

[IMG][/IMG]

[Erik Loza]

Couldn't agree more. The TS75 and 116" rail also won't take up any space in the shop, doesn't require 220v power or additional ducting for dust collection. The only better way of jointing edges is with a slider IMO.

+1 ^^^....

Not sure what "lots of farm tables" constitutes, numbers-wise, but if this is your livelihood, a sliding table saw might be worth looking at. It will probably be a $10K investment for an 8'-10' slider but a machine like that will rip any length solid wood you need straight as a laser beam and whatever quality edge you choose. I have lots of owners who probably do what you do with their track saws but it's a once-in-a-while thing in their cases. Again, depends on what your time is worth. Best of luck in your search.

Erik

[Cody Colston]

Use a jointer plane. (long hand plane). You will get a better joint than you can with any machine and it also has the added plus that it is cheap (relatively).

[Cary Falk]

I think everybody needs both. . In the absence of both, the router and straight edge came to mind.

[John Blazy]

Unlike most of you, I never had the money or space (because I had the delusion that I could make a living in furniture / cabinetmaking) for sliders, track saws, etc, so I always snapped a chalk line on rough stock, freehand cut to the line, then ripped, then ripped again til straight. Worked every time.
As to the jointer? Easy - I added plywood extensions to my infeed and outfeed tables when needed. Screwed cleats to the cast infeed/outfeed tables, screwed in the ply, leveled to the plane of the beds and you're golden.

[Dan Russ]

This is basically what I do now. Roller stands and my wife helping assist in the lugging of all the boards. I don't own a hand plane but are interested in buying one if it will help. What number plane would you suggest? #7