Is a 12" jointer needed?

[Mike Kees]

Travis at the rate you are posting you will have drained all of our collected wisdom in about 3.498 more days.... Do you need a 12" jointer ? Short answer ,maybe ,maybe not.What are you building ? How big is the wood you buy ? S4s,skip planed,or rough ? This is wood working, for every tool or way of doing something there is a workaround or 2nd or 3rd or fourth way of doing it. If you were doing this for a living ,using wide stock a lot then yeah a 12" or even 16" jointer makes sense. If this is a hobby and you use bigger stock and have more than enough money sure. Like others have posted hand planes,planer sleds etc.will also get the job done. If you do not have a jointer an 8" would be a very good starting point,that would be hard to outgrow unless you have sources of nice wide wood. The Jointer/planer option is also a great way to have jointing capacity the same as planing capacity. Good luck.

[Ron Selzer]

thanks for the info
ron

[Tom Bussey]

I have to agree with Andrew Hughes, Woodworkers that need a 12 inch jointer, don’t ask that question.

And I must be less fortunate than most because I try to pick out the best surface of a board to flatten. I have tried several times to joint the edge straight and square next but grain direction always seems to be wrong and there is no mistaking that sound when cutting against the grain on a jointer so I just go to the planner for the other side and and back to the jointer for edge work.

[Justin Rapp]

I went from a 6" straight blade jointer to a 6" helical jointer because of the cost of an 8" as about $600 more and i could use the common method of jointing a 6" board and than using a sled and putting it through my planer. Ironically, I am working on a project now and purchased and they are rough cut at 7/8" They are almost flat so I am only taking off 1/16 on my jointer and 1/16 on the opposite face to get them to 3/4. I have a few boards that i need drawer fronts that are 6 1/2" and 2 more that are 9". I don't want to risk the wood by using the 'sled' method. In this case, a 12" jointer would be great.

[Jared Sankovich]

Met a cabinet maker yesterday that didn't have a jointer. He ordered his doors, and only did euro style cabinets.

[Myles Moran]

I have an 8". So far I have purchased 1 board that has been too wide for it, so I ripped off the edge I didn't like so much to make it narrow enough to fit. I lost a whopping 1" of width, which was mostly gonna be scrap from that board anyway.

I have, however, run a crap load of boards in that 6"+ range that would have sucked on a 6" jointer.

I'll agree with the people that say to go with a 8" from the start. It's a great machine and I'll live with it's limitations. I'd love a 12" or a 16" or something crazy like that, but I don't have money for that, and I'm pretty sure my wife would strangle me if I tried to get something that big into our basement.

[michael dilday]

Following up on what Richard wrote, you can joint a 12" board on an 8" jointer, then use a shim board led to plane the rough side of the board on your planer. Once that side is smooth, smooth the other side with your planer. I agree with Richard that this is fine if you just have a few boards wider than 8" to joint. If you have lots of 8"+ wide boards to joint, you'll want a 12" jointer. As a hobbyest, I use this technique with my 8" jointer and it works fine.

That is a great technique Bob.

[michael dilday]

I have the Jet JJP-12 Jointer / Planer combo. It is fairly compact but plenty capable for a small shop. It has paid for itself many times over with the savings in lumber. I think 8" would be the minimum for anyone and 12" is ideal. And unless you are buying planed lumber and paying the $ for it a jointer is a necessity.

[Curt Harms]

I see no fault in that logic

I might -- getting a 30" jointer down Bilco door type steps into a basement shop would provide a challenge. Not impossible, but certainly a challenge

[Tom Bender]

I might -- getting a 30" jointer down Bilco door type steps into a basement shop would provide a challenge. Not impossible, but certainly a challenge

Easy peasy, remove the steps, fill the hole with sand, place the planer on the sand, shovel the sand out underneath.

[Travis Conner]

Who makes a 12" jointer besides grizzly and powermatic?

[Jim Becker]

Euro manufacturers are one source as is "old iron. Many folks, however, have adopted Euro style jointer/planer combo machines because they provide matched larger capacities for both flattening/straightening and thicknessing in a single machine with a reasonable footprint. I've used one since the mid-2000s and it's been key part of my workflow since I tend to embrace wider material "a lot". My machine is SCM/Minimax, but companies like Felder/Hammer are popular and even Grizzly has J/P combos. Common objections from some folks are shorter beds for jointing and changeover time, but honestly, unless someone is routinely and constantly working with long stock to final dimension the former isn't an issue at all and as to change-over...60 seconds for me and I avoid having to do that a lot by...planning workflow.

[Justin Rapp]

Euro manufacturers are one source as is "old iron. Many folks, however, have adopted Euro style jointer/planer combo machines because they provide matched larger capacities for both flattening/straightening and thicknessing in a single machine with a reasonable footprint. I've used one since the mid-2000s and it's been key part of my workflow since I tend to embrace wider material "a lot". My machine is SCM/Minimax, but companies like Felder/Hammer are popular and even Grizzly has J/P combos. Common objections from some folks are shorter beds for jointing and changeover time, but honestly, unless someone is routinely and constantly working with long stock to final dimension the former isn't an issue at all and as to change-over...60 seconds for me and I avoid having to do that a lot by...planning workflow.

Laguna also makes a 12" jointer that looks really nice.

[Randall J Cox]

I don’t think Travis needs a 12 inch.
Woodworkers that need a 12 don’t ask that question

Good Luck

Agree, I've playing at woodworking for over 35 years, made do with a used 6" Sears jointer for 25 years, then about 10 years ago, upgraded to a nice used Powermatic 60 8". What a difference! Love it. Don't think I've ever had the need for a 12" jointer (although I'd love to have one - actually don't have room for one). Randy Good luck with what ever you buy. If you can afford a 12", go for it.

[Paul F Franklin]

FWIW, King Canada offers several 12" jointers as well as a 12" combo J/P