Jointer Technique

[Gabriel Marusic]

Hi Gabriel,
Here are several videos that may be helpful to you.
David

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d1qBxcnI0E
Attachment 434100

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bbHwoi4kz8
Attachment 434101

This one may be good too, although I cringe watching him using his jointer with no push blocks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlNo5_gD94E
Attachment 434102

Thank you, these are very helpful. I actually watched Matt's video and I'm glad you have it listed there. As a beginner learning a lot from Youtube it's hard to decipher what is actually good advice.

[Gabriel Marusic]

The biggest mistake folks make when learning to use their jointers is pressing down on the material, particularly on the infeed side. The whole idea behind a jointer is to take off the high spots remaining with each pass until the board is flat/straight.

Safety is all about keeping your hands and fingers away from the cutterhead in all operations and that includes using appropriate aids like push blocks when necessary to insure one's digits are not where they shouldn't be. This is especially true with smaller stock being worked. Also keep clothing away.

There is always debate about gloves when working rough stock to prevent splinters. In general, they shouldn't be used, but some folks do, particularly for face jointing wide boards, including myself. Make any choice wisely based on risk.A jointer head can chew up body parts really fast and really well...

I've been practicing the couple of days and one thing I notice is that I'm getting a convex midway through the board I am jointing. I'm pretty sure this is due to my technique but not sure what I'm actually doing to cause that to make a change. Any ideas?

[Erik Loza]

I've been practicing the couple of days and one thing I notice is that I'm getting a convex midway through the board I am jointing. I'm pretty sure this is due to my technique but not sure what I'm actually doing to cause that to make a change. Any ideas?

Outfeed table dropping off. Time to get out the straightedge.

Erik

[Gabriel Marusic]

Outfeed table dropping off. Time to get out the straightedge.

Erik

Dang I checked it with the straightedge, but maybe not in the right spots? So my table is like 72" and my straightedge is only 38" should I put the infeed table back to level and check majority outfeed with the straightedge?

[Alex Zeller]

My neighbor taught me with a power feeder. He set it up for doing the face and then the edge. He then walked me through what the feeder was doing and why it was positioned where it was. With a power feeder (not that you're likely to have one) you can watch what's happening from different angles. Then he taught how to safely use it. From there I spent days doing about 1000 board feet of a mixture of cherry and maple. The problem is once you get the face flat and the edge straight and perpendicular to the face you can only start over one more time by flipping it when practicing. You can plane a board down to almost nothing making adjustments along the way.

[Brian Tymchak]

That's actually what I've started doing. I'm finding I am getting about .004 concave in the center of my boards though and am also trying to figure that out. It is totally driving me nuts.

If you have proven to yourself that the outfeed table is level with the blades, then you might be putting too much pressure on the infeed side in the middle of cut, or not enough down pressure on the outfeed side. If your board is thin, say 4/4 or less, you might actually be bowing the board a little with pressure on the infeed side.

[William Hodge]

I've been practicing the couple of days and one thing I notice is that I'm getting a convex midway through the board I am jointing. I'm pretty sure this is due to my technique but not sure what I'm actually doing to cause that to make a change. Any ideas?

Use push pads, not blocks. Pads allow you to push the wood 12" past the cutter, then push the wood through by bearing down on the outfeed table. Pressing on the tail end of the board requires you to put weight on the infeed table, resulting in concave wood. Putting the concave side down, and hitting the ends first, allow one to quickly get a flat board.

I learned these techniques from a shop foreman when I was working in a mill room when I was a kid. I had the opportunity to review his instructions by face jointing cart loads of wood for weeks on end, until I was good enough to run the rip saw for a while. He told me that if I was going to feed wood by pressing down on the tail end of lumber, I would be fired. They needed wood flat in a door shop, more than they needed my smiling face.

I use Marshalltown concrete floats from Home Depot. The sponge rubber has a coarse texture that catches well on the wood.

[Andy D Jones]

Another choice for a red rubber grout float:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Red-Rubb...8003/301651136

< $6

-- Andy - Arlington TX

[Darcy Warner]

Use push pads, not blocks. Pads allow you to push the wood 12" past the cutter, then push the wood through by bearing down on the outfeed table. Pressing on the tail end of the board requires you to put weight on the infeed table, resulting in concave wood. Putting the concave side down, and hitting the ends first, allow one to quickly get a flat board.

I learned these techniques from a shop foreman when I was working in a mill room when I was a kid. I had the opportunity to review his instructions by face jointing cart loads of wood for weeks on end, until I was good enough to run the rip saw for a while. He told me that if I was going to feed wood by pressing down on the tail end of lumber, I would be fired. They needed wood flat in a door shop, more than they needed my smiling face.

I use Marshalltown concrete floats from Home Depot. The sponge rubber has a coarse texture that catches well on the wood.

I love feeding a SLR, heck I love tailing too.

[Mel Fulks]

I love feeding a SLR, heck I love tailing too.

Agree. It's doing both your self that's nutty. It's sawing and soccer practice combined .

[Gabriel Marusic]

If you have proven to yourself that the outfeed table is level with the blades, then you might be putting too much pressure on the infeed side in the middle of cut, or not enough down pressure on the outfeed side. If your board is thin, say 4/4 or less, you might actually be bowing the board a little with pressure on the infeed side.

Totally possible, the technique is still a bit awkward for me when I'm transitioning from infeed to outfeed.

[Chris Sherwood]

A professional woodworker friend told me about an interesting technique that I wouldn't even consider trying. When he is jointing pieces for a table top (or I assume any flat surface) he purposely makes the boards concave on the edges. When he prepares for glueup, he only needs one clamp in the middle of the table. Both ends are in contact and the clamp pulls all of the inner edges into contact.

[Derek Arita]

For months, I couldn't figure out why my boards were not jointing dead flat. I studied the videos and practiced and practiced, to no avail. One day, I decided to concentrate on adjusting my jointer as close to perfect as possible. I bought a good 4 foot straight edge and a good dial indicator and spent about 8 hours on, knives, tables, everything. When done, I ran a test board and guess what? The adjustment solved all of my technique problems.
Not to say that technique has nothing to do with jointing flat surfaces, but if your jointer is not properly adjusted, all the technique in the world isn't going to produce flat boards. Jointer adjusting is a real give and take operation. A tweak here, produces a tweak everywhere, so there's a lot of back and forth to it. There's also no room for "that's good enough", because it likely isn't. Look at adjusting your jointer as a new project. Take your time and enjoy the process.

[Jim Becker]

A professional woodworker friend told me about an interesting technique that I wouldn't even consider trying. When he is jointing pieces for a table top (or I assume any flat surface) he purposely makes the boards concave on the edges. When he prepares for glueup, he only needs one clamp in the middle of the table. Both ends are in contact and the clamp pulls all of the inner edges into contact.

That's a spring joint...but you still should use clamps the rest of the way to be sure things are mated correctly.

[Brian Holcombe]

I generally make spring joints and as Jim mentions, clamp along the entire joint. The purpose of a spring joint is to compress the ends of the joint to avoid having it open during seasonal humidity changes (boards lose more moisture near their ends).

I like a very tight lamination when possible, so I put a ton of clamps on a glue up.