Jointers

Jeff Greef Woodworking
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A jointer does mostly just one thing- cut a straight line where there wasn't one before. All of us who have worked with stock that isn't straight- and paid for it with frustration- will appreciate the beauty of a jointer. Starting a project with very straight stock makes life much easier.

The wider your jointer, the more useful it will be for flattening the face of your stock. An 8 inch wide jointer is nice to have and very versatile, but very expensive too. There are economical 6 inch machines available that do a good job, though. 4 inch machines are not much use for face jointing but they certainly edge joint. I'd rather have a 4 inch jointer than no jointer.

Critical to the operation of a jointer is the height relationship of the knives to the outfeed table. They must be in line for the machine to cut a straight line in wood. Some jointers do not have an adjustable outfeed table, meaning you must adjust the height of the knives in the cutterhead to match the outfeed table. This is possible but difficult. By far the better alternative is a jointer with an adjustable outfeed table. These are far easier to adjust for straightness of cut.

Also critical to a jointer's operation is the flatness of the tables. Iron castings move after they are cast, and if they are machined too early they may continue to move afterwards and then no longer be flat. Beware of rock bottom price jointers for this reason. Manufacturers of these machines will be least likely to age the castings long enough to guarantee that they stay flat.

Remember that if you face joint stock you will need to plane it to even thickness afterward, because face jointing leaves stock that is no longer even in thickness, if it was to begin with. For information on using a jointer in the process of resawing for thing stock, see Making Thin Stock on this site.

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Delta 37-070 6" Variable Speed Bench Jointer.
Economical alternative. Outfeed table not adjustable.

JET 6" Jointer.
Quality, economical machine.

Delta 37-380 8" Professional Jointer

Delta 37-350A DJ-20 8" Precision Joiner
Do I really need my eye teeth?

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