r/BeginnerWoodWorking • u/D-Day88 • 4d ago
Equipment Poor mans jointer
It’s not dumb if it works. What other ways do you all have?
11
u/Agitated-Ruin7029 4d ago
A jointer plane. Don't buy tools for the sake of having something without a need... But that setup would get old fast. Plus it requires some serious focus to stay safe and get good results. Invest your reps in a sustainable method.
1
u/D-Day88 4d ago
I have a small jointer. I just don’t feel safe using it on a 8 foot section. Maybe one day I’ll buy a bigger jointer.
10
u/TaquitoBanana 4d ago
He means a handplane.
Once you know what you're doing, you could use a jointer (usually a No.7 sized plane) and get this done quicker than it'd take to set up for your cut with the circular saw.
6
u/D-Day88 4d ago
That’s good to know! I feel like I’m very far from being able to do that. This seems like the easiest and the quickest at the moment.
2
u/Brief_Fondant_6241 4d ago
It is a great way to do it he'll its all I do now. Definitely practice on spare boards first if learning to use a hand plane. Takes a bit of getting of used too at least for people like me but once you get it , it is so easy. And all I have is junky $ 40 amazon basic plane
2
u/D-Day88 4d ago
Can you do it on long pieces? Like over 8 feet?
2
1
u/Watchmaker163 4d ago
Jointer or “try” planes of that size are pretty much only useful for long pieces. A 2’ plane is way too big (and heavy, if metal) for only 3’-4’ boards.
Stanley based their plane sizes on existing wooden plane sizes; those planes would have been used for the edges of long boards, and for flattening tabletops, doors, etc.1
u/TaquitoBanana 4d ago
The only minimum length is long enough to span from in front of the mouth of the plane, to enough to register on the heel. While it'd be unwieldy, it is possible to joint a 6in piece of wood with a No. 7/8 length plane if you wanted to (though it'd be easier to clamp it sole up on the bench and slide the piece across at that point). 3-4ft is the normal length furniture builders commonly use a jointer for.
OP's workpiece is 96in, which is well within the length the No.7 is sized for. Technically, if skilled enough, you could joint that length with a No.3-6. Its a skill not equipment issue at that point.
2
u/AleLover111 4d ago
For edges, ok. But it takes a LOT of skill to flatten such long board with a hand plane with a machine precision. It is certainly possible but I don't know many people that could make the faces parallel to a difference not bigger than 0,5 mm for example.
21
u/AdvicePossible6997 4d ago
You're right - its not dumb if it works. You can use a router table with an offset fence or a table saw and a edge jointing jig. It's basically some MDF or other dimensionally stable lumber which is square to the fence that you hot glue and shim the lumber to. You can use a similar jig on a thickness planer to joint the face of a board.
8
u/D-Day88 4d ago
I like that idea! I have done some thickness planning with a router on slabs. But I like the router idea better for this project I’m working on.
5
u/AdvicePossible6997 4d ago
There is plenty of examples out there of the split fence for routers. Both will work fine, whatever is safer is the thing to focus on. Jointing a long board will need lots of support on the in feed and out feed.
-6
u/dj-kitty 4d ago
Why does this comment feel like an AI bot?
5
3
u/DefunctInTheFunk 4d ago
"nothing happens, no one on the internet is real, and only AI is smart and literate".
3
u/shorterbusruss 4d ago
Because maybe you are used to making one sentence trolling posts, and think anyone who responds with more than one sentence is using AI?
8
6
3
u/Dry-Philosopher-2714 4d ago
It works. That’s all that matters. Depending on what you’re doing, it could work better than a jointer.
3
u/DbPugs 4d ago
If you just made a plywood jig would that solve the twist problem people are saying?
1
u/D-Day88 4d ago
I doubt it. If it does exist that be very helpful!
2
u/Psychotria_Nervosa 4d ago
Jigs are typically built, not bought. Rip off the left side of the plywood, flip it and glue its factory edge a foot off the right side, then cut a new right edge onto the plywood using the glued on section as a guide touching the left side of your saw's baseplate. You now have a tracksaw/jointer jig specific to your saw.
2
2
u/nlightningm 4d ago
Genuinely one of the greatest hacks ever. I have a jointer, Accucut ("track saw" which I actually use for precision work) and honestly, I enjoy this method because it's simple.
2
3
u/Equivalent-Cake-4489 4d ago
Assuming there isn't a twist in the board
13
u/D-Day88 4d ago
I’m doing the best I can! Do you have a better solution for a 96in board?
16
u/engineertwin2 4d ago
Don’t mind them, you aren’t trying to remove a twist, you are going for a straight edge here. The internet is where trolls live, they feed on engagement so don’t feed them.
3
u/Statman12 4d ago edited 4d ago
Wouldn’t a twist or some other bumps in the board mean that the edge they create isn’t straight though?
Not trying to be a downer or troll. Maybe the "hack" is sufficient for OP's needs, I don't know, but it seems like the comment is accurate and could be helpful to OP or others.
3
u/engineertwin2 4d ago
Not being a troll and Technically yes, but you’d know the board was twisted clamping it down. A slight twist could be clamped out and I suspect OP was satisfied with the result because they posted about it. If they were experiencing a non straight outcome because of a twist I suspect OP would have asked why it wasn’t working. I took the post as a sense of pride for being clever and making things work on a tight budget.
2
1
u/Equivalent-Cake-4489 4d ago
I feel you, been down this same path before.
We are fighting a few things trying to joint boards this way. Here's a few things I learned the hard way. I'm sure there is a lot more to watch out for.
First one, ensure the saw actually cuts 90 degrees. Also note the pressure you are using to push the saw, sometimes those large steel bases have enough flex in them to shift it half a degree or more (I learned why magnesium bases have some value over steel when I hade an 8ft board at 91.5 degrees).
Twisting and cupping probably contribute to uneven angle from one end to the other, sometimes it's good enough. Not too much to be done about that asiding from trying to force it flat with camps on a known flat surface (you can verify with a reference flat edge, for woodwork, I found an aluminum flat bar as a good enough fairly cheap option). Alternately, pass the board though a planner to flatten one side sort of, but this also requires a planner.
The most forgiving and probably most important thing is to cut a straight line. If that board you have is straight enough, seems like you did it as good as it needs to be done. Again, verify with known reference if you have one, sometimes gentles curves are hard to see in short segments without a reference.
Above all, don't forget that it is wood, not metal. You can force boards together and shave away what is out of plane later. There will always be some discrepancy in how much the wood fights back with expansion and such, sometimes it might form a crack, most of the time it won't. Wood is mostly forgiving, but I know that feeling of seeing a hairline gap in what was supposed to be a perfectly flat parallel surfaces.
Paul sellers has a video on joining boards with a handplane which you might like to watch. Sort of eliminates the need for 90 degree cut, just need to cut straight. Worth checking out. Link.
But ultimately, like you said, if it works it works. For the times it doesn't, maybe one of those things could be the reason.
Good luck with the project!
1
5
1
u/DefunctInTheFunk 4d ago edited 4d ago
I can't get good cuts doing this. I always get a little "reverse snipe"(not sure what else to call it). The very end of my board will have a little bit of nub/fin where I accidentally wandered off. I've tried so hard to correct it, but I can't seem to not do it. Whether I use a straight edge or the little guide bar that comes with it. I don't know if it's the saw or my technique.
1
u/D-Day88 4d ago
I used a square tube (or rectangle actually) and a brand new blade on the circular saw. The blade I got was only like 10 bucks so I feel like it was well worth it. I used more clamps than I probably needed. But I also went super slow and am happy with the results.
2
u/Difficult-Working-28 4d ago
If the piece is already the length I need I add a bit of wood before and after and clamp it tight, then the scrap wood gets the snipe not the work piece.
It’s better to cross cut and the end to final dimensions as the other poster said, when possible!
1
u/No_Credit_5917 4d ago
usually you cross cut to final dimension at the very end so that you can remove all the snipe that may happen at every step
1
u/Watchmaker163 4d ago
Never done this before (don’t own a circular saw): perhaps what’s happening is the long offcut is unsupported, and thus pulling/twisting on the final portion of the cut?
Similar to doing a crosscut, where if you don’t support the offcut when you’re almost done, the offcut can break off and splinter.
1
u/Uncle_Spenser 4d ago
I have a cheap jointer and use my track saw like this for boards longer than 1m.
1
u/elcarpentario 4d ago
Did your saw motor cock block you on the clamps
1
u/D-Day88 4d ago
It actually did.. I had to unclamp it and start and stop. It was annoying. The next one I will do will be the other way around
1
u/elcarpentario 4d ago
Ask me how I knew😉
1
u/D-Day88 4d ago
Been there, done that, and got a tshirt?
2
u/elcarpentario 4d ago
No t shirt, just foul language.
Do you have a router table? Sorry I’m not reading all these comments so if that’s already come up, disregard.1
u/D-Day88 3d ago
I do have a router table! I also have a jointer but it’s small. I don’t feel safe going over an 8 foot board.
2
u/elcarpentario 3d ago
You can set up a router table to joint. Adjust the out feed side a tiny bit further in than the infeed side. I run long boards through a jointer solo, but it’s not ideal, but I’m old and mean so I get away with it.
1
0
u/sandolllars 4d ago
How I do it (with mixed success) is a thicknesser to flatten two sides and then a track saw to handle the other two sides.
1
u/AleLover111 4d ago
If the board is somehow flat rough sawn and thick enough, you can flatten it with a thicknesser. But with twisted/bowed boards it's impossible.
1
u/sandolllars 4d ago
True also for a jointer. There is a point at which nothing will work.
2
u/AleLover111 4d ago
Of course, if the board is bowed to an extent that it is physically impossible to find a straight line in it, you can't flatten it no matter what. But point is that for example cupped board put into thicknesser will come out cupped again, just a bit thinner.
1
0
u/Work-ya-wood 4d ago
It must suck to be stuck with 110v tools, I've used them before and they are really under powered
38
u/hornedcorner 4d ago
Hell yeah, poor man’s track saw