I made a bunch of Joints!
Quick Edit - Finished project for those who do not care to scroll through 50 pictures:
https://www.johnnyego.com/wood/2019P...magstand52.JPG
-Original Post-
For the first time ever. With my new planer-jointer:
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Over the last few weeks, I have been using the planer feature a ton, but I haven't really jointed anything because I have traditionally bought what is known as S4S (surfaced four sides) from either the big box stores or the local lumber supplier. But on my last visit to said supplier, they didn't have any S4S walnut in stock over 4" wide that wasn't made by edge joining two narrower boards. Fortunately, I now have a mega-jointer, and they did have a pile of rough walnut boards in the corner. I found a piece with the width I wanted, but it had a good sized section of live-edge to it that I didn't want. However, they wouldn't sell me just the board-feet I needed without having the cut-off being at least four feet, so I was obligated to buy the whole board:
https://www.johnnyego.com/wood/2019P...ghwalnut01.JPG
First, I did a quick check for any errant metal before I ran it through my flesh and metal-sensing saw. Then I cut out the live-edge section, figuring I could at least saw out some useable small trim pieces out of it:
https://www.johnnyego.com/wood/2019P...ghwalnut03.JPG
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Next, I wanted to flatten one face of the rough boards, which is one of the main functions of the jointer. Essentially, the left side of the jointer sits a little higher than the right. As you push the board past the cutter head, it tries to trim the board level to the higher outfeed side. After a few passes, I got one nice, flat, clean face:
https://www.johnnyego.com/wood/2019P...ghwalnut05.JPG
https://www.johnnyego.com/wood/2019P...ghwalnut06.JPG
Once the face was flat, I wanted to make one of the edges both flat and 90 degrees to the face. This is known as edge jointing:
https://www.johnnyego.com/wood/2019P...ghwalnut08.JPG
https://www.johnnyego.com/wood/2019P...ghwalnut07.JPG
Once the board was jointed, I lifted up the jointer tables and dialed the planer bed up to height. A planer carves a surface parallel to the opposite surface on the bed. So if the opposite surface is nice and flat and smooth, you get a flat, smooth board of consistent thickness and 90 degree corners.
https://www.johnnyego.com/wood/2019P...ghwalnut09.JPG
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I have held off on adjusting my jointer planer while it is still on the pallet, so I get a little bit of what is called snipe at each end of the board where it engages the rollers. Very shallow indentations in the first and last two inches of the board. Even without adjustment, it is very light on this machine, and any snipe or other milling marks are quickly removed with a short sanding with 180 grit paper.
https://www.johnnyego.com/wood/2019P...ghwalnut11.JPG
Hit it with a bit of mineral spirits to clean it up and get an idea of what the finished grain might look like. You never know for certain what you are going to find in rough lumber until you do these things. In this case, one of the blanks has some figure I like quite a bit, with an interesting grain pattern and a bit of burl. I will probably cut that part out to use in a small jewelry box or something.
https://www.johnnyego.com/wood/2019P...ghwalnut13.JPG
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I was going to just cut out the live-edge and make a blank for small trim pieces, but I kind of like it, even though it is mostly sapwood. Going to put some thought into what to do with it. I jointed a few other blanks for a few small projects I am going to try to accomplish over the course of the week. I'm using several thousand dollars worth of machine to turn several hundred dollars of wood into an assortment of $20 projects and sawdust, but man am I having a good time with it.