I made a bunch of Joints!

[JohnnyEgo]

Quick Edit - Finished project for those who do not care to scroll through 50 pictures:


-Original Post-

For the first time ever. With my new planer-jointer:


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:


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:



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:



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:



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.



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.


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.



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.

[Great-Kazoo]

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.

Isn't that always the way.

Going to put some thought into what to do with it

A paddle for Vincent? In a loving way, of course.

[Irving]

That live edge looks like it'd make an awesome rifle stock. It seems like something else familiar as well. I'll get back to you if I ever figure it out.

[Bailey Guns]

Thanks. I enjoyed that. I'd like to see the finished product, whatever it is.

[Duman]

The post title had me thinking of other 'joints'....

"Up in Smoke" came to mind

[JohnnyEgo]

Yep. Did it on purpose, in part because of the amusement I found in the mushroom legalization thread.

For most of this particular walnut board, the finished product will be box lids for small jewelry boxes. Mostly 1/2" or 3/8" material. Two of them are reserved for something firearm related, which I will post more on when/if I make some more progress tomorrow and Saturday.

[Irving]

Sorry for the basic question, but what is the distinction between planing and jointing? Is the fence what makes this a jointer instead of just a planer?

[CS1983]

Sorry for the basic question, but what is the distinction between planing and jointing? Is the fence what makes this a jointer instead of just a planer?

https://www.wwgoa.com/article/the-di...er-and-planer/

[crays]

Sorry for the basic question, but what is the distinction between planing and jointing? Is the fence what makes this a jointer instead of just a planer?

Didn't you say you took wood shop class in high school? Just sayin'...

Any advice on how to properly apply those products? I don't think I've used a wood stain since high school wood shop class.

https://www.ar-15.co/threads/142169-...=1#post1780157

[JohnnyEgo]

The article CavSct posted is a pretty good explanation of the differences between the two. It's the same type of operation in terms of actually removing wood, the only thing that changes is the reference table. On the jointer, the face being cut is made flat with reference to the outfeed table it rests on after the cut (the plane of reference is the same as the cutting plane). With a planer, the face being cut is made parallel to the planer bed at a fixed distance. So the jointer doesn't give a rat's ass about the opposite face of the wood it is cutting, but the planer does. If you have two lumpy faces on opposite sides, the jointer will make one of those faces flat. The planer will spit out a lumpy board with the high spots no higher than a fixed distance from the opposite side.

If the board is reasonably flat to begin with, and the material is fairly short, the planer can flatten a board like a jointer if the differences between the high and low spots are within the capacity of the cut. However most of the time, if you put a warped board in the planer, what usually comes out the other end is a thinner warped board.