The Jointer Thanks to Tom Bockman of Prescott, Arizona for major parts of slide show.

The Jointer Nomenclature

The hand plane goes back thousands of years. This rusted relic is a Roman era hand plane. The jointer plane’s long base glides over irregularities to produce a very straight edge. Compare to a modern day hand plane. Though most surfacing is now done with jointers and planers, hand and portable power planes remain valuable to any woodworker.

Rough and warped lumber obviously will require much work. Creating flat and square pieces is essential for producing high quality projects. Before electric motors, when wood needed to be joined, early craftsman got out their long jointer plane to straighten and smooth edges. A tedious task as each edge also needed to be square to the face before gluing. Rough and warped lumber obviously will require much work.

The jointer works very much like the Power Plane. A similar rotary cutter combined with electricity makes for a powerful and fast planing tool.

Squaring sequence 3 2 4 Follow this sequence to make square lumber. 1 Plane off one face. 3 Plane the opposite face. Jointer Thickness Planer Flip up Flip down Flip over 2 Plane off one edge. 4 Saw off the opposite edge making it parallel to the first. Jointer Tablesaw

How the Jointer works. This removes wood as it passes over the cutters… Wedge shaped blades smooth and straighten the edge of wood. The INFEED table is usually set 1/16th” lower than the OUTFEED table. INFEED TABLE OUTFEED TABLE INFEED TABLE This side is preset… NEVER change this side! Change the setting by raising or lowering the INFEED table. … and onto the OUTFEED table. Driven by a pulley, the cutter rotates around an axle.

OUTFEED INFEED

Grain Direction Use the “Pet the Dog Affect” to minimize blowout. On a dog, petting the correct direction makes the fur lie down. Petting in the opposite direction rumples the fur. Look close at the way the grain comes off the edge. Wood grain Which direction won’t tear and chip out the wood grain? Hand plane direction Move wood across jointer Jointer knife direction

Place your board on the jointer with curved side up and the ends down.

Place your board on the jointer with curved side up and the ends down Place your board on the jointer with curved side up and the ends down. As you remove wood from the ends the board will become straight.

If you put the board like this on the jointer it will rock as you shift pressure from the infeed table to the outfeed table.

Check that the fence is square to the table.

For smoothing the FACE of boards use push blocks.

Pushblocks

For smoothing the edge of boards less than 4 inches wide use push sticks or push blocks.

Use extreme caution! A machine doesn’t have a conscience and will cut anything passed over it’s cutter head. See jointer safety. Certainly because of machine guards, this is less common today…. But in the early days of woodworking, it wasn’t uncommon to see craftsmen with hand injuries like this.

Keep a safe distance from any cutter! Close call! You can replace push blocks and push sticks, but you cannot replace fingers!

As the board passes the cutter, pressure is shifted to the outfeed table.

To begin, pressure is applied over the infeed table.

Start with pressure on the infeed table.

Shift pressure to the outfeed table.

Safety Rules 1. Wear eye protection. 2. Make all adjustments with the power off. 3. Check that guard operates properly and the fence is squared and secure. 4. Limit your cuts to 1/16". 5. Adjust only the infeed table.

6. Allow the machine to reach full speed before starting any cuts. 7. Stand to the left of the machine. 8. Take a stance allowing you to remain in balance & control for the entire cut. 9. Feed stock slowly and evenly, with firm pressure against table, square against fence.

Allow the guard to close the end of each cut. Use a pushstick for pieces lower than the fence and a pushblock for all face grain. Don't attempt to plane stock that is less then 1/2" x 4" x 12". 13. Always plane with the grain. Do not cut end grain, tapers, or rabbets without permission to do so.

Never pass hands or fingers over the cutter. Let the machine stop before you clean it off. Don’t EVER use fingers to clear shavings from blades. Return all adjustments to normal.

Never lean or sit on the jointer. The extra weight will *** Never lean or sit on the jointer. The extra weight will knock it out of adjustment.

How the Jointer works. This removes wood as it passes over the cutters… Wedge shaped blades smooth and straighten the edge of wood. The INFEED table is usually set 1/16th” lower than the OUTFEED table. INFEED TABLE OUTFEED TABLE INFEED TABLE This side is preset… NEVER change this side! Change the setting by raising or lowering the INFEED table. … and onto the OUTFEED table. Driven by a pulley, the cutter rotates around an axel.