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Jointer 101


PeteM

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I bought a Yorkcraft (house brand from Wilke) in 2005, used it on only one project, mission-style French doors for the den.  In the end, they've worked fine.  I haven't used the jointer since, but am resolving to give it a shot again.  I had problems with snipe, but I can deal with it.  I started with 6/4 rough red oak, needed (4) 80" styles.  Intention was to flat them, then plane to 1-1/8 thick.  I stopped jointing at 9/8 thick when I realized I wasn't going to have any wood left if I kept jointing.  Ever since, I work the project into S4S sources, but I have a hankering to use that iron again.  I probably should have shopped smarter to find quartersawn pieces.  Maybe I didn't pick through the pile quite well enough (and maybe I should have found a better pile at another source). 

    What is the solution to jointing long pieces? 

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Hello Pete

I dopn't quite understand your concern but I guess that you are getting a taper in the piece. I have never had a problem with snipe but I did with tapering. The way I avoid it is to make certain that I push the piece across the jointer with minimal down force on the in-feed side while holding the piece down on the out-feed side. I also set the depth of cut to 1/32 inch or less. I am not in a hurry. With the machine off, place a board on the in-feed table and practice feeding it across until you get the "feel" of it. 

hat

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8 minutes ago, hatuffej said:

 I guess that you are getting a taper in the piece.

I remember that the jointing started the way you'd expect, shaving from two opposite corners of the working surface, indicating a slight twist to the board.  I believe I was using the pencil mark technique to track the shaved/flat areas.  I just ran out of thickness before I ran out of pencil marks.  OTOH, I don't remember the board having a very significant "rock" (severe twist).  I vaguely assumed it was doing some twisting as I milled layers off.  [I had a lot of other pieces to the doors, none of them over 36", and I didn't have problems jointing them.]  If you have long pieces to fab, should  you start with 8/4?

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On ‎8‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 10:30 AM, hatuffej said:

 I guess that you are getting a taper in the piece.

No it's not tapering.  I was jointing the flat/width, going from 6/4 to 9/8 before I stopped, but the board wasn't flat yet.  So, for those who use jointers on rough lumber, for pieces 80" or so, do you accept a board that isn't completely flat (yet)?  How close is good enough?  At what point do we glue it up anyway?!

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It must have had a severe cup which is not highly unusual to remove 3/8 on the jointer. I think we have been presuming you are doing this by jointing one side flat and then going to planer to flatten the other side. When doing this you only have to get that first side mostly flat...that is it can have a small spot not complete in the middle.

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