jhardy Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 So... first time caller, long time listener. Great stuff in this place. Thanks in advance for the help & wisdom that will be bestowed! Question for the experts though... I am making a 13' x 5.5' board (get it.. ha!) room table out of reclaimed 2.25" or so stock. I've been making smaller pieces for a couple years now, but by no means an expert... Anyway, I am trying to joint down the back side & one of the edges of these pieces so I can start planing them all to the same thickness, etc. & I am having a hell of a time running these pieces through my 8"x72.5" Grizzly G0656X (with spiral blade) jointer... I know that the jointer has plenty of power to deal w/ the material (hence the annoying detail), but my skill level is another topic... I have about 8 or 9 pieces of 13' each that need to be processed, so repeatable is best! So here are what I THINK my options are... But I would love to know for sure what the best way is to deal with this... Joint by hand (Festool makes what I hear is a kick-ass hand planer) Get extensions for in-feed & out-feed (assuming at full 13' length) 3x people to man-handle, but still no way to guarantee wood is still making proper contact Also, after jointing, I will need to feed through my dewalt planer, so assuming whatever setup is used for this would be used for that as well. Thanks guys (& gals) for your help on this!! I'm hoping your YEARS of experience keeping me from making some very expensive mistakes with my stock. -Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 Welcome to the forums! Long boards indeed! Do you have a track saw? I've used my track saw to get a great edge on long stock in the past. Otherwise, add some support, get some help if you needed it and go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 I'd have to say table extensions as well, but that is going to be tricky to get perfectly on plane with the jointer bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 If your boards aren't close to perfectly flat already, you'll lose a ton of thickness getting them flat. Unfortunately there's no clever fix for this...if you intend to keep your boards 13 feet long...they better be pretty flat to start. For edge jointing huge boards like that, if they're not fairly straight to start I'll sometimes snap a chalk line on one edge and rip it free-hand at the bandsaw, then take it to the jointer. It will be a challenge to joint those long boards, no question. Tracksaw would be a good option like Kev said...but you're looking at a significant cost in tooling if you don't already have them. Ignore those powered hand planers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janello Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 Do you have 13' past the table saw? Building an "Incredible L fence" is an option for edge jointing. Still a challenge, but with a makeshift outfeed table and a friend it might be the easier go, Here's a link to Tommy Mac using one, starting at the 1 min mark. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Cancelleri Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 You could also use a jointing plane with a 90 degree fence and do it by hand after cutting it roughly straight on a bandsaw, or using your jointer for the first pass, something that long might give you bit of a cup in your edge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhardy Posted July 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 Thanks so much everyone for the ideas, I'm glad that the reality of it is that it is going to be a PITA to get this sorted & that I wasn't just making a rookie mistake! If your boards aren't close to perfectly flat already, you'll lose a ton of thickness getting them flat. Unfortunately there's no clever fix for this...if you intend to keep your boards 13 feet long...they better be pretty flat to start. For edge jointing huge boards like that, if they're not fairly straight to start I'll sometimes snap a chalk line on one edge and rip it free-hand at the bandsaw, then take it to the jointer. It will be a challenge to joint those long boards, no question. Tracksaw would be a good option like Kev said...but you're looking at a significant cost in tooling if you don't already have them. Ignore those powered hand planers. Chalk line & free hand... That is a great idea! Yeah, expecting to drop a good .25" to .50" in thickness to get a good face on it. Targeting a 1.75" thickness (and around 700LBs, ha!)... Re: the face, tempted to ran a pass through the planer & just see what happens. HA! Any thoughts? Thanks again everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Cancelleri Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 Thanks so much everyone for the ideas, I'm glad that the reality of it is that it is going to be a PITA to get this sorted & that I wasn't just making a rookie mistake! Chalk line & free hand... That is a great idea! Yeah, expecting to drop a good .25" to .50" in thickness to get a good face on it. Targeting a 1.75" thickness (and around 700LBs, ha!)... Re: the face, tempted to ran a pass through the planer & just see what happens. HA! Any thoughts? Thanks again everyone! May sure that there's no rocking due to cupping on the face if you skip plane it. Generally you want to start with a relatively straight board if you're skipping the jointer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhardy Posted July 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 May sure that there's no rocking due to cupping on the face if you skip plane it. Generally you want to start with a relatively straight board if you're skipping the jointer. Awesome, thanks! Yeah, I might take a bench hand planner to get a "good enough" surface... Just don't want to shortcut too much. Also looking at getting 10' (on each side) of in and out-feed tables for both jointer & planer... So much for parking my wife parking the car in the driveway for the next while. HA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted July 29, 2015 Report Share Posted July 29, 2015 I'd love to give input but have nothing constructive. Please return after your success or failure to share and learn us up a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick S Posted July 29, 2015 Report Share Posted July 29, 2015 I like Janello's suggestion of the Incredible L-fence, IF you can come up with a "straight enough" 13' guide. Maybe edge joint a 2 x ? x 14' if you can find it. Fine Woodworking #237 or online if you're a member. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted July 29, 2015 Report Share Posted July 29, 2015 Is it possible to fabricate or purchase hold down rollers / power feed for that jointer? One problem with long stock is that the weight hanging off the beds tries to lever it off the cutter. A hold down roll set can apply much more force to keep it properly registeted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted July 29, 2015 Report Share Posted July 29, 2015 I jointed 4" x 6" x 6' hard maple for my workbench & was having problems. I built extensions for the jointer out of MDF & was carefull to get them well supported & exactly straight. Worked perfectly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted July 29, 2015 Report Share Posted July 29, 2015 I have used my tracksaw to joint the edges with great results. To plane the first face I would build a sled. 12 ft particle or MDF as a base. Very straight boards for both sides and then shim the board so it won't teeter totter . You need infeed and outfeed support for the planer and sled. Take light cuts ! Then you have to drag the sled and board back to run it again and again. Once a face is flat you can tracksaw the edges square to the face. Then back to the planer to flatten the other side. I made a 14' by 30" bar top out of 5/4 red oak and the top came out just a little under 7/8 thick. I used my drum sander after I had it glued up. Took quite a few days to build, wasn't fun ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted July 29, 2015 Report Share Posted July 29, 2015 I'd do it with my two helpers. It would be a bear by yourself. One helper supports the tail end out from the infeed table, and the second supports it when it's far enough off the outfeed table. If the jointer is tuned properly, it works just fine when the whole board stays down on the outfeed table. We do it all the time. I wouldn't even bother trying by myself. Maybe you can enlist a couple of friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.