jointer trouble - setup or technique or big bad board

[N00b-in-training]

My Dad was in for the holiday and saw the shop for the first time. Him not being a woodworker, more of a Tim "The Toolman" Taylor type, wanted to see everything in action. I grabbed a piece of 7'x7" 4/4 cherry for an upcoming project and we headed over to the jointer, Grizzly G0490. The board I grabbed was twisted a bit and we proceed to try to get the twist out. With Dad helping, we made 3 passes and the front of the board was looking good but the back half was barely getting touched. 3 more passes and the front of the board was down to 3/4 while the back was still slightly thicker than 4/4, with the middle having not been touched for the most part.

On all of my projects so far have been pretty small, or at least short boards. As such I've been breaking the rough stock down to about an inch longer than needed before milling, this was the first board of significant length that i've tried to mill. 

My question is, before I proceed to make a piece of veneer out of 4/4 stock, is my problem just that there is too much twist in the board and I was fighting getting it out? Bad technique? Jointer setup not right? I spent 3 hours getting the tables parallel and I don't want to touch them if i don't have to. I certainly need to figure this out before I start building our 9ft dinning room table next spring.

 

[Tom King]

with a twisted board, you don't start making full passes (unless the whole board will fit on the infeed table), but some part of the board starts ahead of the knives (start with the twist on that end ahead of the cutterhead, ideally starting on a spot of the board that matches the plane you want to end up with), and take the sticking down part off of the trailing twist.  then the board is turned end for end, and the same done on the other end.  Not much different than taking bow out of a board, you just have to be more aware of trying to keep the twisted board flat in the same plane.

You can make full passes, but it ends up taking more off the board.  Theoretically you can do it with full passes, but it's hard to keep the board on the same plane all the way through with the twist.  some boards are just too twisted to get much out of anyway.

[Janello]

If a long board has a nasty twist in it, you can take it to the band saw first. You'll get it alot closer to flat before going to the jointer that way. 

I've also run them through the planer once or twice first to get something that resembles flat before moving to the jointer.

Edited November 27, 2015 by Janello

[Pete Staehling]

If you can manage it, I think the best way is to use the more twisted stock in places where shorter lengths can be jointed separately.

You will have a lot less waste if you use the twisted stuff where you can work with short lengths and are more selective in your wood choices where you need longer pieces.  If for some reason that isn't an option you may have to live with a lot of waste.

BTW, If you have uses for smaller thinner stock, using the band saw first may leave usable pieces where the jointer would have just made sawdust.  Since my work is mostly luthier work on smaller instruments those pieces are likely to be useful in my work.  You could also use them to make little boxes or other small projects if that interests you.  If you only want to make furniture then they would likely go in the scrap barrel any way.

[Eric.]

Yeah twisted boards require the most skill to flatten.  The key is to create flat spots at the most offensive material at both ends on the first pass, and to keep those flat spots contacting the tables in the same way on each consecutive pass.  The easy mistake to make is to pass the board over the cutterhead willy-nilly, allowing the board to rock on the table, which removes material in an inconsistent way and leaves you no better than when you started.

Also, Pete is right about twisted boards...those are best left at the lumberyard to begin with or cut up into smaller pieces that are less challenging to flatten.

[Trip]

If you're a dedicated power-tool woodworker, taking twist out of stock is one of the best excuses to get a Jack plane...

If you want to avoid hand tools, there are ways to remove twist on the jointer alone: I was taught to support the opposing corners with small piles of sawdust (works great)... This is my technique if the twist is not severe.. But if the twist is significant, I take a couple of passes with a Jack on the high corners, then pass the stock over the jointer...

Since your dining room table project will involve stock significantly longer than your infeed table, I'd suggest you explore the Jack-plane method -- you won't be able to relegate twisted stock to short components, because there are so few of them.

[N00b-in-training]

Also, Pete is right about twisted boards...those are best left at the lumberyard to begin with or cut up into smaller pieces that are less challenging to flatten.

Yeah... Fortunately/unfortunately this lumber is from trees from my families farm and has been air drying for 10 years in a barn. It was stickered and covered but the ends weren't sealed. I'll likely save it for the smaller parts and buy new for the longer/wider pieces.

If you're a dedicated power-tool woodworker, taking twist out of stock is one of the best excuses to get a Jack plane...

If you want to avoid hand tools, there are ways to remove twist on the jointer alone: I was taught to support the opposing corners with small piles of sawdust (works great)... This is my technique if the twist is not severe.. But if the twist is significant, I take a couple of passes with a Jack on the high corners, then pass the stock over the jointer...

Since your dining room table project will involve stock significantly longer than your infeed table, I'd suggest you explore the Jack-plane method -- you won't be able to relegate twisted stock to short components, because there are so few of them.

I've got a LA Jack Plane in the box and will get it setup and get to work on practicing!

[shaneymack]

If you have a Low angle jack it will make it much easier. Put the board on a flat surface and rock it. Determine which corners are high, flip it over and colour them with your pencil. Plane the pencil marks away flip it back over and check. Repeat untill the twist is gone. Now onto the jointer. Will make the work at the jointer much faster and easier. Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

[Trip]

==>I've got a LA Jack Plane in the box and will get it setup and get to work on practicing!

You want to hog-out stock, so a pronounced camber would be a big help... For a BD Jack, that'd be around 8"-10" radius. I forget the radius for a BU, but Google can find it for you (I seem to remember it's around 5"-6")... One strength of the BUJ is you can get several irons and shape them for different applications...

BTW: this is a great application to practice... You don't need much technique to hog-off high spots... And the quality of the surface doesn't matter at all... Give it a whirl...

[Tom King]

I'd take 10 year properly air dried twisted wood any day.  Anything else that's twisted gets left at the lumber yard, except for very unusual, desirable boards. 

[andrew-in-austin]

I wonder if a planer sled would be much easier and less frustrating. 

 

[Trip]

==^

Was noodling on that, but the OP's talking 9' dining table... That would be a big sled for a one-off... Not to mention storing it for future use...

[Eric.]

99% of successfully getting twist out of a board is understanding how the jointer works and knowing proper technique.  The other 1% is gambling that you'll have enough board left after you get the twist out.  It's not difficult to flatten a twisted board on the jointer once you get the concept (assuming you have a big enough jointer to accommodate a long, twisted board) but sometimes a board is beyond help and there's nothing you can do but relegate it to another project with smaller parts.

[drzaius]

Just look down the length of the board & imagine a straight line between the ends. You'll quickly see if there will be wood left after jointing. On a long board it doesn't take much twist to make it un-straightenable.