#7 Jointer -- how long?


outofstepper

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Greets all,

I'm waiting for a veritas jointer plane to arrive. Its a #7 I believe.. was just wondering,

how long of a workpiece can I expect to be able to flatten with this?

Ok so I realize that's probably a "depends" question.. but following with the flattening

technique I've been reading about -- making a 'hollow' for the plane to ride over -- it stands

to reason that this would only work up to a certain length -- and with the #7 jointer.. I'm

going to guess this length is maybe 3' or so? 4'?

I'm guessing it won't work to make two hollows, one after the next. :)

Tips for jointing/flattening longer boards? Say 6' or so? (cut them in half first? :) )

-Tony

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Don't over think it. A #7 length plane is long enough to flatten any typical length board you will use for normal sized furniture projects. That's why it's the most commonly found size on the old tools market. It was probably one of the most used planes in the hand tool shop, and likely still is today in shops that use a lot of hand tools. I do all my work by hand and rarely grab anything longer than my 22" plane. I also rarely work with boards longer than 4'. Most furniture sized work uses boards less than 4' in length, so you shouldn't have a problem. I have jointed and flattened boards as long as 8' with mine. I also have a 30" long jointer I use when an edge joint has to be super flat, but this is usually only in the case of a very precise edge joint where I need absolutely flat and straight edges. In most cases, the 22" plane is fine.

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Do what Bob says. Bob knows everything. ;)

One other factor when flattening a board with a #7 is that how far the blade is sticking out will contribute to your success at flattening longer boards. If your jointer plane is set with the blade barely peeking out, it will be able to flatten a longer board more easily, but you'll be taking thinner shavings, so it will take longer. If the blade is sticking out a lot, it won't be so easy to flatten a long surface, but you'll remove wood faster and it will be quicker to get an out of flat board closer to being flat. So what you wind up doing in practice is finding that balance between fast stock removal and ease of getting a flat surface.

As to the actual length of what a #7 can handle, I flattened my workbench, which is 8' long, with a #7.

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