So the journey begins

[MadcapMagician]

So as someone who is getting started in the woodworking field, one of my big questions is, do I get a jointer or planer first.

i picked up a Grizzly table saw G0715 P for 600.00 on Letgo, an app that people sell used stuff on.

Then I got really luck and picked up a Makita scrollsaw o.n the same app for 70.00

on the Close5 app I picked up a dust collection set up from Penn State Industries for 75.00, a mouse had chewed on the filters, picked up a new set for 85.00 online.

The best score was a Bosch 4x24 belt sander from the 1970’s Made in Germany for 25.00

i have done pretty well, but I was patient and didn’t jump into anything too fast. I guess that’s the benefits of being older.

So, as my first post I hope I didn’t go on too much, just st wanted to let others know that you don’t have to go for broke in one fell swoop.

so about that jointer or planer, which one do I get first and what brand and/or Models

 

Madcap

 

[wdwerker]

Dewalt 735 planer seems to be quite popular. 

[Chet]

Welcome to the forums.

Like Steve, above, said the Dewalt 735 is a great planer.  Lost of members here use them my self included.  You can get a decent for a new woodworker 6 inch jointer at Grizzly tools for a bout $500-600.  You sort of need then both it is how you get your stock flat and square.

[MadcapMagician]

I was looking at the Grizzly 13” planer and it seemed to be reviewed pretty positively. How are the Delta jointers...old style

Thanks for the input guys.

[rarefish383]

I'm like you, just getting started. I lucked into a deal. A friend of my cousins inherited his FIL's wood shop. I had just burnt the bearings out of a HF planer. So my cousin contacted his friend and he had a new, unused Rigid 13" planer. When I went to look at it, Jimmy wouldn't sell just the planer, I had to buy all he had left. So, I got the planer, 6" Delta jointer, 12" Craftsman band saw, a belt/disc sander combo, and something else. Five tools for $700. I make a lot of wide stuff, so I jumped on a Jet 16-32 drum sander I found on CL. My new neighbor is a custom cabinet maker. He has a couple big Cherry logs and forks he wants milled. I'm gonna swap him some wood working lessons for milling his logs, Joe.

[Llama]

If you don't have a way to get wood flat, you will spend more time fighting wood than actually making things.

Hand plane can work, takes time and skill... Best to get a nice jointer asap. Wider the better.

[minorhero]

In order to make wood flat and all corners 90 degrees you need a jointer, planer and table saw all of which are properly calibrated. 

That said, what you buy first probably depends on what you plan to build first. If you are building a cutting board, you probably be better off with a jointer over a planer. You will also need a hand plane like a number 5 or jack plane. But used hand planes are cheap. 

If you are building a bookshelf first you are probably going to want a planer first since you can "fake" a jointer using things like a router, or possibly even a table saw. Plus of course you could use a number 7 hand plane (or jointer plane). 

As others have said though you will quickly need both. Lots of older machines are pretty solid. If you are looking at machines from the 70s or earlier you can find some really great guys willing to give you help fixing or restoring them on owwm.org, just don't ask them for price quotes. They won't help for that purpose but folks here will.

[JosephThomas]

You can do the work by hand if you have lots of time and patience, as others have said.  If you want a taste of that, it is more reasonable to use a hand plane to get one side close to flat, then run it thru the planer to flatten the opposite side.  Having both is ideal though.  You can also use a track saw to joint the edge of a board after its face is flat, but that is also just a workaround of sorts.

My opinion:

1. Jointer only is silly and almost useless.

2. Planer only is workable but a lot more work to flatten each board. If you're going to do work that only requires flattening a couple boards every month, this might work great for you. If you're going to flatten dozens per week (or day?!?!), you'll need/want both.

So if you can really just afford one right now, buy a planer, and start to save up for that jointer, unless you decide along the way you just love flattening by hand.

[gee-dub]

My answer early on was a planer and a planer sled for jointing.  While you can edge joint with a router or a tablesaw, if you don't have a flat reference face first you are just fooling yourself.  I got by with a planer sled and a DW734 planer for long enough to get a decent jointer.  I still use the sled for wider stock.  I just used it a couple days ago as a matter of fact.

This is with a 15" planer but, I built it for a 12-1/2" planer.  You can make Keith Rust's version in a few hours and it will pay dividends for . . . well, apparently over 8 years .

 

[..Kev]

Not to stir the pot but, this is great advice for those who refuse to pay a butt load extra to get an 8" jointer instead of a 6" jointer!

I use a sled in the planer as well as the drum sander and never regret not having the extra 2 inches on my jointer!

'

[4square]

Well said TIODS!

[MadcapMagician]

So basically it all comes down to the answer to a very simple question....what came first? The chicken or the egg.

[Brendon_t]

1 hour ago, MadcapMagician said:

So basically it all comes down to the answer to a very simple question....what came first? The chicken or the egg.

No it really comes down to preference. What are you willing to work around?  The jointer and planner do different work. Both can be done by hand or by other tools. You need both to do it correctly of you plan to mill by machine. Without one, you'll be having to improvise. Figure out what you would improvisation you prefer. 

[shaneymack]

The real answer is both. I have never done woodworking without both. A jointer is such a fundamental tool, i wouldnt be without it. You could use handplanes to get one face and one edge flat and then move onto the planer with the flat side down. For the amount of money you would have to spend on decent planes, you might as well get a jointer. That way you wont end up hating wood working after the first ten minutes LOL. 

[SawDustB]

As someone who has a planer, but no jointer, to me there's no question that the planer is more critical. Yes, obviously both would be great, but it's pretty easy to get a single flat face with a jack or fore plane. I can't imagine having to get a parallel face on everything by hand (and that implies that it's also providing a close to finished surface by hand). In my workflow, I also use an edge jointing jig on the table saw without issue (although I sometimes joint shorter boards by hand).

If you watch the Renaissance woodworker, he's got a video on hybrid milling where you joint one side by hand until the board is flat enough to not rock on the bench, then it goes through the planer. The nice thing about this method is the surface finish from the planes doesn't matter, since you'll take it off with the planer.