So is face jointing long boards not needed?


Cygnus A

Recommended Posts

35 minutes ago, Andy Wright said:

looking at 3:50 in the video that table top looks pretty damn flat. My bet is that the table will be fine and won't unexpectedly explode into a pile of splinters :)

 

Depends on the type of grenade... if it's incendiary it might burst into flames.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, andrew-in-austin said:

Anyone here regularly face joint 10" x 10 foot x 8/4 boards?  It's almost impossible to get them perfectly flat.  I tried it for my wife's desk, and I had to remove a lot of material.  When the boards are that long, The flex in across the entire board is quite a lot, to the point where sometimes bow can be there, or not, depending on what face is up and where the supports are.  For twist, jointing can help, but having it perfectly flat is not always necessary, especially if it has something like 1/4" twist across 10 feet.  That will never cause a glue up problem or snap back, unless it is 3" thick.

There's also the type of table the top goes on.  An apron like the one he has has a lot of support.  A trestle would have been a lot more important to maintain flatness.

Andrew, did I read this wrong? Jointing a 10’ board, even on Mel’s jointer doesn’t seem possible(just an assumption). If it’s shorter than a 10’ conference table, I would break it down to more reasonable lengths before jointing. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, K Cooper said:

I thought if the desk was 5’ long, that he could break it down to 5’ lengths. I’ve never seen a 10’ long desk but since he’s in Austin, perhaps there are some. My tax payers money in question;). That’s one big ass desk! 

Yeah you should cut to rough length before jointing.

Correct me if wrong, but I think this question is for cases like the top of an 8' long table, or the bed rails for king size bed (7+ feet). Those parts aren't getting any shorter. What I'm interpreting from this thread is that some people buy lumber that is at least surfaced on 2 sides, and they just leave it as is on those faces.  Not jointing rough lumber would be a joke.    I know for me, if the material is already, thin (less than 3/4") and has already been surfaced before, I might skip the jointer and skip plane (or drum sander) to final thickness, knowing/hoping/praying that the material is then thin enough that any joinery will keep it flat enough. Anything thicker...I don't see a point in not jointer (or using a sled) to flatten a side as usual.  But this is all on a case by case basis. 

And besides, Mel doesn't wanna be here unless we call him out by name ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Minnesota Steve said:

Apparently nobody read the description of the video where Diresta says the wood used was green and he expects it to crack.  :P

 

 

No, & I didn't watch the video either. His tubes & others like it get me agitated & just aren't for me. There are those that love this type of stuff & that's great. The world would be a pretty boring place if we were all the same.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, K Cooper said:

Andrew, did I read this wrong? Jointing a 10’ board, even on Mel’s jointer doesn’t seem possible(just an assumption). If it’s shorter than a 10’ conference table, I would break it down to more reasonable lengths before jointing. 

It's possible to joint a 10 foot board on just about any jointer; however, generally the longer the board, the harder it is.  When I jointed my boards, I lost a lot of thickness to get out the twist.  An 8/4 board can very quickly become a 5/4.  Or, you can leave a little bit of twist in it, like a 1/4" overall, and with 10 foot length, forcing that twist flat is quite easy.

 

And yes, the desk is 10 feet long.

 

IMG_0382.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/8/2018 at 8:29 PM, Llama said:

My jointer has no issues with handling a 10' board. I have around 8' of infeed/outfeed tables, which makes very short work out of almost reasonable length of board you can throw at it. It's one reason I went with the Felder over the Hammer. Regularly jointing 10' boards? hmm.... I mean, I don't do it every day, but my boards are flat when I do joint them ;) And when I say flat, I mean suction to the outfeed table flat. Not, the ol one eye check.

There you go again being all elitist and talking about the fancy machines you own.

(also, I'd love to see that thing in action... holy cow that sounds awesome)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

27 minutes ago, K Cooper said:

I do as well. So yours rolls around on a platform with casters and becomes a mother in law in your shop as well? Sorry OP for the hj. 

All of the things I have that need DC are pretty much together. I don't roll my DC around as much as you'd think.

It's really not an inconvenience... well, if I didn't have to bend over under my tablesaw to attach the hose... but, other than that it's fine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.