From: brown@venus.iucf.indiana.edu (Robert J. Brown)
Subject: Re: Jointer vs Planer
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.3-4   
Reply-To: brown@venus.iucf.indiana.edu
Organization: IUCF
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Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 19:26:12 GMT

In article <1992Dec11.185948.9421@adobe.com>, bennett@adobe.com(Bennett Leeds) writes...
>Becky Keifer writes
>> I need some help in deciding which to get.
>> I would like for this to be a surprise.
> 
>Robert Brown writes
>> ...I decided to go with the jointer first...
> 
>Vance Morrison writes
>> I too would recommend the jointer first. 
> 
>Tim Keifer writes
>> ... I agree with the jointer being a more useful item at this time.
> 
>Well, Becky Keifer, looks like Tim Keifer wants the jointer. Next time
>get someone else to post for you ;^)
> 
> 
>But, this seems to leave me alone in thinking that I'd get the planer
>first. Assuming Tim already has some other tools, like a tablesaw or a
>router, perhaps a hand plane, he has enough to do edge jointing, which is
>what most people use a jointer for. Jigs for doing edge jointing on a 
>tablesaw or with a router (hand held or in a table) have appeared in issues
>of Woodsmith, for instance, over the years. You can even make a sled jig
>for a router to do face flattening.
> 
>But, it's a *lot* harder to use these tools to make one face of a board
>parallel to the other.  And, unless you're willing to either have the wood 
>you buy planed at a mill, you'll end up making things out of stock 
>thicknesses, which is limiting. Also, I've found that the thicknesses
>of boards, even at the same yard, vary quite a bit from board to board.
> 
>So, what am I missing?
> 
>- Bennett Leeds
>bennett@adobe.com

 Bennett, what you're missing is a jointer! :-) But seriously, I really
do want (and need) BOTH a jointer as well as a planer. It's just that I
feel I can make better use (more) out of a jointer than a planer. Once a
stack of material is planed to the desired thickness (and parallelness),
you would normally begin the process of ripping to the widths you need and
cross-cutting to the proper lengths. (guy knows the buzz words, ehh? :-))
 I like to clean up the edges after ripping and even though the Freud LU72M
ripping blade does a nice job on the edges, there is no substitute for the
jointer.
 Fortunately, I have a couple of pals within a few miles of my home (shop)
who own full-blown cabinet shops. I can use their "big" equipment whenever
I need to. But as I see it, planing stock is mostly a one step process; you
buy roughly the amount of material you'll need for the project, and you run
it through the planer. Put the planer away. Start ripping. The jointer is now
*useful* (I'll agree, with the alternate -if not slow- methods of edge finishing
you mentioned, not totally necessary) and will continue to be useful throughout
the rest of the construction phase. 
 I realize that not everyone has friends who own planers and jointers and
is willing to let you use them, but because I do, I'll get the jointer now,
and use their planers until I can afford to buy a nice 12" model of my own
sometime later this year.
 Incidentally, although my pals tolerate my using their tools from time to
time, and the persistent flood of questions (these guys DO know the trade!)
I bombard them with, they are quick to point out (in a joking fashion - but
I can see some truth to it) that it's people like myself - and probably you
too - that have hurt their business a little bit. I am NOT into the comercial
end of woodworking; most everything I make stays in my home or is a gift for
family or friends. But their claim is that everything I make myself is poten-
tially money out of their pockets. From my point of view, if I didn't make it
myself as a hobby, I probably wouldn't buy it from them anyway! But of course,
this is another discussion all together............

Cheers,

B**2

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From: pauls@hpnmdla.sr.hp.com (Paul Stafford)
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 20:28:20 GMT
Subject: Re: Using Plunge Router in Router Table
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Santa Rosa, CA