# Jointing on a table saw



## srestrepo (Sep 28, 2012)

i can't afford to buy a jointer, however, i've had some success with generating a straight edge using my table saw and the fence. i just run my wood so that i only have 1/16th or whatever i need to remove the rough parts of the stock into the 1/8 in blade and the use that side that just went through the saw as my referenced face.

is there something that i shoudl know while doing this?

obviously i'll have to sand down all of the blade marks left over on hte wood, but this seems to work decent for me. other than a jointer doing this more efficiently, am i missing anything else?


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

It's just a matter of attaching to the stock (a few 4d finish nails work good) another piece of wood or plywood (that has a straight edge) to be the first referenced edge against the fence, and the saw cuts off the other side straight. Then remove the piece, and turn the board around, and your next cut puts the second straight edge on the board. The second cut also makes the edges parallel.









 







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## srestrepo (Sep 28, 2012)

that sounds like it woudl work great. thank you!


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

You can also build a simple jig like Woodnthings made for this purpose.

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f27/board-straightening-jig-table-saw-16999/

These days I like to straighten the first edge with a hand plane. I can get the edge straight in a few minutes. May not be right angle to the surface, but straight enough to begin ripping on the table saw.


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## srestrepo (Sep 28, 2012)

well basically it goes like this. i wanted to build a cases, drawers and cabinets out of half in birch ply and some 2x4's. but with no jointer and construction grade lumber, to make some of the drawers and slides and things out of the 2x4's i have to just run it all through the table saw becuase i have no planer or jointer. i tried by hand and i'm not very good with my hand plane, combined with my hand plane is a newer one that i got as a gift from my fiancee from lowes. but i'l give this jig a shot.


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## Oneal-Woodworking (Apr 14, 2013)

srestrepo said:


> well basically it goes like this. i wanted to build a cases, drawers and cabinets out of half in birch ply and some 2x4's. but with no jointer and construction grade lumber, to make some of the drawers and slides and things out of the 2x4's i have to just run it all through the table saw becuase i have no planer or jointer. i tried by hand and i'm not very good with my hand plane, combined with my hand plane is a newer one that i got as a gift from my fiancee from lowes. but i'l give this jig a shot.


When in a hurry to straightline rip longer boards I simply clamp a LONG level to the fence and rock on. Look at the way the wood is bowed and try to make your first cut with the board facing so the the ends are both touching the straightedge of the level clamped to the fence (bowed out part of board towards the blade). Try to cut only enough to remove the bowed out portion and them flip board over and cut some from other side next. Repeat while flipping and trimming each side until you get results you need... 

For joining smaller boards that are 'fairly' straight already on a table saw (think small raised panels here) (and without walking to other end of shop to use joiner) I will find a piece of scrap that is nearby and cut it to same height and length as my tablesaw fence. (I will usually grab a piece of 3/4 plywood for this... (You want the plywood to be standing on its edge up against the fence with the 'plys' pointing up and the smooth surface against the fence - other smooth surface facing blade) With the saw turned *OFF* I will place my plywood piece against the fence and slide fence over until the blade just barely touches the plywood. I will then remove the plywood piece, turn the saw on and move the fence over exactly 1/16th of an inch towards the blade. (For 'joining' 3/4 thick boards I would want my blade about 13/16 inches high) I then slowly lower the back half of this 3/4 thick plywood piece into the blade and shave the entire back half length of it down that 1/16th of an inch in width at the height of 13/16ths... Plywood piece should still be facing with the 'plys' UP and the smooth surfaces against the fence and also other smooth surface facing towards the blade. You are not cutting anything from front half of this piece of plywood...

Imagine my plywood board as being 36" long (however long tablesaw fence is) and 3" tall (same height as fence). Front half of the length of board is unaltered plywood (smooth plywood BTW) and back half is shaved down at the bottom for the back half of the length of the board to a thickness of 11/16 up to a height of 13/16 of an inch... 

I will then move the fence to the left one more time another 1/16th of an inch (assuming you have a blade that is 1/8" thick here) and once again slowly lower the plywood piece into the blade starting at the middle. STOP there. You are finished and saw is set up... Turn saw off and use some jorgensen or c-clamps to clamp this fence extention that you just made to the fence.

At this point the saw is turned *OFF* and your jig (plywood fence piece you just made) is securely clamped to the fence. What you want to see is that the left hand side of the blade is perfectly flush with left hand side of the plywood jig you just made while feeling the difference between the plywood and the blade at the front half of this jig. At the rear part of this jig you should have 1/16th of blade showing where you trimmed the back half of this jig down to 11/16ths thickness.

When you run your small boards through here you want to keep most of the pressure on the FRONT of this jig (the FRONT of your tablesaw fence) while feeding them through. You will only be shaving off a 16th of an inch with each pass so this is ONLY intended for 'truing up' small imperfections... If you use a fairly good quality finishing blade for this you can go directly to gluing up your boards right after you true the edge up. No need for sanding before clamping *IF* you got a good blade... :thumbsup:

I 'usually' keep one of these jigs near the tablesaw and can reuse the same one over and over and over for small work when I am too lazy to walk to the other end of the shop and use the joiner... Joiners are 'nice' to have but definitely NOT required for making raised panels and joining small junk. :no:

Also - Don't know about the joiners that the other members here use but my joiner blades get sent out to a PRO to be sharpened... They leave a surface that is flatter and smoother than you would believe. 'Sometimes' I *WANT *a really smooth and flat surface and sometimes I do *NOT*. Glue 'needs' pores to do its job properly. Depending on the wood, the grain, and the 'smoothness' of the cut - It is not always 'desirable' to have a 'perfect' edge when gluing up a couple of boards. You can see this first hand by making raised panels BOTH ways. Make one by joining using the table saw and make one by joining using a quality joiner with perfect blades. Generally, panels are glued up a bit 'big' and trimmed to proper size afterwards... You take the two panels that were 'joined' using the different methods and after you trim them to proper size you take the allfall from the ends and rap each over the edge of the trashcan... Rap each one harder and harder over the edge of the can until you break the gluejoint. Report back and tell us which glue joint 'failed' first in your experiment. (The ones you glued up using the joiner with will fail first if you are gluing up wood with a very tight grain - Glue 'needs' stuff to sink into to 'properly' do its job) :yes:


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*you can also do this...*

secure the concave edge to a straight edge by some non-permanent means.... a real good sticky tape, hot glue, or a tab with a hole for a screw into the aluminum and one for the workpiece. Here's what I did:
http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f27/gotta-bowed-board-no-jointer-12927/


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## Oneal-Woodworking (Apr 14, 2013)

woodnthings said:


> secure the concave edge to a straight edge by some non-permanent means.... a real good sticky tape, hot glue, or a tab with a hole for a screw into the aluminum and one for the workpiece. Here's what I did:
> http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f27/gotta-bowed-board-no-jointer-12927/


 
Tape is not needed if you clamp the straightedge to the fence and rock on with the ripping...

If you are trying to straightline a LOT of boards you don't tape each one like that. 

At least - I wouldn't.

:thumbsup:

Tape aint going to securely hold the piece either but that is beside the point.

The longer fence is what really matters here for the straight edge.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Yea, the tape was a "quick and dirty" solution ..*



OnealWoodworking said:


> Tape is not needed if you clamp the straightedge to the fence and rock on with the ripping...
> 
> If you are trying to straightline a LOT of boards you don't tape each one like that.
> 
> ...


The fence has to be longer than the concavity in the board or it will fall off the end of the fence and into the curve creating a curved cut. Just like joining a board on a jointer with short tables. By attaching the straight edge to the work, that doesn't occur..... Granted tape is not the most secure solution, but there are some real sticky tapes nowadays. With tape, you can't really use a lot of pushing force and you'll need a very sharp blade. :yes:

A Skotch fastener into a wood straight edge would be more secure or some other mechanical means: http://fasteners.hardwarestore.com/18-70-corregated-fasteners-joiners/wood-joiner-616441.aspx


Some fence clamps like these would work: http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=17821&site=ROCKLER


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

I would rather use mechanical fasteners, like small finish nails. Adhesives or sticky tapes, like double faced tapes are unreliable and could fail at any time. They may give the feeling that the piece is held on real well, but if they do fail, you have a loose combination of pieces running through the blade. Perfect setup for an injury.

There are many substrate types that make very good straightedges without any hassle. Most factory edges on sheet goods will work just fine. You can rip off any width from an 8' length. Just mark the factory edge. It's worthwhile to run a block sander on the factory edge just to knock off any protruding debris. There could be splinters in plywood, or at worst staples. Doing this isn't aggressive enough to change how straight it is.

As for what to pick, it can be as simple as ¼" plywood or Masonite, and use 4d finish nails. The backside of the lumber needing straight edging can be what you run face up. For many applications you only see one side, and a tiny nail hole is easy to fix. You only need a few of them.









 







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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

Lee Valley sells a set of double-sided wood clamps, made by ShopFox. Clamp the long, straight stick in one side, clamp the banana in the other side and saw away. I can buy 5/4 and 6/4 x 6" x saw-milled birch and I can't be too choosey about which planks I buy for $3 each. The clamp things are a great help. I need a second set.


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## plainolebill (Mar 31, 2013)

Robson Valley said:


> Lee Valley sells a set of double-sided wood clamps, made by ShopFox. Clamp the long, straight stick in one side, clamp the banana in the other side and saw away. I can buy 5/4 and 6/4 x 6" x saw-milled birch and I can't be too choosey about which planks I buy for $3 each. The clamp things are a great help. I need a second set.


Sounds interesting, can you provide a link? I can't find them on Lee Valley.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*these might work*



plainolebill said:


> Sounds interesting, can you provide a link? I can't find them on Lee Valley.


http://www.homedepot.com/p/General-...-Straightening-Kit-846/100659788#.UYWrxkpVb4Y


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

srestrepo said:


> i can't afford to buy a jointer, however, i've had some success with generating a straight edge using my table saw and the fence. i just run my wood so that i only have 1/16th or whatever i need to remove the rough parts of the stock into the 1/8 in blade and the use that side that just went through the saw as my referenced face.
> 
> is there something that i shoudl know while doing this?
> 
> obviously i'll have to sand down all of the blade marks left over on hte wood, but this seems to work decent for me. other than a jointer doing this more efficiently, am i missing anything else?


You need a blade that is made for glue line rip to joint successfully. I wouldn't sand it. Your defeating the purpose for jointing.

Al

Friends don't let friends use stamped metal tools sold at clothing stores.


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