# Planer or jointer



## webweever (May 9, 2008)

I'm a hobby craftsman not a furniture maker. I use a lot of pallet wood for various projects.

What is more versitale, a lunch box planer or a 6" jointer? 

I have a budget for 1 of these tools not both and that's only if I lay off some beer for a couple months to save those pennies.

Thanks for the advice in advance.


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

You can get around not having a jointer with several jigs, but theres not really a way to replicate a thickness planer without a thickness planer. I'd start with that. If nothing else, a good thickness planer is cheaper than a good jointer


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## MT Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

epicfail48 said:


> You can get around not having a jointer with several jigs, but theres not really a way to replicate a thickness planer without a thickness planer. I'd start with that. If nothing else, a good thickness planer is cheaper than a good jointer


I did the same thing, and got by for a while. Then I found a used 6 inch Jet on Craigslist and scooped it up. Now I have a helical cutting head on it. It gets used all the time. Very handy to have sitting by just waiting for me to crank it up. :yes:


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## hawkeye10 (Feb 18, 2015)

webweever said:


> I'm a hobby craftsman not a furniture maker. I use a lot of pallet wood for various projects.
> 
> What is more versitale, a lunch box planer or a 6" jointer?
> 
> ...


You mention you use a lot of pallet wood. You can edge joint short lengths with a router table. Depending on what your making s router table might get you by. 

Don


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## Mort (Jan 4, 2014)

Or a table saw jig. Yes, I know it'll never be as good as a tuned jointer, but for pallet wood, eh...


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

I didn't even get a planer when I started my own business. It was probably 15 years into the business before I got one but I bought a jointer long before. The jointer is necessary to straighten wood and dress the edges to glue up panels. Both machines are good to have but if it's either or I would choose a jointer hands down.


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

MT Stringer said:


> I did the same thing, and got by for a while. Then I found a used 6 inch Jet on Craigslist and scooped it up. Now I have a helical cutting head on it. It gets used all the time. Very handy to have sitting by just waiting for me to crank it up. :yes:


I'm not going to argue a jointer isnt an awesome tool to have. If I did I'd have to return the grizzly I picked up a few weeks ago. I just put it in the 'luxury' category of tools, where's the thickness planer goes in the 'need it' pile


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## ryan50hrl (Jun 30, 2012)

I agree....planer first then jointer. Pallet wood will mostly be short pieces, which are easy to joint on a router table or table saw with a jig. Nothing else planes wood.


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## MT Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

I planed some pallet boards. I used a metal detector to scan them first. Still nicked the blades. I guess with pallets, there is no telling what may be lurking just under the surface. I didn't take them to the car wash as I have read some folks do.

A couple of times, I discovered (too late, I might add) staples (or part of staples hidden where something had been stapled to the board. And a hidden nail (or part of) that also wasn't kind to the blades.  After having my fun with the pallet boards, I swapped the blades around and got back to business. :thumbsup:

Mike


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## WarnerConstInc. (Nov 25, 2008)

Both. Stop drinking and get both. They are two machines that need each other.


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

I would get a planer first, but you need both.


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## Woodenhorse (May 24, 2011)

Do you need to edge glue a number of panels or do you more often need to parallel one face to another? In the first case I'd get the jointer in the latter the planer. A hand plane will substitute in either case so it comes down to how much hand work you wish to do. It just takes some practice to become proficient.


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## frenchwoodguy (Oct 2, 2014)

You can plane with a router and a Jig too. All you need is a flat tabletop, a big board to hold the router and 2 parralel boards to run the big board with router.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

Steve Neul said:


> I didn't even get a planer when I started my own business. It was probably 15 years into the business before I got one but I bought a jointer long before. The jointer is necessary to straighten wood and dress the edges to glue up panels. Both machines are good to have but if it's either or I would choose a jointer hands down.


I wasn't in business, but I was doing wood working for at least 20 years before getting a planer. Even then I only got one because of a tremendous sale.

It sat unused for at least a year before first use. I only bought wood that was S2S. 

With pallet wood a planer may be more necessary, depending upon your project. You can finish one side with just a light pass through the jointer. But if you need both sides finished it would be a problem.

Jointer or planner all depends upon the wood and type of work you do.

George


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## ryan50hrl (Jun 30, 2012)

Another consideration is the cost of wood. I can buy rough cut wood much much much cheaper than I can s2s lumber. For me, it only took about 6 months of lumber to pay off a planer.


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## MT Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

One of my first projects that I used my planer on was running cedar fence boards through it to smooth one side. I was building a cooler and wanted it to be rustic looking. The boards were a lot cheaper than the regular cedar boards, which were used for the main parts of the frame.

Later, when I started buying 4/4 lumber that was rough (skip planed is the term used at the yard), it was then I decided to look for a jointer.

Here is my cooler made from cedar fence boards and regular S4S cedar. That first cooler has turned into 13 and I have quit taking requests for them. There was other things I wanted to build.
Mike


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

epicfail48 said:


> You can get around not having a jointer with several jigs, but theres not really a way to replicate a thickness planer without a thickness planer. I'd start with that. If nothing else, a good thickness planer is cheaper than a good jointer


But when using recycled lumber jointer blades will be cheaper than planer blades.:laughing:


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

FrankC said:


> But when using recycled lumber jointer blades will be cheaper than planer blades.:laughing:


Maybe not, 12 inch planer blades last twice as long as 6 inch jointer knifes.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*what about a drum sander?*

I ran into a bunch of barn wood which I thought would have a stray nail or two.
My first thought was to get a drum sander to smooth out the surface, which I did indeed get a "Baby Grizzly 12" Polar Bear " drum sander. 
My second thought was NOT to sand off the rough sawn paint and finish on the barn wood, but still use the 12" drum for sanding the wood used in other projects. It works great, but you can't take a very big "bite" and have to make incremental passes to get your final surface. A more coarse grit may help, but the motor is only 1 1/2 HP, so not a lot of power. I still like it and will use it before firing up the big 24" dual drum sander. 

A drum sander won't care about a nail here or there unless it's projecting enough to tear into the sheet of sandpaper. Other dirt and grits that will damage a blade won't matter either. 

Home built and shop built sanders litter the WWWeb and You Tube. Some are made from washing machines, from exercising machines, anything with a rubber drum
that can be wrapped in sand paper and power withn a motor. I think I remember one from a Mineograph or hand printing press... 










https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3__RgtLORY


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

hwebb99 said:


> Maybe not, 12 inch planer blades last twice as long as 6 inch jointer knifes.


Not when you run into a nail, rock or whatever else is hidden in the board.


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

FrankC said:


> Not when you run into a nail, rock or whatever else is hidden in the board.


When you hit a nail with a 6" jointer the blades are pretty much toast. When you hit a nail with a 12" planer you still have at least 6 inches of good blade.


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

hwebb99 said:


> When you hit a nail with a 6" jointer the blades are pretty much toast. When you hit a nail with a 12" planer you still have at least 6 inches of good blade.


I hate it when I have explain a joke! :laughing:


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

FrankC said:


> Not when you run into a nail, rock or whatever else is hidden in the board.


How was this a joke?


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## Toolman50 (Mar 22, 2015)

If you plan to continue using a lot of pallet wood, I think you will enjoy a planer. You have to check each board very well to assure there are no nails because one nail will ruin a set of planer knives. 
I have both machines but tend to use a lot of S4S lumber and plywood, so the joiner is more useful for me.


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

hwebb99 said:


> How was this a joke?


As I said I hate explaining, read #17, take it all into context, or forget about it, whatever.


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