# 6" jointer - 12" wide board



## Rob Schramm (Jul 12, 2010)

I am hoping that someone can help me with an issue. I am making mirror frames out of reclaimed barn beams. The beams are 12" and I am cutting them down with my Woodmizer bandsaw mill. In the past I have always just cut them down to 6" wide and jointed them and then squared an edge and ran through a planer but that does not give me a lot of options with width. I have given it a lot of thought to buying a 12" jointer from Grizzly but hate the thought of loosing that much space in my shop is there any option to this?

If you have a solution please let me know. If not I guess me and the wife are going to be having another talk about yet another tool. YIKES!

Rob


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

I'm not sure I understand the issue. If you are resawing the beams to 12" wide boards you could straighten them on any size jointer, rip them 1/8" oversized on a table saw and then joint them back to a finished size. The only reason you would need a 12" jointer is to flatten the face of the boards before surfacing them with the planer.


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## thegrgyle (Jan 11, 2011)

I know alot of guys have had great success with flattening very large surfaces with a router sled. There are alot of examples on this forum.

Check out post #2 in this thread for an example.


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## Rob Schramm (Jul 12, 2010)

Steve Neul said:


> I'm not sure I understand the issue. If you are resawing the beams to 12" wide boards you could straighten them on any size jointer, rip them 1/8" oversized on a table saw and then joint them back to a finished size. The only reason you would need a 12" jointer is to flatten the face of the boards before surfacing them with the planer.


Ok I can see that I am an idiot the way I explained that. I am actually looking to face 12" stock. I want to do wider stock then I have a jointer for. I have searched all over youtube and saw a number of videos but I think that I may be better off just buying the 12" Grizzly jointer. Right now I can only do 6" which is nice but for me its not wide enough.


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## Chris Curl (Jan 1, 2013)

use a hand plane, something like a stanley #7 ... 22" long or so. there is no width limit with one of those.

it is also called a jointer plane.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jointer_plane

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=jointer+plane


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## Rob Schramm (Jul 12, 2010)

Thanks Chris and yes I already thought of that but I have 100's of 12-14' lengths of barn siding and I need to supply my customers with these frames for there restaurants, bars, hotel rooms and homes so I need a faster way to do it. I guess I am going to have to just buy the 12" jointer and deal with it in my shop. I plan on moving out a couple of large UNUSED tables to put in my assembly table and my WoodMizer but guess I will have to make space for this as well!

Rob


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## Hammer1 (Aug 1, 2010)

This isn't the best solution for 100s of 12" beams but it works well and rather quickly for smaller amounts of lumber that are wider than your jointer. If this is an on going thing for your shop, you may want to consider leasing with buy option on either new or used jointers. The problem is that larger ones other than 12" Grizzly may require 3 phase.

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f26/help-flattening-larger-boards-please-45888/


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## Chris Curl (Jan 1, 2013)

schramm, how long are these boards? i have found that it takes just a few minutes to flatten a 4 foot long 2x6.

agreed, 10 minutes is longer than 15 seconds.


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## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

Look at Grizzly's 12" jointer/planer combo with the spiral cutter head.


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## BKBuilds (Jan 12, 2013)

My Dewalt 735 planer does 13" wide boards and its small enough to sit in the back of my shop and not take up much space.


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## Quillman (Dec 30, 2012)

A resawn stick has serious EMC (moisture issues) compensation problems no matter. So to accommodate that, I'd rip the planks in 1/2, (~<6") joint one face, then slot one edge. Insert skinny spline, & glue back together & replane.
With very little waste on the edge joint; the sticks will join with nearly >95% of a match. You won't be able to see the loss.
Slow? Maybe, but necessary too as your 12" sticks will cup so badly without the reglue/resaw that your yield will suffer. Moreover, with a good glue press you could be faster than you think.


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## Rob Schramm (Jul 12, 2010)

Quillman said:


> A resawn stick has serious EMC (moisture issues) compensation problems no matter. So to accommodate that, I'd rip the planks in 1/2, (~<6") joint one face, then slot one edge. Insert skinny spline, & glue back together & replane.
> With very little waste on the edge joint; the sticks will join with nearly >95% of a match. You won't be able to see the loss.
> Slow? Maybe, but necessary too as your 12" sticks will cup so badly without the reglue/resaw that your yield will suffer. Moreover, with a good glue press you could be faster than you think.


Yes I do understand about EMC, I have tested a way to handle that to keep the boards from cupping and bowing and that is to joint the face and 1 side, then stack the boards again for 3 days to allow to slowing release moisture and to re-acclimate. On the 4th day is when I plane the wood and then stack it again to go to a buddy of mine that owns a mill near me to kiln dry out the rest of the moisture but to also to raise the temp of the wood to 150-170 degrees for no less then 12 hours which will kill bacteria as well as any bugs.
There is a lot to know to work with re-claimed wood as your initial investment is only the start, its your time that will kill you. I do like the idea of taking them apart then spline them back together however I will have to try it a few times as that may be a little bit more difficult then just buying a 12" jointer as I would have to keep track of the 2 pieces that go back together. I am going to try that this up coming week. Leaving now to go and pick up 1500 board feet of beautiful 12"w x 5/4 barn siding in worn red and no paint grey 150 year old pine. Should make for some nice frames.

Rob


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## Rob Schramm (Jul 12, 2010)

BKBuilds said:


> My Dewalt 735 planer does 13" wide boards and its small enough to sit in the back of my shop and not take up much space.


I own a Woodmaster 718, so I have no issues with a planer, its a jointer that I need to figure out. I actually tried ripping one of the boards to (2) 6" strips then jointed 1 side and 1 edge, then skim planed the other side, cleaned up the other side removing 1/16" used my Festool Domino and put it back together as suggested and it looks great! Thanks for that suggestion Quillman :thumbsup:


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## valeech (Jan 23, 2013)

You could try this method too:

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.co...-9-quot-wide-board-on-a-6-quot-jointer-How-to.


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## Woodenhorse (May 24, 2011)

You probably don't want to hear this: For boards wider than my jointer I hand plane one side flat and then run it through my planer for the second side. It's a good workout as long as you're not in a big hurry.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

Schramm said:


> I own a Woodmaster 718, so I have no issues with a planer, its a jointer that I need to figure out. I actually tried ripping one of the boards to (2) 6" strips then jointed 1 side and 1 edge, then skim planed the other side, cleaned up the other side removing 1/16" used my Festool Domino and put it back together as suggested and it looks great! Thanks for that suggestion Quillman :thumbsup:


It is not clear to me why you need a jointer for this as opposed to a planer.

Are the two sides of the boards not parallel to each other when you start?

Are you buying both "beams" and boards. You mention sawing boards out of beams in your first post. Does your saw not produce boards that have parallel surfaces?

You later say you are buying 5/4 boards. I can understand this old barn wood being rough and not always the same thickness. However, I would think that the two surfaces are parallel.

George


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## bzguy (Jul 11, 2011)

Planers only surface, not flatten wood.
If you run a bowed piece through a planer it will still be bowed.
The roller in the planer will temporarily hold it straight while it is surfaced.
That being said, there is no guarantee that a piece flattened on a jointer will not bow slightly once wood/tension has been removed from the opposite side with planer.


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## Woodenhorse (May 24, 2011)

bzguy said:


> Planers only surface, not flatten wood.
> If you run a bowed piece through a planer it will still be bowed.
> The roller in the planer will temporarily hold it straight while it is surfaced.
> That being said, there is no guarantee that a piece flattened on a jointer will not bow slightly once wood/tension has been removed from the opposite side with planer.


While a planer by itself will not correct a warped, twisted or cupped board, it will remove the high spots. The important thing is to have one side flat so when you do run it through a surface planer you can make both sides parallel. That's also why you should only mill close to the final dimensions and let the wood acclimate prior to final dimensioning. Problem boards aside, flattening one side on a jointer (or with a hand plane) is common practice and more often than not, successful. Dealing with individual defects (cup, twist, bow) is handled on a board by board basis.The use of winding sticks, marking devices etc. with a practiced technique will yield excellent results. If you have another technique to recommend then by all means, we'd like to hear about it. In this case, since his jointer is 6" and his planer at least 12", an alternate method of flattening the first side is called for. If only to remove saw marks.


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## Rob Schramm (Jul 12, 2010)

Planers are just fine for getting your project to final thickness, but in order to take out the defects and truing 1 side you need to flatten 1 side and then 1 edge on a jointer. If the board is warped or has a twist you can cut them down to a board more straight. I do not have my mill in on my property yet as I got it about 1 week ago and I am waiting on my carport to get there before I bring it over. The mill will give me excellent results but even that is far from perfect as the wood has to air dry and then kiln dry prior to getting used. While there are advantages to going to the home center and just buying wood, the number of advantages far outweigh the disadvantages in milling your own wood. I am going to break down and buy Grizzly's 12" jointer with the spiral head, they are a little costly but honestly I will make it up in about 5 molding jobs so it is worth it. I work with a number of builders that do restorations on period homes and make moldings for them and sometimes the easiest way to match a finish is to use wood from that period with the same age.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Hey good for you!*

That should be an awesome jointer. I just remembered that I made a planer sled from some gluing frames, when the board was wider than my 6" jointer. This worked better than I thought, taking lighter cuts to flatten one side.
From a previous post: Planer Sled on Rails
*Planer sled* 
My version came from my "gluing frames" and thinking about a 2 rail system which simply screwed into the edges of the board to be planed.
Heck, I already had a gluing frame, why not try it? The following photos are the results. It worked like a charm! :yes:
The reason for a planer sled is your workpiece is too wide for your jointer: 
Attached Thumbnails     



The rails were a little short for this board as they should have extended 4 or 5 inches beyond the ends, but even so it worked fine. There was a little snipe as a result but it planed out afterwards.

More photos showing the board surfaced one side then removed from the sled and final surfaced. The pile of "chips" was collected by the single stage collector hooked directly to the planer hood. 
Attached Thumbnails


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

bzguy said:


> Planers only surface, not flatten wood.
> If you run a bowed piece through a planer it will still be bowed.
> The roller in the planer will temporarily hold it straight while it is surfaced.
> That being said, there is no guarantee that a piece flattened on a jointer will not bow slightly once wood/tension has been removed from the opposite side with planer.


The poster has never indicated that he has any problem with the wood not being flat nor bowed.

Reads to me that all he is trying to do is get a smooth surface.

G


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*face 12" stock, flatten, remove defects, allow to acclimate ....*



Schramm said:


> Ok I can see that I am an idiot the way I explained that. I am actually looking to* face 12" *stock. I want to do wider stock then I have a jointer for. I have searched all over youtube and saw a number of videos but I think that I may be better off just buying the 12" Grizzly jointer. Right now I can only do 6" which is nice but for me its not wide enough.





Schramm said:


> Yes I do understand about EMC, I have tested a way to handle that to keep the boards from cupping and bowing and that is to joint the face and 1 side, then stack the boards again for 3 days to allow to slowing release moisture and to re-acclimate. On the 4th day is when I plane the wood and then stack it again to go to a buddy of mine that owns a mill near me to kiln dry out the rest of the moisture but to also to raise the temp of the wood to 150-170 degrees for no less then 12 hours which will kill bacteria as well as any bugs.
> There is a lot to know to work with re-claimed wood as your initial investment is only the start, its your time that will kill you. I do like the idea of taking them apart then spline them back together however I will have to try it a few times as that may be a little bit more difficult then just buying a *12" jointer as I would have to keep track of the 2 pieces that go back together. I am going to try that this up coming week. *Leaving now to go and pick up 1500 board feet of beautiful 12"w x 5/4 barn siding in worn red and no paint grey 150 year old pine. Should make for some nice frames.
> 
> Rob





Schramm said:


> Planers are just fine for getting your project to final thickness,* but in order to take out the defects and truing 1 side you need to flatten 1 side* and then 1 edge on a jointer. *If the board is warped or has a twist you can cut them down to a board more straight.* I do not have my mill in on my property yet as I got it about 1 week ago and I am waiting on my carport to get there before I bring it over. The mill will give me excellent results but even that is far from perfect as the wood has to air dry and then kiln dry prior to getting used. While there are advantages to going to the home center and just buying wood, the number of advantages far outweigh the disadvantages in milling your own wood. I am going to break down and buy Grizzly's 12" jointer with the spiral head, they are a little costly but honestly I will make it up in about 5 molding jobs so it is worth it. I work with a number of builders that do restorations on period homes and make moldings for them and sometimes the easiest way to match a finish is to use wood from that period with the same age.





GeorgeC said:


> The poster has never indicated that he has any problem with the wood not being flat nor bowed.
> 
> Reads to me that all he is trying to do is get a smooth surface.
> 
> G


What I understand is that there are issues with many or all of the boards, there are too many to rip and reglue, there are defects in some or all, the boards may be warped or not straight, and other issues. A wide jointer is what is needed and is the best solution. He has decided to get the 12" Grizzly with a spiral head, it's a done deal. 
I think he was just asking for other processes, or ideas and to further clinch the decision to get the wider jointer. Regardless, he's made his decision. That horse has left the barn. :yes: :thumbsup:


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Schramm said:


> Ok I can see that I am an idiot the way I explained that. I am actually looking to face 12" stock. I want to do wider stock then I have a jointer for. I have searched all over youtube and saw a number of videos but I think that I may be better off just buying the 12" Grizzly jointer. Right now I can only do 6" which is nice but for me its not wide enough.


 If the boards will physically fit through your planer I would attach them to a 2x12 and shim the hollow spaces under it and run them through the planer to face them.


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## Rob Schramm (Jul 12, 2010)

I have read a lot about planer sleds, the only issue I have with it is it is even in a sled the rollers still put pressure down on the board and the board does 2 things in a planer that it does not do on a jointer:

1: The down pressure means that the machine is forcing it untrue and skimming it but when the pressure is released from the down pressure and goes back to untrue.

2. If you run a piece through a jointer your pressure while pushing it through is on the outfeed side of the wood, but with a planer the rollers push it down hard on both sides to hold it down and move it.

If you are just shooting for thickness, then a planer is all you need, but if you are wanting to work with rough sawn lumber then there is steps to take that cannot be bypassed. I work with both, but when dealing with barn wood.

Now with all that said, I do work with 1 side flattened wood but in this case I am only shooting for thickness as with barn wood when making a rustic barn frame (shown below). The problem with while I have tricks to adjust for everything, boards that are a little out of square are NOT easy to get a true 45 corners.


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## shopman (Feb 14, 2013)

*Nice sled*



woodnthings said:


> That should be an awesome jointer. I just remembered that I made a planer sled from some gluing frames, when the board was wider than my 6" jointer. This worked better than I thought, taking lighter cuts to flatten one side.
> From a previous post: Planer Sled on Rails
> *Planer sled*
> My version came from my "gluing frames" and thinking about a 2 rail system which simply screwed into the edges of the board to be planed.
> ...



This is really a good idea! I remember doing the same theory on a very large timber that I needed to straighten out for a mantle. I ended up screwing sled rails to both sides of the timber to do this. There was a very large twist in it and I needed to keep one corner up almost a full 3/4" and do multiple passes before getting that final true straight edge. Your sled would not have worked in my case for that but I can see its benefits for smaller boards. I will make one next time it comes up.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*A good sled won't allow this*

_Quote:
I have read a lot about planer sleds, the only issue I have with it is it is even in a sled the rollers still put pressure down on the board and the board does 2 things in a planer that it does not do on a jointer:

1: The down pressure means that the machine is forcing it untrue and skimming it but when the pressure is released from the down pressure and goes back to untrue._

A good sled will not allow the board to move downward when feed rollers apply pressure. Shims or screwing it to the sides/edges will be OK. My simple sled can allow for non-parallel edges, and shims can be inserted under the board and rest on the rabbeted edges. Also a light cut will not significantly distort the whole setup when starting out.

If you have a prized board and don't have access to a wide jointer, then a sled is the easiest and least laborious way to get a flat surface. JMO.:smile:


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## Rob Schramm (Jul 12, 2010)

WoodnThings,

I totally agree with you, wasnt disagreeing just explaining what I was doing, that would be hard to use on a 9' length piece of material and for me would not work but a great idea just the same.


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

Hey Woodnthings that's an awesome sled! I've been thinking about a solid design for a planer sled for a bit now, but never thought of using carriage bolts/all thread to hold it all together. Thanks for sharing that!


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## jimmyjames (Nov 23, 2012)

BKBuilds said:


> My Dewalt 735 planer does 13" wide boards and its small enough to sit in the back of my shop and not take up much space.


your planer doesnt flatten boards.... its a planer not a joiner.....


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## jharris2 (Jul 9, 2012)

jimmyjames said:


> your planer doesnt flatten boards.... its a planer not a joiner.....


Tell that to my flat stock


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

jimmyjames said:


> your planer doesnt flatten boards.... its a planer not a joiner.....


Did you read the posts above about sleds?

George


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## Rob Schramm (Jul 12, 2010)

I have read about sleds but at the end of the day I do not see how it really makes a difference. Even in a sled the pinch rollers push the wood flat so if there is cupping on the other side it will spring back cupped when it comes out. If the cupping is on the side being planed it too gets pressed flat and while it is true that some skimming would happen where it would be flat. If a planer was all you needed in your shop to handle these issues then there would be no need for a jointer would there? Even if you can get it flat, the idea of the jointer is to flatten 1 side and then 1 edge so you have a square edge for cutting on a table saw. So now if you run it through a sled how do you square your edge to the back? Do you run that through your planer as well?


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