Name Goncolo Alves

Location South America

Texture/Grain Coarse/Open
Specific Gravity 0.84
Hardness Very Hard
Strength Very Strong
T/R Stability N/A

● Guide he jointer is a simple tool to use and essential for Whenever you move the fence, check its angle to the
● Woodworking
truing wood surfaces. But there are two tables with a square or protractor. I also suggest doing
Know-How considerations of which you must be aware. First, this whenever you set up to prepare lumber for a project
the jointer must be aligned and adjusted perfectly for or do a lot of jointing tasks even if you haven't moved the
● Woodworking
Techniques
good results. Second, it is one of the most dangerous fence. It's impossible to underestimate the amount of
tools in your shop; watch where you place your hands. grief this simple precaution can save.
Up

● Jointing & Planing CHECK THE SETUP

Whenever you change or sharpen the jointer knives,
● 1. Selecting Lumber
check their height relative to the outfeed table. At the top
for Surfacing
of their rotation, they should be almost dead even with
2. JOINTING the table surface, maybe just 0.001 to 0.003 inch above
Whenever possible, don’t just check the tool setup. Make
KNOW-HOW it. If they’re too high or too low, you can’t make a straight
(YOU ARE HERE.)
test cuts and check the results. Only then can you tell if
cut. Too high, and the jointer will make a slightly concave the tool is adjusted properly.
● 3. Planing Know-How cut; too low and the cut will be convex.
● 4. Using a Hand Plane

● 5. Truing Lumber
● 6. Jointing &
Planing Resouces

Looking for
something?

Try these navigation aids:

● Site Map
● Site Index
● Search the
Workshop Companion
CHECKING THAT THE JOINTER MAKES STRAIGHT CUTS 2 Turn the board around and joint the entire edge. (You should cut
1 To check that your jointer is cutting a straight edge, joint the first 1 the snipe last.) Check the snipe — the knives should have shaved
Something to share? or 2 inches of a test board to create a snipe in the edge. Shade the
off most of the pencil marks, but they should still be barely visible. If
Please: snipe with a pencil.*
the marks are untouched, the knives are too low in relation to the
● Contact Us! outfeed table. If they have been removed completely, the knives are
too high.*

CHECK THE STOCK GOOD TECHNIQUE

Because dirt is abrasive, clean dirty wood with a stiff
brush before you joint it. This will help keep the knives
sharp. Don’t joint painted wood or plywood — these, too,
contain abrasives that dull the knives. And avoid used
lumber at all costs: It may contain embedded nails or
broken screws that will nick the knives.
Also inspect the lumber to find its grain direction and any
warps, twists, or bows. Grain rarely runs straight through
a board, parallel to its surfaces. There is usually a slight
angle between the grain direction and the face or edge.
This is called the grain slope. You want the knives to
shave the wood down the grain slope, or "downhill" as
you joint. If the knives cut "uphill," they will dig into the
grain, lift it, and tear it or gouge it.
If the board is slightly distorted, you'll want to feed it with
the concave surfaces against the tables or the fence.
This way, it will be as stable as possible while you work.
If you feed it with the convex surfaces against the jointer,
the wood will tend to rock.
As you work:
Wax and buff the tables and fence to help the wood
feed easily.
Adjust the height of the infeed table to control the
depth of cut. Make deep cuts (greater than 1⁄16
inch) only when you must quickly remove stock.
Use shallow cuts (less than 1⁄32 inch) to finish up
— these leave a smoother surface.
Stand beside the jointer, opposite the fence, so if
the wood kicks back, you’ll be out of the way.
Keep the wood firmly against the jointer fence and
the tables. Start with it pressed flat on the infeed
table, then shift the pressure to the outfeed table as
you feed the wood.
Feed the wood slowly. This creates the smoothest
possible cut.
Cut with the grain (or "downhill") so the wood
doesn’t chip or tear out.
Manipulate the wood with push shoes and push
blocks to keep your hands away from the
cutterhead.
If the board is cupped or bowed, joint the concave
surface first.
 CHECKING THAT THE JOINTER MAKES SQUARE CUTS
Make a test cut to determine that the jointer is cutting one surface
square to another. Don’t presume that just because the fence is
square to the tables, you’ll get a square cut. If the knives are cocked
slightly, the jointer will still cut at an angle.*

JOINTING WITH THE GRAIN

If the wood chips and tears as you cut it, you are cutting against the
grain. (This is sometimes called “cutting uphill.”) Turn the wood
around and feed it in the opposite direction to cut with the grain
(“downhill”).*

JOINTING SMALL PARTS

When jointing small parts (less than 12 inches long), fasten them to
the bottom of a push shoe with double-faced carpet tape. This will
help you handle them safely. WARNING! Never joint anything
REDUCING MILL MARKS shorter than three times the distance between the infeed and
Because the jointer knives travel in an arc, each cut creates a outfeed tables, or 6 inches minimum.*
scallop. The ridges between the overlapping scallops are known as
mill marks. These can ruin the appearance of your project. To keep
mill marks to a minimum, feed the work slowly and use a shallow
depth of cut.*

JOINTING AT AN ANGLE
When jointing a bevel or a chamfer, tilt the fence toward the table.
This captures the work and makes it easier to maintain an accurate
angle. If you tilt the fence away from the table, the work tends to
slide.*
JOINTING END GRAIN
To joint end grain, clamp the work to a large scrap to help support it.
The scrap also backs up the stock, keeping the knives from chipping
When feeding the work, never place your hands directly and tearing the trailing edge.*
over the cutterhead. If the wood kicks back severely, your
hand could drop straight into the cutterhead. To make
matters worse, the rotation of the knives will draw you
hands and fingers in like a meat grinder.
Push shoes let you hold a board firmly
against a table or fence while protecting
you from harm. Should you slip, the jig
will fall into the cutter, not your fingers.
Push shoes have soles to apply pressure
and heels that you can hook over the
work to feed it. This particular shoe has
an adjustable heel that slides out of the
way when you don’t need it.

Back to the top

*Indicates that you can enlarge a photo by clicking on it. To reveal the information in a "Superphoto," first enlarge it and then move the cursor over it.

"Abundant to all the needs of man, how poor the world would be without wood."
Eric Sloane in Reverence for Wood

Woodworking Techniques/Jointing and Planing/Jointing Know-How,

part of the Workshop Companion,
essential information about wood, woodwork, and woodworking
necessary to woodworkers and practitioners of the wood arts
to become competent craftsmen.
By Nick Engler.

Copyright © 2009 Bookworks, Inc.