Needing a tighter edge joint

first and foremost – congrats on starting on this project :)

if your 1st edge was completely straight, than any treatment you’d give the opposite edge would follow the same irregularities. I would start by making sure 1 edge is perfectly straight. if not – joint it straight.

the opposite edge could also have been affected by misaligned TS, or a blade that deflected, or just cant produce a glue line edge. depending on the thickness of material – you could try to use the planer to clean it out and parallel. or a hand plane :)

-- ㊍ When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.

Assuming you’ve followed PurpLev’s post, how long between when you edge joined/ripped w/table saw and the time you laid them out to check? Overnight? Wood is constantly moving/adjusting to the changing temp/humidity of its surroundings.

-- Backer boards, stop blocks, build oversized, and never buy a hand plane--

Sometimes when ripping an edge parallel it may be necessary to run a light clean up pass on the jointer depending on the blade used for ripping. Otherwise I agree with Purplev and rance in their posts.

-- I don't make mistakes, I have great learning lessons, Greg

Purp, yes I was thinking another pass on the jointer first, and then again a light trim as in kerf thickness on opposing side. Since I did not have the problem on the base when I milled some #2 fir, I think the saw alignment may be okay.

Rance- jointed and ripped yesterday and then laid out to check fit.

Greg- used a full kerf Freud rip blade that produces a nice edge.

thanks guys for the responses. See what happens this evening.

Unless the joint is way off (a lot of space between the boards) you should be able to use the jointer to fix it. Even with a lot of space you could use the jointer, but it just takes longer than to use the TS to get close then the jointer to finish it.

I think part of the trick is to know what board is off. I like to take each board I am jointing and lay it on the table saw table or other flat surface on its edge to see which board is off and by how much.

-- Wayne - Plymouth MN

Wayne- yeah I am liking the idea of using the jointer for its ability to fix these issues.

Okay, so I fit all the boards this evening referencing off a flat face.

I marked the good fit edges and the ones that need a pass on the jointer.

Most boards fit pretty well, but there were a couple that definitely need another pass on the jointer, and a couple that were close but could use a light pass as well.

This is more about honing my skills in regards to jointer, planer, and producing nice seamless fits, rather than obsessing on what will be a work table top for glue ups and general shop carnage.

I will post a few pics of my progress.

Had a couple of beers so rule is no power tool work, so I just goofed around checking out my work and boo boo’s from yesterday.

Bob

I always make a slight finish pass on the jointer after ripping just for a perfect glue edge joint.

-- rob, ont,canada