Surfacing rough lumber without a 16" jointer

Excellent Gary. It’s been on the back burner forever here. I’m glad you prodded me again.
Very nice cradle. Just the right size for my shop too.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Really great instructions, Gary. Thanks for the tips.

-- Thos. Angle

This is great, thanks Gary.

-- Max "Desperado", Salt Lake City, UT

Great tips Gary. Nice job on the design and implementation.

-- I've been blessed with a father who liked to tinker in wood, and a wife who lets me tinker in wood. Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Very good idea! I’ve done something similar, but without the wheels and carrier strips. You’ve definately taken this idea to the next level.

-- http://www.north40custom.com -- http://north40studios.etsy.com --

That’s perfect Gary. I’ve read about this, but didn’t know anyone that had tried it. cool.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

This is brilliant. Very cool.

What a great strategy!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

That’s a heads up method for jointing and planing without multi-thousand dollar tools. Good blog.

Ingenuity is a good quality to have. This is a very well explained method of getting that first surface right. Thanks for the post.

-- Working at Woodworking http://www.VillageLaneFurniture.com

Best version of this jig I have ever seen… Thanks!

-- Chris

Thanks Gary, The step by step was great.
God bless

-- Gene, a Christian in Virginia

Great tutorial Gary, along with a nice method of “jointing” a flat surface on a board. It looks like a great idea for those of use with a smaller jointer.

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

Good work , Gary. Nice pictures, too!

-- Sam

That’s a keeper. I’m going to borrow that one real soon. I usually crosscut near-to-size then work one side dead flat with hand planes then feed the rough side to the planer on a sled. Your jig handles long boards and can easily be adapted for shorter stock. Sweet! This one will be a major labor saver on the days I don’t have the time to push a plane. Nice job.

always,
J.C.

-- "Imagination is more important than knowledge" -- Albert Einstein

Great way to recieve a good result Gary. Thanks for sharing.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

Geeze . . . good work there G-man. Excellent pictures and text. Explained it very well indeed.

-- The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them

Gary,
You spent a lot of time designing this and building it and I think you have done a great job. Nice work!

-- Jeff, Indiana

Thanks Gary, you have solved one of my problems. Excellent.

-- Mike

Nice. I’ll trade you for my RAS. That’s a sweet jig. I’m definately building one of those. I like the idea of the runners in the grooves.

-- Tony, Ohio

I wish I’d known about this sooner, I ripped 4 or 5 12 ft bds that were just too wide for my planer. The only other thing like this I’ve seen is one Mark DeCou used to flatten some wide boards. He had the same basic set up but just went back and forth to flatten his board. This is cool, no it’s way cool. mike

-- Mike from Michigan - mwurm13@yahoo.com

Not having a power jointer (I have been using hand planes), I will definitely use this tip. Thank You for posting it!!

-- Go http://ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=730

Good Job.
I be it would work well for surfacing cutting boards too.

-- Stevethepeeve -- I'm no rocket surgeon

SPalm – It should work great for cutting boards. I hadn’t thought of that.

You could do many at the same time also.

Easier to sharpen a router bit than planer blades after cutting endgrain.

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way & "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit" -Aristotle

Wow, outta my league for now any way” That;s sweet I had a hazy dream once about a shop like yours!!!!! I’m still hearing it from the little lady about saw dust everywhere. . Some day O’ one of these days… All work now is still on site. Two thumbs up on this project it’s the thing us rookies drool over…...

-- PJM.`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸ ><((((º> ""BY HAMMER AND HAND ALL ARTS DO STAND""1785-1974 nyc Semper Fi, Patrick M

Another note. If you buy rough lumber, see if you could find someplace local to mill it for you.

I have a place about 30 miles from me that will surface both sides for 7 1/2 cents a BF. That’s $7.50
per 100 BF. ( Why board foot and not linear foot I don’t know?)

So adding $.10 a BF for surfacing would still make it worth it to buy your lumber rough.

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way & "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit" -Aristotle

This must be the top project yet, now that makes 14 projects to do, and I havent got all my equipment together yet. as I,m new to the lumberjocks. Expertly provided !

-- Keith, Chester, England

That’s a cool shortcut! :)

Very informative…

Thank you.

-- Have Fun! Joe Lyddon - Alta Loma, CA USA - Home: http://www.WoodworkStuff.net ... My Small Gallery: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?ppuser=1389&cat=500"

Gary,

After your recommendation that I consider a planer over a jointer due to the typical budget and space limitations in my garage/workshop, I finally ordered/received my planer. I looked hard at the Delta and Dewalt 13” planers. Finally decided to go with the Dewalt because of the chip blower and three blades.

I am about to begin flattening some boards, so I did a LJ search of came across your tutorial on this topic.

Have to say LJ is a great resource for beginners. Sure helps with the learning curve.

Thanks,

Dalec

Nice. I’ve seen other versions of this jig which use angle iron for the rails, but I suspect your version yields a superior result.

This is only my third post on this site; hopefully it doesn’t ostracize me. I’m not a militant handtool user.

You could also do this with a handplane or two, which store very nicely :). I only have a 6” jointer (hoping to fix that “problem” soon), so I regularly surface wide boards with a jack and a jointer plane. Takes some skill, yes, but a skill that is very easily learned and pays off for a lifetime.

Narayan – I don’t use handtools unless it’s the best tool for the job. Seem too much like work :-)

I only have a 6” jointer. That’s why I came up with this method, so I didn’t have to use my jointer at all.

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way & "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit" -Aristotle

Great idea. I usually rip em all down to 6” so I can joint & plane. Thanks for the tip.

-- Jason, AL

I have a piece of 6/4 cherry that’s a candidate for this jig.
Seems all I do is make jigs.<g>

Thanks Gary

Cheers
Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Another winner Gary!

-- Bruce from Central New York

This method should show up in ShopNotes sometime soon.

They have already sent me a check for it.

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way & "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit" -Aristotle

Great idea and very clear instructions, Gary. But I have to say, I like the idea of paying a guy $7.50 per 100 bf to surface it for me even better!

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Congratulations. This is a good technique and great explanation. Thanks for sharing. We can always say we saw it here first…

-- A thing of beauty is a joy forever...

Charlie – I found out later that that’s with a $50 minimum. So you better have a lot of wood.

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way & "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit" -Aristotle

You are right….that would be a lot of wood. If my math is right, though, $50 would get you 667 bf of surfacing. That seems like quite a bargain if you had that much wood.

(Yes, Gary, I’m obsessed with avoiding any work I don’t find fun.)

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

wow great instruction. maybe when in have some time this summer I’ll try buying some rough lumber. thanks for the post.

Nice idea Gary. But as you have a planer, why do you just not use the sledge method to flatten one side of the board, then turn it over and thicken it in the normal way.

This is the method I use for my 15” wide, 8/4 thick and 10’ long oak boards I used to make my table tops. Here is a link http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/FWNPDF/011175058.pdf, [Fine Woodworking #175] but I think you have to be a member

I did use your described method once (without the wheels) to flatten a work bench – it worked a dream.

I only ever buy rough lumber – it is a lot cheaper and you can get to use the full thickness especially useful when making curved parts for a project I.e. Chair legs, seat back rails. that 1/4” can make all the difference!

-- Tony - All things are possible, just some things are more difficult than others! - SKYPE: Heron2005 (http://www.poydatjatuolit.fi)

Another wiinner GK. I only have a 6 inch jointer (long bed Powermatic) but for boards over 6” it just can’t plane them flat and who can afftord an 8 or 10 inch jointer. (I always wondered why the price for a 8 is almost twice that of a 6 incher. I digress, this is a great idea for getting a truly flat milled wide board and I just might have that bottom cleaning bit hangin around by my Legacy Mill. Thanks for the great post.

-- DocK, WV

Gary,

I couldn’t help but notice. Is that a microfiche reader in your shop?

-- Scott - Chico California http://chicowoodnut.home.comcast.net

ChicoWoodnut – Very observant. I had just bought a new lens for it and I took it down from the attic.
I do genealogy also and have a lot of reference material on fiche.

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way & "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit" -Aristotle

Ah Yes Chico I see it now, Microfiche reader? You must collect 8-track tapes too. I think I’ve been chasing you two around this site all night.

-- DocK, WV

Thanks for the great pictorial, a very handy setup.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

Great idea Gary! That idea will allow us, with limited income, to expand our woodworking skills. Thanks.

-- Ron in Minnesota (Summer) and in Arkansas (Winter)

Gary,
It looks like I am going to need to try this out. Do you by any chance know if the bit you mentioned (1 1/2” bottoming bit) goes by any other names? I’ve tried looking some up online to get an idea for prices, but I’m not finding much. Thanks again for this great post. It will really help me get the most out of the lumber.

Also, I do not have a jointer at all, so I think that in this case, the shorter the board you can use when you start, the less material will be wasted so cutting the lumber to the rough sizes first would probably be a good idea. Do you agree with this?
Thanks

HokieMojo – you can frid the bit here:

http://magnate.net/index.cfm?event=showProductGroup&theID=136

They have then all the way up to 2 3/4”

It you use this method you don’t need a jointer. The length of the board doesn’t really matter unless it’s
warped a lot. Then cutting it into smaller pieces will save you some wood.

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way & "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit" -Aristotle

Very good idea. I was going to make one with just runners but I like the wheeled sled. I will also be borrowing this in the near future.

-- Jimmy, Oklahoma "It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I'm wearing milkbone underwear!"

I’ve had trouble with this before and didn’t know what to do about it. Now I do. THANX!!!

-- Michael R. Harvey - Brewster, NY - RusticElementArt.com - SpaceAware.org - AnConn.com

After I read Tony’s entry I went and checked the link. I remember reading that at the time and thought that it was a lot of bother.

Your jig is so much simpler.

I just happen to have 4 wheels left over from when I took my old saw table apart.

Lee

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.

I love it, it has been added to the todo list

-- //FC - Round Rock, TX - "Experience is what you get just after you need it"

Very nice. This may be a solution I can use. Thanks, Justin

Gary…..... ahhh ummm errr …...... Your good! Thanks for taking the time to post those pics.

Thanks Gary, another great idea!

-- As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17) †

very cool. I’ve seen that done other ways before, but not with routing the strips on one side. That seems to be the best melding of the techniques. I’m going to have to give it a try.

Thanks Gary I favourited it.

-- Only the Shadow knows....................

I made a similar set up to flatten out a 30” diameter by 12” thick Pine log for a display at a local museum.

so they could show the growth rings.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

Very cool jig Gary. Better than a sled, I can see how that this will take out slight cup in your lumber too with a planer only and very little work otherwise. Great idea

-- Ed

This post is a keeper, thanks Gary.

-- I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso

Thanks for the ideas here!

-- Jerry, Set in the foothills of the Smokey's

This one is great. I love pictures and don’t like reading directions. I have done something smaller but I never thought about the wheels on the sled. What a great idea. Thanks Gary!!

I started using all rough cut lumber for my projects. I am lucky enough to have a sawmill (with kilns) just 8 miles away, and if I preplan a little they will surface it for a very reasonable price. But most times I just run up for a few pieces on the spot and have to do surface it myself. It is still better quality and cheaper than what I can buy elsewhere and it is local lumber.

-- Ron, Kutztown, PA "The reward is in the journey."

I’m curious if anyone has tried this yet?

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way & "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit" -Aristotle

Gary, plans Now have a members download this Month on tablesaw jointing. May be of interest to you.
www.plansnow.com

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

Great post Gary as 0% of my lumber is bought rough.

-- Jerry, Set in the foothills of the Smokey's

Interesting take on the router sled. Any issue with the runout in the caster wheels?

-- Doug, woodworking in Alabama

Nice gary, It certainly has some advantages over a full sled jig. thanks for sharing…this definatly goes in my shop project folder.

-- If you can't build it, code it. If you can't code it, build it. But always ALWAYS take a picture.

Gary,

Did this ever make it in to ShopNotes? If so what issue?

I am thinking about making one this weekend. I have some 6-10 wide 5/4 cherry that needs to be milled down to the proper size and don’t have a Jointer that will handle the wider stock.

-- //FC - Round Rock, TX - "Experience is what you get just after you need it"

sIKE – It hasn’t been in there yet. Maybe they are saving it for something special. :-)

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way & "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit" -Aristotle

THIS IS INDEED A VERRY INOVATIVE IDEA. I MEAN JOINTING WITH THE ROUTER I HAVE HEARD OF BEFORE BUT THE WAY YOU MADE YOUR JIG IS BRILLIANT. JUST AS I WAS THINKING MAN THAT WOULD TAKE A THOUSAND PASSES TO JOINT THE WHOLE BOARD YOU SHOW HOW YOU ONLY JOINTED TWO SLOTS FOR PLANNER SLED BARS TO FIT INTO. BRILLIANT MAN. I WILL DEFINETLY USE THIS TIP SOON

-- i can do all things through christ who strengthens me

Thanks for posting. I have some 3×14 oak I couldn’t figure out how to work with.

-- Robert in middle TN

Gary,

I know that your super duper clamp made it in did this one make it in? Headed out to the shop to dig though my back issues. Wish they had an online index like Wood magazine. I never got to it 83 days ago, gonna make another pass at getting this done.

-- //FC - Round Rock, TX - "Experience is what you get just after you need it"

Gary, I just made one of these jigs last week and it works perfect! Thanks for the idea. I was wondering how I was going to joint my wide stock of elm which should be ready in a few months.

-- Julian, Park Forest, IL

Julian – Glad it’s working for you.

sIKE – They paid for it but haven’t printed it yet.

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way & "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit" -Aristotle

Thanks for taking the time to explain this so well, and with pics. I love learning things like this before bed. I will fall asleep thinking about this and wake up with a better understanding of other things too. You are gifted.

-- "Safe woodworking isn't just about avoiding injury, it is also about avoiding extinction." CKG

Gary, Good job! I recently finished a workbench and made a router flattening jig similar to yours. I have attached some photos to show what I did. One variation that I did was take an old shopvac floor attachment and fix it to the sled, then added some scrap strips around the sled to add to the vacuming effectiveness. I use a Clear Vue Mini cyclone and a shop vac. Everything worked great.

-- "non illegitimis carborundum"

Gary I missed this when it was first posted. I done something like yours to flatten the entire board / Workbench. But I hadn’t thought about the two grooves and then running it through the planer. That is a great tip.

-- I've been blessed with a father who liked to tinker in wood, and a wife who lets me tinker in wood. Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

laflaone – That’s the method I used to flatten my workbench also.

In fact if you look at the picture of my workbench you can see the jig leaning up against the wall.

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/1773

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way & "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit" -Aristotle

The value of the information gained on this site is beyond anyone’s imagination. Thanks for the info Gary. Some day we’ll have to meet. Can’t be too far away. How far are you from Texarkana?
gary

-- Gary, DeKalb Texas only 4 miles from the mill

Gary – It looks like you are about 100 miles away. You are welcome to stop by any time. Just send me a PM.

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way & "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit" -Aristotle

This is a great tip. This looks like it should be a heck of a lot easier and more reliable than the wedging the rough luimber on a sled. Thanks a bunch!

-- Chris

Thanks Gary, I put it on watch so i don’t forget it ;-)

-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.

An excellent jig Gary. When I first saw it I thought it was going to be another route the whole surface and try to get it perfect but this looks much better. Focus on getting just what is required flat and parallel, two strips, and then let the planer do it’s job. Thanks for the idea, I’ve tucked this one away.

Nice. I saved this thread for later. Someday I’ll build one for myself.

Thanks so much for this build! It will certainly help me in my wood working.

-- Paul, Bristol,Rhode Island

This is a very creative jig to use in the shop.

I am just starting out myself and couldnt find surfaced lumber near me… just wondering when building this how do we guarantee that the material used are straight? This may sound stupid but how do we guarantee the plywood and the guides are straight to begin with?

Thanks!

adroga – Well, good quality (read not Chinese) plywood is about the flattest thing you can buy. It basically comes down to what you lay them on.

The two strips going down the length were cut from the long edges of the sheet of plywood. You can’t get a much straighter edge than a factory edge from a piece of plywood. The I fastened them with that factory edge to the sheet. This will get them pretty flat.

I use the top of my workbench to lay the fixture on, which I machined to be flat.

If you don’t have a flat workbench then you will have lay your fixture on whatever you have. Then you will have to shim your fixture flat. A nice 4 or 6 foot level will help you with this.

Flat is what you are looking for not straight.

It’s basically up to you to make sure that it’s flat.

BTW this was my post number 9500.

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way & "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit" -Aristotle

Thanks for the reply, just what I needed to know. Everyone is really friendly and helpful here.

And congrats on #9500… : )

It’s alwaus interesting to see the many methods to accomplish a task in woodworking.

I cut rough sawn boards slightly longer than my project dimensions, then clamp the board on my workbench. With winding sticks and hand planes I then knock off high spots and remove twist. I don’t need to plane the whole surface before running the board thru the planer.

I guess I’m just old fashioned.

-- "Heaven is North of the Bridge"

I got a question recently about how I would surface thinner stock like 5/4 since the router bit won’t extend far enough to reach it.

A bit extension would work, but I wouldn’t recommend it due to the side load it would put on the router.

What I do is to screw a piece of 3/4 plywood on the inside. Then I can set my 5/4 stock on it to raise the height.
It basically just acts as a spacer underneath the wood you’re working on.

To work on even thicker wood like 12/4 I would put spacers along the outside edges under the wheels.

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way & "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit" -Aristotle

Great tip Gary Thanks

-- --<<<<<< I will not stop until I get it right. >>>>>>--

I see you posted this LONG before I was a member , Gary….the whole set-up is fantastic and I believe that you just saved me from purchasing an 8” jointer : ) Favorited and must build , thank you and Happy Holidays !!

-- MILK COWS , NOT TAXPAYERS : ) .......Bumper sticker quote.