How do I flatten a 7" board with a 6" jointer?

short answer: “You Don’t.”

see if this idea helps: http://lumberjocks.com/topics/show/45

-- Mark DeCou - Kansas Flint Hill's Artisan

Just read my topic #45 again. I did pretty good writing that up then, if I do say so.

-- Mark DeCou - Kansas Flint Hill's Artisan

oh, I have done the planer sled method. Little shims taped in place, keeping the board from rocking and moving around. Not near as reliable as I had hoped it would be. I use the router rail method still, I like it better. I suppose those that have good hand planes and eyeballs could do it just fine with winding sticks. Now that I have bifocals to deal with, things like winding sticks always look crooked and bowed to me now. I do imagine a sure sense of pride that is higher with a handplane than the other methods. Course, you could buy a bigger jointer.

-- Mark DeCou - Kansas Flint Hill's Artisan

There is a way to use a sled with 4 screws to adjust the board to run it through a planer. I’ve never tried it but someone here has. It would have to be a very special board before I’d go to the bother. If it’s small use winding stick and planes. If it’s real bad throw it in the stove. Either way you’re gonna get warm.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

Mark – I know what you mean about sighting with winding sticks.

I have found that if you put a small hole in a piece of paper and look through it everything will be in focus.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Mark, I think your router rail system might just be the best. I just looked over #45. It certainly looks like a good solution. There is also the concept that if a board is in wind it will just wind more after you straighten it. It’s just simpler for me to go through the whole pile until I get good boards then not leave them around too long. I’m lucky that at High Desert Hardwoods in Eagle , Idaho, Ron lets me dig out the boards that will work for me. Even if I’m getting 100 or 200 I still hand pick each board. I’m also lucky to live in an area where the moisture in the boards averages about 6% in the summer and 8% in the winter. I make allowances for shrinkage and epansion in my pieces because I never know where they will wind up.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

Hi All, Thanks for that write up Mark. I knew you had one out there, I just couldn’t find it.
I’m working with 6/4 Black Walnut, 7” wide by 45” long. This may not seem to be a special board to you who live in wood rich territory, but here in the wild west it is pretty rare. I have four of these I’m turning into a coffee table top so I want the best finish I can get, that’s why I thought a planer would be worth the trouble. I’m with you on the bifocal thing, I can’t see worth a cr_p any more. When I rock this board on the table saw, one corner raises up 3/16 of an inch. If I flip it over, the other corner comes up the same. So the board does not really have a “high” side, more like it’s twisted. I guess I just pick a side to flatten? I seem to be having a problem getting my head around the procedure.
Thanks for the help fellas.
Later,
Doug in AZ.

-- Failure is not an option.

A friend of mine puts it in his CNC router and goes to lunch.

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

If you have a subscription to Fine Woodworking. They have a video of a gentlemen using a planer sled that he built to joint wide boards. Nice looking setup. With a 7” wide board I have pulled the guard off of m 6” wide jointer, and took very light passes turning the board end for end wit each pass. Use a plane to flatten the 1” or so that the jointer could not get too.

-- Greg Mitchell--Lowell, AR--gdamitchell@sbcglobal.net

I know a lot of you will disagree with this, but keep in mind that safety is the priority. I’ve got an 8” jointer and if I need to face joint a piece of stock which is wider than my cutterhead, I remove the guard and make a pass. I flip the board end for end and, keeping the unjointed side flat to the bed, I make another pass which flushes the unjointed side with the jointed side. I do this repeatedly until I get a flat face. Now, keep in mind that my hands DO NOT pass around or over the cutterhead! When approaching the cutterhead, even though it’s completely covered by the stock, I lift my lead hand and place it back on the stock which has already passed the cutterhead. This is followed by my trail hand. I also have a push block for longer stock, which is sculpted to fit my hands and apply even pressure along the length of the stock, keeping my hands even further away from the cutterhead. The same practices are used when using a jointer with a rabbeting ledge, except the fence must cover the cutterhead to the width of the rabbet you’re milling.

-- Eric Olson Springfield, MO Rock Creek Designs

I’ll echo what Greg said. Fine Wordworking has a great video and an accompanying article on how to make a planer sled to face joint boards wider than your jointer. You do have to have a subscription to access it, but I think I pay $4.99/month for now to access all the content on their website. Well worth it in my opinion.

Speaking of making a planer sled, here is a link to a pdf that shows how to make one. It is on the second page of the pdf doc. You can use the adjusting screws as they show or use wedges under the high spots also. . Hope this helps. http://www.woodsmith.com/files/issues/sample/sample-04-05.pdf

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

Hi All, Just as a follow up, I ended up making a planer sled. I used multiple screws up and down the sides to support the wind in the boards. Didn’t take near as long as I thought it would. once I got the adjustments right it only took about three passes to get the boards flat on one side. Thanks to one and all for the advice, links and your shared wisdom.
Later,
Doug in AZ.

-- Failure is not an option.

One easy quick way is to remove the guard and just run your board leaving the one inch
hanging off. Make sure that you take all that you need to make it flat because you won’t
be able to make a second pass.

Then run it through the planer on a 6” board under the jointed surface to flatten the other
side. The 1” hanging off un-supported won’t be a problem.

Once done flip it over the clean up the un-jointed 1” and bring it to final thickness.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Hey Douginaz

I tried the sled method in a couple of pieces of poplar. I too used screws . . . 6 in fact. One on each corner and 2 in the middle. The screws allowed for quick and easy adjustment.

The problem I ran into after that was snipe.

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

Hi All, I finally decided to go the sled route. Try as I may, I just couldn’t come up with the guts to go it on the jointer. I’ve learned the hard way to listen to that little voice in my head telling me things like ” You will be sorry if you try that” or You could loose a finger” ad infinitum. I glued two pieces of 5/8” MDF and put a stop at the end. Once I was sure all was square, I put 6 screws along the sides and ends that had the twist. Once I got all the screws set just so, I put a piece of carpet tape on the sled, added the twisted board and went to town. I took light passes but still got some snipe and finally remembered a thread somewhere that said to raise the exiting board as high as it would go just before it got out of the rollers. After a couple of times I got the hang of it and all went well from there. I thank you one and all for the feedback and the ideas. !

-- Failure is not an option.