# Stock Maximums (and minimums) on Jointer



## Lenny (Sep 28, 2008)

I submitted a question to the Q and A section of Woodworker's Journal magazine and they opted to answer it in their "e-zine". For those that don't choose to open the link, my question essentially was: "What is protocol on maximum lengths of stock to SAFELY push through one's jointer. To their credit, they opted to address both minimum and maximum lengths. Here's the link: "Jointer": http://www.woodworkersjournal.com/Ezine/Public/QA.aspx.

I would be interested in LJ responses to my question and the responses offered by WWJ. I often buy 8' lengths of lumber. Are they safe to push through a 6" jointer with say a bed that is 46" long (my Delta)? If the board is 8" wide and 8' long is it safe to edge joint it? Do you have any standard practices relative to this topic or do you just joint what needs to be jointed?

The safety issue is foremost but I guess at some point, the length also begins to affect the precision of the cut. If the board loses contact at a point or two along the length you don't have a uniformly flat edge or face.


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## HorizontalMike (Jun 3, 2010)

Well, I have pushed 8ft 8/4 Ash through mine when building my workbench laminate top without issue. My jointer bed is 75in though. You could always set up roller stands before and after to catch/support these monsters. IMO, that would be the best way to prep for long jointer pieces.

BTW, I have managed to joint a 9in wide 8/4 on my 8in jointer by taking very small cuts and horizontally rotating the piece after EVERY pass. BE WARNED: This requires removing the cutter guard to do this, so do this at your OWN risk.

I then take my 18in foreplane and smooth out the minor difference on the last pass before running the board through my lunchbox planer. I had VERY LITTLE waste doing it this way.


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

You can joint an 8' board on a 6" jointer, but there is seldom
much point to it. Most members used in furniture are shorter,
and laying out parts within boards to follow the grain is a
more elegant way to build than joining, ripping and crosscutting
all parts from boards you treat as uniform stock.

I find a 78" level the most useful tool for surfacing wood in that
I can lay it on an edge and see what I am working with. On 
big boards I will use handheld electric planers and hand planes
rather than try to wrestle a board across a jointer only to find
the droop of the weight results in a curved edge. I lay the level
on faces as well.

Milling wood is a really creative activity and there are a lot of nuanced
decisions to make… but once a board is crosscut it can never be
made longer. A rip can be "healed" so to speak with gluing, but 
a crosscut is forever. So it is tempting to mill all the boards an keep
them as long as possible until late in the game… but you make a 
dozen compromises and more work for yourself and miss out on
the experiential quality of working with board thickness in unexpected
increments.

See, a board will have bulges and stuff in the face and sometimes
the sensible thing to do with a long board that is thick at one end
and thin at the other is to crosscut it and treat each board as an
individual with its own destiny. Play with it…. soon you become 
liberated from working in 3/4"s and 1/2"s and you'll be making boards
15/16"s and 17/32s" and, oh then you're all building unexpected
things and becoming something more than a wood butcher.


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## Manitario (Jul 4, 2010)

I've tried to joint 8ft boards for a workbench on my 55" long jointer; was extremily difficult and I didn't really have a satisfactory result. Wood that I know I'm going to cut into smaller pieces for a project, I roughly crosscut it before jointing it, much easier to handle and I have to remove less wood than if I used a long piece. As for minimums…anything less than about 6" I get pretty nervous about…


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

Anyway, you can make an outfeed table, as I have done before,
for a jointer and turn a 4' jointer into a 6' jointer easily enough.


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## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

For any stock over 5 feet long, I make sure to use an outfeed roller. I usually layout the parts on my stock, and cut the parts to rough length before jointing. A dining table is one notable exception, where you need boards 6-7 feet long. Even then, the boards on extension tables run widthwise and are usually no longer than 4 feet. 
For the few times when I have to leave the stock long, I set an outfeed roller level with the outfeed table of my jointer using a builders level.


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## Lenny (Sep 28, 2008)

All are points well taken. The in and/or outfeed rollers make great sense and a custom outfeed table is a nice idea too. Thanks for the input.


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

This may be seen as a cop out, but I have been using a glue line rip blade on the TS for long pieces. Good results and no fear. Glue ups have been very good. So far…..........
Bill


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## Grandpa (Jan 28, 2011)

I have jointed long board but it is difficult when you are alone. In school we were taught to get a buddy to help "tail off" the board but these days I am alone more often. in-feed and out-feed tables or rollers would be the answer and those could make the process limitless I suppose…...if you could get them level. The shortest board that should be jointed is 12 inches according to the safety rules in most jointer manuals. I have had one board jerked from my hands in a jointer and it was scary. I was not remotely injured but it was a thin short board so I started believing those owner's manuals.


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## Elizabeth (Oct 17, 2009)

Painting a line on the top of the fence for the minimum length is a good idea. I think I may do that on my jointer and on my planer cart.


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## Gerry1 (Jul 12, 2009)

Lenny,

Thanks for this question. I'm just about to begin a new project that requires to join several 55" boards for the side panels. My jointer is a 8 inch helical head grizzly, with a 75 inch bed. Using the in-feed and out-feed rollers sounds like the smartest way to go. 
The good thing about the question is our community sharing its knowledge. Thank you all!


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## Lenny (Sep 28, 2008)

*Bill White* I don't view it as a cop out at all. If you are getting nice square and uniform cuts, suitable for gluing, that's great. I wonder though, how you make the first cut? If using rough lumber, a square edge is usually desired before using the table saw. Thanks again to all for the comments. Hi Gerry. Happy New Year and amen to your last comment.


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## Dusty56 (Apr 20, 2008)

Good question , Lenny , and some good answers as well : )


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## thebigvise (Jun 17, 2010)

I agree with Manitario. One is much more efficient with wood use if rough crosscutting is done early in the milling process. I have a 6" helical Powermatic and I made several simple jointing jigs for safety. Face jointing a two- to three-foot pieces is both safe and wood-efficient.


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## blackcherry (Dec 7, 2007)

Hey Lenny great topic you have going on here with plenty of neat ideas from fellow jocks. I would like to chime in on the view of B.White, I don't have a jointer in my shop due to space issues as well and use my T.S. as my jointer for years. The first cut is done by using a straight edge taxi on the desired board which ride along the fence this will duplicate the straight edge to the opposite of the board. If the board has been plane flat two sided face tape works great if not you may have to tack the straightedge to the stock being edge . Ever since the early 80's I've used ridge carbide TS 2000 blade on my saw which produces great glue joints. I also am a great advocate of the grip tight system for TS fence. These magnetic holder keep your board steady against the fence during ripping leaving a burn free edge on the stock which help vastly on producing the clean edge for gluing. For shorter piece I go to my reliable hand planes which allow me to listen to the radio or music in the shop. Final I use my Incra super system with the wonder fence which produce flawless glue joints as well, I use this for 3' and less dimensions. These are just some more idea to toss around hope all is well and snow free my friend take care…Wilson


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## Lenny (Sep 28, 2008)

Thanks for the comments Len and Paul. Hi Wilson. I have seen the technique of "taxi-ing" a board as you mention and can see how it would provide a straight edge which could then be placed against the fence to get a straight and parallel cut on the other edge. I too have used my Incra LS Positioner as a jointer for pieces that are router bit height and not too long. However, let me play devil's advocate for a minute regarding your statement: "If the board has been planed flat". Generally with rough lumber, the first step in milling is jointing a face-side flat. If you go directly to the planer and send one side through, supposedly the planer will simply make a cut parallel to the bottom side. If it is not flat (horizontal), the cut is not flat. Is this not true?


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## blackcherry (Dec 7, 2007)

Your right on this Lenny, what i do if the board is twisted or warp I use rails to elevate the board off the planning bed and pass it through the planner. Most of my stock comes from mills that have given me consistent thickness on materials. I would love to own a good jointer but I get by being on guard as to the stock I buy.


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

Lenny, I dont see a need to join 8 ft boards for making furniture. Most furniture peices are smaller.


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## REK (Aug 30, 2009)

Hello Lenny,

The only rule I've ever heard is to not put a board under 1 foot on your joiner. If I had to join an
8 foot edge I would do it with a hand plane. The longest board I have ever done on my jointer was
6', For that I used my grip tight magnetic hold downs to hold the board firmly to the fence. That's
when I figured it would have been easier to do with my hand plane.

As for ripping a strait edge, I have seen jigs with squared edges and hold downs. You place your uneven board
on the jig with the square edge, and rip the uneven board riding on top of your square edge jig against your saw fence. It seems to work well, and with a good WWII blade or the equivalent you'd defiantly have a joiner quality edge.

My formula to get 4 square sides has changed since I got a drum sander. The drum sander makes my boards
dead flat, so I have 2 perfect sides to edge joint with.

1) Cut boards to rough length on chop saw.
2) On 4/4 stock I plain both sides to .780 to .790 thickness (you have to leave enough stock on the board so
that any twist or out of flatness will come out during sanding. I have sanded out as much as .06. If the 
board is any more twisted or out of flat than that it is better to start with the joiner.
3) Sand both sides equally to .75. 
4) Edge on joiner.
5) Rip on table saw.

The drum sander rollers do not compress the wood nearly as much as a plainer so all the high spots and twisted areas taken out first and you end up with a perfectly parallel board.


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## smndrummer (Dec 24, 2011)

I usually cut my stock down to shorter lengths (4') to use them on the jointer. Shortest board I'll do? 10". That may seem stupid to most people, but I rarely, if ever, have a board that length to joint. And I usually have my hand planes to deal with it anyways. I did joint a 6" piece once, and the 6" powermatic that I was using started to try to eat it. Luckily, my hands were miles away from it, so I was able to watch in mild amusement as a 4/4 pice of walnut burl was destroyed beyond use. Definitely not making that mistake again. For the shorter pieces I reach for my hand planes. Longer pieces (6' and over), I usually crosscut down, which also conserves board thickness in the end. 
- Rich


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## 280305 (Sep 28, 2008)

I got the minimum length, width and thickness from my jointer manual and made a board of those dimensions. I have it hanging on the wall right next to the jointer for easy reference.


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## Lenny (Sep 28, 2008)

Thanks CJ, Bob, Rich and Chuck for the input. This has been a good discussion of a safety issue. I know I have come away with some good tips.


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