# Jointing/Thicknessing on the router table - a new approach?



## KnickKnack (Aug 20, 2008)

*IMPORTANT - please see safety notes by contributors below*

I have recently been finding the joy that comes from pieces of wood that are perfectly straight, flat, parallel and at 90° angles. Jointer/planers, can, of course, do this for you, if you have one.
I've seen the videos of how to use your router as a jointer - basically you configure your infeed/outfeed fences parallel but slightly offset, and you use the router cutter like the blades of a jointer.
I could have tried to make that, but it seemed to me there were a number of potential problems/drawbacks with that approach…

You can only use that method it you have a router bit that's high enough to make the joint in a single pass - most of the wood I have is fatter than my bits
It takes time to set up the exact position of the fences in relation to the cutter - and you must set it up each time you want to joint
It doesn't thickness, just joint.

So I've come up with another method - I daresay I'm not the first to think of this, but I don't recall reading about it anywhere before, so I thought I'd share it, in case this method proves useful to someone else.

The basic setup is shown here (note - the fence on the right isn't used, but I forgot to remove it for the pictures, sorry)...










The key is to setup your fence *on the other side* of the wood.










Using this method, you can joint/thickness wood *twice* the size of your router cutter blade - simply flip the wood over onto its other face and run it through again.
After a few passes, steadily bringing the fence towards the cutter you have a perfectly jointed edge…










Flip the wood around, and you are not only jointing, but *thicknessing* the other edge too, after a couple of passes we're getting there…










Until, finally you have 2 perfectly jointed, thicknessed edges…










The smallest movement of the fence allows you get to "sneak up on" a very precise thickness - i use this technique to make my splines exactly the right size.

You can also use it to joint/thickness the end grain in exactly the same manner…










In summary…

You can joint/thickness very small pieces - pieces too small to put through the thicknesser. As long as you're comfortable pushing the wood through, you can joint & thickness it.
There *is* and *can be* no snipe
You have complete control over how much to remove at each pass simply by adjusting the fence
Width is no problem - if you have a board 12" (30cm) wide you simply need to place the fence that far away and off you go
It'll work to joint/thickness rhombus shaped pieces, should you so desire - pieces that the machinery wouldn't do.
You can joint/thickness wood that's up to twice as fat as your router bit
Router bits are a lot cheaper, and easier to replace, than jointer blades.

Apologies if everyone already knew this - but I didn't so I figured some other novices might not know either.

Thoughts, comments, safety warnings etc - all welcome.


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## AaronK (Nov 30, 2008)

interesting approach, i like it a lot. it's probably very important for your safety to keep the piece moving through the cutting path without stopping, and to keep the piece tight against the fence. i could definitely see this being put to use - it's also a good reason to mount a router in the middle of a very long table/bench


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

The one significant drawback that exists with most alternative jointing methods other than a jointer is that they only edge joint, and don't address the face. The jointer flattens a reference face, then puts an edge 90° to the face. If the face isn't perfectly flat, there's no guarantee you'll get an edge that's truly a uniform 90° to the face. I have seen people set up a tram system for their router so that the can flatten a face, but it's a slow go. Hand planes seem to be a more efficient alternative for face jointing if you don't have a jointer.


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## superstretch (Jan 10, 2011)

Interesting approach.. I've been joining using the first method you mentioned and this would be an easier way to do it. My only concern is some nasty kickback on square-r pieces like the one you used. Any hangups could make the board literally explode off the table


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## bstadtler (May 14, 2011)

I think this can be very onsafe just because the wood is trapped between cutter and fence Be very careful.


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## KnickKnack (Aug 20, 2008)

Thanks to all.
I think I'd realised that there was a potential kickback problem, but somehow it hadn't really sunk in as to how dangerous that could really be. You have, quite possibly, saved my digits or more.


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## LeeJ (Jul 4, 2007)

I'm glad to see this was pointed out. A very dangerous way of doing what your doing.

Like Barry said, use a hand plane.

Lee


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## cornflake (Jan 13, 2011)

there is a better way of doing this on a router table.

what u do is place a 1/16th piece of plastic laminate on the infeed side of your router table and set the cutter flust to it that way you are taking very thin cutts and the board is no longer trapped between the fence and the bit. I think u have been lucky so far with your method. i also recommend using alond and tall push block and featherboard for max safety.

good luck.


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

Cornflake's method is a safe one. I'm just afraid what you've got there in your photos is a recipe for a rocket launcher. 

As Scott mentioned, none of this addresses the problem of a board that doesn't have a flat reference face, which leads me to another question. I have always wondered why edge jointing on a router table would be necessary in the first place. Since it only works well on a flat board, don't you get the same result by ripping on the table saw with a good blade? I use a Forrest Woodworker II most of the time, and it leaves an extremely smooth surface. I've never felt the need to do any further prep on my glue joints, and I've never had a problem.


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## KentS (May 27, 2009)

There are a lot of good responses here, so this is simply another idea to consider. I do agree with using hand planes, especially on small pieces, but if you want to do it on a router table, a simple sled would be much safer. I think I would make one much like a taper jig for a table saw. (You do need a miter slot for this) It could be as big as you need it. Using T-track and clamps, or toggle clamps will make it very safe, even for small pieces. Clamp any kind of stop on the router table on the infeed side for reference. This way you always take off the same amount of material. The time building a jig will always be less than the time you spend in the ER.

I would not be comfortable with the way you are doing it.


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## devann (Jan 11, 2011)

On the router table I use the method cornflake described except I use a pair of thin washers standing against the infeed fence with a steel ruler for a straight edge to set the outfeed side of the fence. Then remove the washers and use the straight edge to set the outfeed side of the fence to the cutter.

You can purchase a 2" x 1/2" straight cut router bits to make 90 degree edges on you stock. I use this method for removing saw marks of the side of a board and for getting a good edge for gluing pieces together

To use the tablesaw to straighten a longer board I've used my 5' aluminum level clamped to the fence basicly increasing the length of the fence before the material starts into the blade. It does matter which side you put next to the fence. You should palce the crown of the board away from the fence into the blade.


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## DavidNJ (Dec 10, 2012)

I found these pics on a different forum. Not as bad as I thought…but it seems very time consuming!



















I'd probably use transfer rollers under the slider to ride on the rails and a laminate or MDF for the cross piece to minimize friction under the router.


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## Dzhaughn (Feb 17, 2015)

I have recently posed a question on this method and a related one here:

http://lumberjocks.com/topics/27072

Short version: I propose to do a shallow groove first, parallel to the edge, then trim the board parallel referencing the wall of that groove using say a jigsaw followed by a pass with a flush trim bit. Is that safer? Is cutting a groove by registering the edge against a fence something that is Not Done.

(Please note: Cornflakes method above is good for making a square straight edge, but it does not make a parallel edge, which is what I am asking about.)

Thanks for your input.


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## Dzhaughn (Feb 17, 2015)

@CharlieM I think it is implicit that using a table saw is excluded here. There is no reason why the OP can't do the parallel cut on a table saw if he had one. He could do the first edge with a table saw, too, with a long sled.


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