# Jointing without a jointer



## Brokewood (Feb 17, 2010)

*Jointing without a jointer*

Hi everyone,
I seem to have bitten off more than I can chew. I've decided to build a coffee table for my living room,
I've made plans and all - I went and bought the lumber, even had it planed and ready to go.
Thing is, I forgot to ask them to run it through a jointer… Now, I can always swallow my pride, go back and ask them to use their jointer but I kind of don't want to.
I've decided to make this into a learning experience and try jointing without a jointer.
Now the only thing missing is… how the heck do I do this?
I've got a long straight ruler, handplane, belt sander, orbital sander and two peices of lumber I want to join.
Any advice would be great!


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## patron (Apr 2, 2009)

Brokewood said:


> *Jointing without a jointer*
> 
> Hi everyone,
> I seem to have bitten off more than I can chew. I've decided to build a coffee table for my living room,
> ...


take a straight board ,
and clamp it to your work .
run a flush trim bit (with a bearing) ,
and a router .
should do the job .

we did this all the time in boat work ,
as only some parts needed to be straight ,
(cabinet fronts and tables) .
mark where you want the straight to be ,
and align the straight edge to it .
make multi-passes if the grain is against you .


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## thenickedfinger (Feb 17, 2010)

Brokewood said:


> *Jointing without a jointer*
> 
> Hi everyone,
> I seem to have bitten off more than I can chew. I've decided to build a coffee table for my living room,
> ...


You can clamp the two boards together with the edges needing to be joined facing up and use your hand plane to match there edges. Using this method it doesn't matter if they are perfectly straight, because each board will be a mirror image of its mate and they should go together seamlessly.


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

Brokewood said:


> *Jointing without a jointer*
> 
> Hi everyone,
> I seem to have bitten off more than I can chew. I've decided to build a coffee table for my living room,
> ...


You can place them side by side together and run your circular saw down the middle (where they meet together), and once again it doesnt matter if its dead straight because with the width of the blade you cshould cut both boards.


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## nailbanger2 (Oct 17, 2009)

Brokewood said:


> *Jointing without a jointer*
> 
> Hi everyone,
> I seem to have bitten off more than I can chew. I've decided to build a coffee table for my living room,
> ...


David's idea sounds good. We used to snap a line along the edge, measure 1.5" inward and make two marks on either end. Clamp a straight edge on those marks and run a circular saw against it. This was in the field, and not considered fine woodworking, but add biscuits and a lot of sanding it was passable.


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## wstokes (Mar 20, 2009)

Brokewood said:


> *Jointing without a jointer*
> 
> Hi everyone,
> I seem to have bitten off more than I can chew. I've decided to build a coffee table for my living room,
> ...


Yeah, I was going to suggest either a router table, or easier still you can do it on a table saw after a fashion. First lay your board on your table saw so it bows toward the fence (and won't wobble). Then place a long straight board between the board you're jointing and the fence. You'll use this 2nd board as a sliding flat surface. This way the jointed board won't rotate as it moves past the end of your table saw fence. Joint one side. For the other side you won't need the auxilliary board since you have a jointed face to go up against your fence. If this is confusing see here:

http://www.toolcrib.com/blog/2009/02/09/6-table-saw-jointing-jig-plans-straight-edge-no-jointer/


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## carlosponti (Sep 9, 2008)

Brokewood said:


> *Jointing without a jointer*
> 
> Hi everyone,
> I seem to have bitten off more than I can chew. I've decided to build a coffee table for my living room,
> ...


there were some jointer tips in this video 
http://www.woodworkingonline.com/2010/03/26/podcast-44-5-surprising-woodworking-techniques-you-didnt-know-about/

lots of ways you can joint an edge without a jointer.


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## BreakingBoardom (Dec 18, 2009)

Brokewood said:


> *Jointing without a jointer*
> 
> Hi everyone,
> I seem to have bitten off more than I can chew. I've decided to build a coffee table for my living room,
> ...


Do you have other tools? As most of the Jocks here mentioned, the two easiest ways are to do it with a router or a tablesaw. Do you have either of those?


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## miles125 (Jun 8, 2007)

Brokewood said:


> *Jointing without a jointer*
> 
> Hi everyone,
> I seem to have bitten off more than I can chew. I've decided to build a coffee table for my living room,
> ...


Draw a straight line and cut it on your bandsaw.


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## Brokewood (Feb 17, 2010)

Brokewood said:


> *Jointing without a jointer*
> 
> Hi everyone,
> I seem to have bitten off more than I can chew. I've decided to build a coffee table for my living room,
> ...


Man I love this community…
Thanks for all the great tips so far!
I do have a router, I think that's what I'll try - sounds simple enough. 
No bandsaw though, and my tablesaw is on the fritz, so the router will have to do.
Although Will's advice with the handplane could be nice too. 
I'll be sure to post what I did and how it turned out!


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## swirt (Apr 6, 2010)

Brokewood said:


> *Jointing without a jointer*
> 
> Hi everyone,
> I seem to have bitten off more than I can chew. I've decided to build a coffee table for my living room,
> ...


For a coffee table, if your bench plane is a #5 or higher, you could joint the edge with that just fine.


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## Viktor (Jan 15, 2009)

Brokewood said:


> *Jointing without a jointer*
> 
> Hi everyone,
> I seem to have bitten off more than I can chew. I've decided to build a coffee table for my living room,
> ...


First, do what patron said, then follow with what Kerry Drake said.
Just a router or table saw, will not be enough for a seamless furniture grade joint.


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## woodspark (May 8, 2010)

Brokewood said:


> *Jointing without a jointer*
> 
> Hi everyone,
> I seem to have bitten off more than I can chew. I've decided to build a coffee table for my living room,
> ...


Hey guys, what about jointing with a #7 jointerplane, the way it is supposed to be done and the quickest. Oh, I guess you don't have a #7!
I will still go with what swirt said! It is quick, smells good and it is quiet!


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## jordan (Nov 5, 2009)

Brokewood said:


> *Jointing without a jointer*
> 
> Hi everyone,
> I seem to have bitten off more than I can chew. I've decided to build a coffee table for my living room,
> ...


I'm glad you asked that as I sold my jointer before I moved, so I've been wondering the same thing at times.


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## Vercingetorix (Feb 1, 2013)

Brokewood said:


> *Jointing without a jointer*
> 
> Hi everyone,
> I seem to have bitten off more than I can chew. I've decided to build a coffee table for my living room,
> ...


I know this is an old thread, but for reference, here's a good video demonstration of the jointer plane technique.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

Brokewood said:


> *Jointing without a jointer*
> 
> Hi everyone,
> I seem to have bitten off more than I can chew. I've decided to build a coffee table for my living room,
> ...


router and a trim bit is fast , but if you don't have a straight edge reference it won't produce what you want. more so, depending on how narrow your workpiece is it could be a less than safe operation free handed.

considering what you stated in the original post, I would go with the #5:

1. Clamp 2 boards that you want to joint face to face with the edges to joint on top in your workbench.
2. Using the #5 joint/flatten the top edges at the same time
3. Take the boards and flip one of them end-for-end, and place joint edge against joint edge. any errors that you might have had with the angle during jointing would cancel itself out since both edges were done at the same time. 
4. Glue, and clamp


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