Jointing Boards

Jointing Boards · 03-09-2006, 08:20 PM

Learned this long ago, realised that i knew better today

When jointing 2 or more boards that I will edge glue together I first mark a triangle for alignment. When i joint them, I joint one "face up" to the jointer fence, the next "face down" to the fence. the logic of this is that you can rarely get the fence perfectly tuned to 90°, so if it happens to be 2° they would cancel out...
Gary

Vanilla Gorilla · 03-09-2006, 09:43 PM

that's a good tip. Now if only my shop wasn't the size of a postage stamp so I could actually fit in a jointer I'd be in business!! Maybe I should use my house as the shop and live in the shed, since I spend so little time in my house as it is!

Splinter · 03-09-2006, 09:52 PM

Good tip Gary. This is the method that Kelly Mehler uses. I had forgot about it until I sat in one of his sessions at the Charlotte WWS in February. I try to keep my jointer set at 90 degrees but it doesn't take much to effect the glue joint, so I have started using it and it does work.

Monty · 03-10-2006, 09:01 AM

I like that tip! Thanks for posting.

lwhughes149 · 03-10-2006, 12:36 PM

A question is never stupid so here goes. I want to make sure I understand what that post is saying. When I joint an end of a board, say for a tabletop, I run one side through and when I run the next board through I flip it so it isn't going in the same path as the first board. I have a 6" jointer and some times have problems.

kota62 · 03-10-2006, 12:58 PM

Using the pic i shamelessly stole

Look at the joint between 2 & 3, you would mark a triangle there for alignment. Joint the first board with 2 contacting the blades and the fence, the second board would have C contacting the blades and the fence...
Clear as mud???
Yesterday when i jointed some boards i failed to check fence alignment, when i clamped them they rose up like the peak of a roof, flipping one made them parallel
Take care
Gary

DaveO · 03-10-2006, 01:00 PM

Mark the top faces of your boards. Joint one board edge with the marked face against the fence. Then joint the other with the marked face away from the fence. That way if your jointer fence is set at 90.5 deg. one board will have it's edge at 90.5 deg. to the face and the other will have it's edge at 89.5 deg. to the face. That will cancel out any slight imperfection in the fence setting.
Does that help explain it better?
Dave

lwhughes149 · 03-10-2006, 07:18 PM

Dave, I see what you are saying. If I have two boards, the two insides are to be glued together. I will have the top surface against the fence on the first on and flip the second board. But this is only necessary if I find out my fence was off.
Because jointing a board properly is a new art for me I find that I get best results when I mark a pencil line and let that be my guide. I find sometimes that one end cuts more than the other one so I just flip the board and continue until the board meets the line. Not very scientific but it seems to work. I think the problem is that when I pass the board over the blades I need to make sure I keep the board close to the fence and keep my pressure over the blades. I tend to press down on the outfeed side and not keep the board tight against the fence. So much to learn. I need to go back to that book again and practice more. So far everything I have made has gone together well so I guess I must be doing something right.

Splinter · 03-10-2006, 08:54 PM

Kelly Mehler's tip in his session was to mark the "V" across the top of all boards to be jointed with chalk, then using chalk mark the board edges to be jointed as follows......one with an "I" (for inside) the mating edge with an "O" (for outside)and the next with an "I" and the next with an "O" and so on and so on. Then when you go to the jointer put the faces with the "I" against the fence and those with the "O" away from the fence. Then when you put the boards back together the angles of the mating edges will equal out. If the fence is a perfect 90 degrees everything is okay and it the angle of the fence is off you are still okay. Clear as mud right.

Steve D · 03-10-2006, 09:22 PM

Great tip

D L Ames · 03-13-2006, 08:16 PM

Great tip Gary, thanks for posting it.

D L

DavidF · 03-16-2006, 12:21 PM

Just my two pen'th - When laying out the boards; two in this example; mark them with the triangle as you have said and then pick them up and close them like a book. Pass them over the jointer together. "Open" the book again and lay them flat - perfect joint.

RandyJ · 03-16-2006, 01:49 PM

Great tip Gary! Sounds like there are several ways to skin this cat. For my simple mind, GaryF's "book" suggestion sounds easier. Thanks all for helping to edumacate

me.
Randy

DavidF · 03-16-2006, 02:20 PM

DavidF....

RandyJ · 03-16-2006, 03:09 PM

OOPS

My apologies DAVIDF

!!! I told you I had a SIMPLE mind.....
Randy