This is 6 Genuine Reasons You Need a Jointer Planer in Your Woodworking Shop. This is one of the most under appreciated tools by new woodworkers. Though it doesn’t have the flash of other tools, it’s definitely helpful to have in the shop and I’ll show you why. Enjoy.

The Jointer Planer

A jointer planer is A fantastic tool to have in your woodworking shop. As a beginner, you may not be able to immediately see the benefits of such a tool, but I promise you that you’ll find many reasons to use it once you have it.

One of the biggest problems that you run into in woodworking is trying to make two pieces of wood fit together without any gaps. Wood is a natural product, so there is always going to be a little bit of variation on the surfaces.

This is where a jointer planer excels. You can easily flatten the edge of a board and the face of a board to create perfectly flat surfaces that are easy to join to one another. This makes your project easier, and makes them look a lot better.

On top of that, the tool itself is not terribly expensive. You can search the used market of course, but even a new one will only set you back about the same as any other bench top tool that is similarly sized.

Here are some of the other things that a jointer planer is good for, and i’ll go into each one of them in full detail farther down in the post.

• Making Better Woodworking Joints
• Less Frustration and Fussing
• Easier Wood Laminating
• Make More Interesting Projects
• You Can Fix Sub-Par Wood
• Pay Less for Custom Thickness Wood

Making Better Woodworking Joints

The primary reason to own a jointer planer in your woodworking shop is to be able to make better woodworking joints for your projects. This is a very useful ability to have, and the tool makes it very easy and fast.

Most of the problems that you encounter in woodworking are going to come from your joinery. Also, most of the things that you have to fix or fill or hide also come from your joinery. If you make better surfaces, you make better joints, and you have less problems.

The hallmark of good woodworking is tight fitting joints without any gaps. Not only does this create a more stable project because of the glue joints being much better, but also creates a better looking project because there aren’t any gaps or holes.

See Also: 7 Easy Woodworking Joints for Beginners

Less Frustration and Fussing

Another thing that jointing your edges and cleaning up your faces will do for your projects is make them less frustrating. This will also lead to less fussing with the pieces to fit them together. In general, it’ll make you happier while you’re working.

This ins’t something to be underestimated. You know the feeling of being frustrated when you’re in your shop. Nothing fits right, nothing goes right, and nothing gets done. You also know the opposite feeling, and that’s where you want to try to be all the time.

Having the right tools will help get you there, and this tool will definitely relieve the frustrations that are associated with poorly made joints and pieces that just don’t fit right. You can alleviate the vast majority of this with just one tool, and it’s definitely worth it.

See Also: 11 Killer Tips for Using a Wood Planer in Your Shop

Easier Wood Laminating

If you enjoy laminating pieces of wood together for your woodworking projects, a jointer planer is a tremendous resource to have in your shop. It makes the lamination process so much easier, and it makes your joints look a lot better.

Wood lamination is a lot of fun, and you get to create a lot of interesting looks. The only problem you run into is getting your pieces of wood to play together perfectly, without any gaps in between them.

Instead of doing this process by hand, or just shabbily gluing pieces together and dealing with the gaps, use your jointer planer. It will make quick work of leveling out the surfaces of your boards, and you’ll be able to glue them together flawlessly.

See Also: A Quick Tip for Concealing Joints on Legs

Make More Interesting Projects

The little secret to using laminated wood versus using solid wood is that the building a phase of the project itself is no different whether you are using either one. The only difference is that it takes a little bit longer to make a piece of laminated wood.

Once the initial making of the wood is over, the rest of the building carries on just the same as if you were to have started with a solid piece. The joiner planer makes it easy to create these laminated blanks, and you can use them more easily in your woodworking.

This means you’ll get to make more interesting projects because the pieces of wood that you’re using are a lot better looking. When you start with such an amazing laminated blank, you tend to make much better projects.

See Also: Woodworking Tips Cards – Laminated Wood

You Can Fix Sub-Par Wood

Another benefit to this tool is that you can fix pieces of wood that are not really the best representation of a beautiful board. Sometimes, pieces of wood can look a little rough, especially once they age a little bit.

With a jointer planer, all you have to do is send these pieces through, and you can true up their edges, and salvage some of the board from the scrap bin. You may not get everything, but you’ll get more than if you didn’t have the tool.

This also allows you to buy some materials that you may not have considered before. Rough sawn wood for example just needs a couple passes through the jointer planer in order to look more like wood that you normally buy.

You’re paying a premium for this to be done at the mill and instead you can now do it right in your own shop. This way, you’ll save a little bit of money on the wood that you buy, and you just trade a few minutes of work for the difference.

See Also: How to Make a Planer Riser

Pay Less for Custom Thickness Wood

Finally, one last huge advantage to having a jointer planer is that you can make custom thicknesses of wood without having to pay a premium. Like any wood that has been milled beyond standard dimensions, you pay a lot extra for the service.

If you want pieces of wood that are an eighth of an inch thick, you’ll spend more money in most cases than the same piece of wood in a 4/4 thickness. You’re paying extra because someone had to mill that piece down to that size.

When you have your own tools, you can do all of these things yourself. No longer will you have to spend money on materials just because they had extra work done to them. You’ll increase your profitability, and have more materials for the same price.

See Also: The Secret to the Most Profitable Woodworking Projects to Build and Sell

Your Action Assignment

Now that you know all about the benefits of having a joiner planer, it’s time to get out into the shop and take action. Think about all the amazing things that you can do with this tool, and start looking for one yourself.

Not only will this make a lot of different operations in your shop much more easy, but it’ll open up the world of laminated wood projects to you. This is where you can create amazing looking pieces of wood, and then use them to build things.

Normally something like this can take quite a while to be successful, but the tool can cut out a lot of the time.

If you have any questions about the six great reasons to own a joiner planer, please post a question and I’ll be glad to answer them. Happy building.

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