169 - How to Flatten Boards Wider Than Your Jointer

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There is nothing worse then when you have an absolutely beautiful board that is nice and wide and you realize it won't fit on your jointer. So you have no choice but to rip it in half, joint each piece separately, and then glue the pieces back together. Wouldn't it be so much nicer if we could just keep everything whole and preserve the wood's natural beauty without a grain-interrupting glue line? Well, it's your lucky day because I'm going to show you two techniques that will help you keep your wide boards intact. Both methods utilize the planer for final flattening, but one method starts with a hand plane and the other starts with the jointer.

The Hand Plane Trick
It should be said that the traditional way to handle a wide board would be to simply mill it 4-square with your hand planes. But this method is intended as a quicker, more beginner-friendly, hybrid alternative. It begins with planing one side of the board flat. By laying the board face down on a known flat surface (workbench, assembly table, tablesaw...), you can simply rock the piece back and forth to determine if any twist, cup, or bow exists. Mark the high spots with a pencil and begin planing them down. Keep testing your progress by flipping the piece over and checking for rocking. Eventually, you should end up with a reasonably flat and stable board. Once you are confident the one side is flat, you can simply send the board through the planer with the flat side down and then mill the edges using your preferred method.

Here's a quick tip. The initial flat surface doesn't need to be perfectly flat. If the board is slightly concave and it isn't too long, it can still register perfectly during a pass through the planer. So for the sake of expedience, don't shoot for dead flat. Shoot for even registration around the perimeter and if the center area is hollowed out ever so slightly, that's ok.

The Jointer Trick
So your jointer is only 6" side and your fancy board is 9" wide. No problem. But before I go into detail here, note that this technique does require the removal of the jointer's safety guard. Exercise the highest level of caution during this process and place the guard back on the jointer immediately after! Don't make me come over there!

Once the guard is removed, you should have the ability to run an extra wide boards over the tables. Take one or two passes and flip the board over to see what you're up against. If the board is badly twisted, it may take a few more passes. What you're looking for is a little ridge. Only 6" worth of the board's width is making contact with the blades. So the overhanging area should appear as a raised portion of stock running the length of the board.

Now here's the "trick", and you have two options. First, you can simply double-stick tape a piece of flat sheetgood stock to the flat milled portion of your board. The sheetgood sled can be anything from plywood to MDF to particle board and should be at least the width of the flattened section and the length of the board. Once securely attached, you can flip the sandwich over and run it through the planer. The uneven raised portion of the board will now be raised above the planer table surface and won't have any impact. The flat section of the board is now registering against the sled and since the sled is flat as well, we are able to achieve perfect flat registration as we pass the assembly through the planer. One the new face of the board is clean and flat, we can disassemble the sandwich and run the board through the planer one last time to remove the raised uneven portion.

The second option after the initial flattening is to remove the uneven raised portion using a hand plane. A few passes with a hand plane is all it takes to flush up the rest of the surface. Once flat, you can simple pass the piece through the planer with the clean and flat face down.

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[GamingDrummer]

I saw a picture of a 36" jointer online (plus I remember David Marks said he knew a guy with one when you toured his shop), so I'm sure THAT would be the "ideal" one for larger shops. But yeah, that's why my ultimate plans, at least for now, are to get a 12" someday. As you basically said that'll handle nearly anything besides giant slabs. And I'm also planning on getting it with a carbide insert cutterhead. Those things last FOREVER.

[krtwood]

You can also just make a sled for your planer out of 3/4" ply with a cleat at the front. Just shim your stock so it doesn't rock for warped pieces, and in the middle for bowed pieces with the concave side down. I use hot glue so the shims don't move. It doesn't have to be perfect. Note that the end with the cleat goes first into the planer This way you don't even need a jointer at all and is easier than hand planes.

[frabciscobarajas]

dificil ver un joven con taller y lo mas importante con conocimiento, eres de los que alegran a los padres

[patmog]

In Danish a jointer is called an 'afretter(høvl)' which essentially means 'square up (plane)', which makes sense, since you use it to create two sides which are square relative to each other :)

[woodwhisperer]

We have a series of videos showing how to build the workbench, but it's part of our Wood Whisperer Guild premium site.

[woodwhisperer]

Because it's a machine that preps the boards for joining. I think Europe and Australia have terminology that is a little more clear though. They call it a planer. And what we call a planer, they call a thicknesser.

[Daljit-NY]

As usual great informative vid Marc...but did u not cover this topic in other video when u made a computer desk/table for your home?....

[BeeRich]

Hey Whisperer, I have an idear. I have them from time to time. Is there some kind of surface that you could move this slab over, to demonstrate where the low bits are? It would mark the low bits so you could focus the hand planer on those areas.

[rocknrollrebel]

marc build a router plane thats what i do works a treat, use a large diameter router bit

[michaelpng]

Hi, I like your woodworking bench top. do you have some info on that, or some directions?

[woodwhisperer]

Not sure what video you're watching Joe but you should probably get your facts straight. I use eye protection religiously when I work with power tools. Now you may not actually see me going through the act of putting on safety glasses between scenes but that certainly doesn't mean it didn't happen. I challenge you to find a portion of any of my videos where you can actually see me using a power tool without protection. So check your facts before you go casting insults and accusations like this.

[woodwhisperer]

not familiar with Lobo the tool company. Now Lobo the DC comic character, that's a different story.:)

[stevenmendez]

I have a  vanity  that  sat outside for a long time.   the desk top got warped and It is wider than my planer. how can I use my electric hand planer and not leave ridges/grooves/ and leave it perfectly smooth ? or is that possible ?

[Wtfever..................]

could you have just sent it through the planer to straighten it out?

[TheJerryWatson]

" Clock"  No battery in it or did it take 12 hours exactly to do video? LOL! Just a bit of humor yo!

[woodwhisperer]

That could work. Maybe coat a piece of plywood with the charcoal, set that plywood on a nice flat surface and then rub the board on top of that. Kind of like when the dentist fits a crown. :)

[krrrruptidsoless]

A known flat surface.
I've been in search of finding and making such a device.
After going through multiple squares and rulers that are anything but square or straight.
I have ended up with a taught chalk string.
Which shows straight but will not show warped.
I've bought metal and particle board which temperature warps both over time.
Sorry just gotta laugh at straightness. It evades me like an alcoholic or drug addict evades the police.
Straight, level and square.
Do these words actually exist in reality I keep wondering.
Or is everyone on earth playing tricks on me and just making squares and straightedges that are warped to their out of wackness, to fool everyone else.
"Liars"

[whirled_peas]

Here in the EU market for jointers (we call them planers) you don't seem to get any machines that DONT have a flush edge along the outfeed table, which makes this technique literally impossible. Fucking frustrating. Any way around this do you think?

[saywhaat]

"I'm a little bit high in the corner"...I hate when that happens

[woodwhisperer]

Couple things. First, a planer will only follow the flatness of the existing surface. So if there is a twist, the planer will not remove it. You need a flat reference surface to start with. Second thing is that jointers are not just used for edges. They are used to flatten both faces and edges prior to sending through the planer.