Mastering the Art of Lumber Milling Without a Jointer - A NO BS Guide

In this No BS Woodworking video, I'm going to show you how to mill lumber without a jointer. This is a skill that is essential for any woodworker, and it can be confusing if you're not careful. I'm going to teach you the basics of lumber milling, and then walk you through 8 ways to get perfect faces and edges you can use today in your shop. By the end of this video, you'll be milling lumber like a pro! So don't wait any longer, watch this video and learn how to mill lumber without a jointer!

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Products and Videos Discussed
*Spiral Router Bits in Depth - Ton of Super Slow Mo*
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Timestamps

No BS Milling Lumber Intro 0:00
What is Flat Square and Parallel and s4s Lumber 0:37
Faces vs Edges and What Order to Flatten Them 1:17
Flattening a Face with the Planer 2:02
Flattening a Face with a Sled 4:14
Flattening a Face with a Hand Plane 5:09
Jointing an Edge with a Router Table 6:36
Jointing with a Flush Trim Bit or Router Bushing 8:15
Edge Jointing with a Hand Plane 9:01
Edge Jointing on the Table Saw 10:08
NO BS Outro 11:05
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Check me out on social media:
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Tools I love:
*MY CNC MACHINES* (I highly recommend both)

[katzmosestools]

Products and Videos Discussed
*Support what we do* at KMTools.com
*Spiral Router Bits in Depth - Ton of Super Slow Mo*

[TedHopp]

Nice video. One minor point, though. You should run the planer sled through with the stop in front of the workpiece, not behind it. If you think about the forces involved as the planer pulls everything under the blade, having the stop at the back doesn't do anything at all. The only reason the workpiece didn't come off the sled is the hot glue and the fact that the friction between the workpiece and the sled is much higher than between the sled and the planer bed.

[partsdave]

Great video. Thanks for returning to YT. You’re my favorite Woodworking channel because you’re planned out, concise, instructional, thorough, without all the chitchat blah blah to lengthen the video.

[jlinker]

I would love to see some samples of doing this with longer boards. If you are milling up boards for a table top for instance, I know the concepts would be the same, but an 8' planer sled or jointer jig is never shown on these types of videos...

[naioti]

Good video. One additional method and my new favorite way to edge joint without the planer is to use a track saw… put the two boards you are trying to joint together, run the track saw right down the middle taking away a 1/16 of an inch off each. Only works if they are pretty straight to begin with but works great for a pre-glue edge

[farmterminator]

Great video as always, very helpful for hobbyists such as myself

[Control-Freak]

Great video! I have a small shop and did have a 6" jointer. I got into hand tool and Planes, when I figured them out I sold the jointer. I prefer winding sticks and planes over shimming the crap out of a board on a sled. I still have a 735 but always have to decide planer or plane. To each their own but with a rough board, I can be more efficient using a hand plane to roughly, or perfectly flatten one side and then run it thorough the planner or not. I am older and I have the time and need the exercise. I just love the mental gymnastics that woodworking requires.

[jkellyid]

Wow.

I'm formally trained in wood working and I'm impressed that your content is radically superior to most of my education.

You are doing exceptional work.

I keep thinking you showed me the last hack... And then you show me 3 more. Keep it up.

God bless.

[woodworkingnook]

Love the router table jointing tip. Great for small shops.

[lou]

It is such a pleasure to see you again. Missed all the fantastic learning tricks you bring to us wanting to become better woodworkers.

[CeeJayTheth]

The straight edge + flush trim bit is genius. It never crossed my mind.

[HarrisonFord]

Best part about having to work an early shift on Sunday. Haven’t even finished the video yet but I haven’t seen you put out any bad content. So thank you.

[Shannon-vr]

I’m just under a year into this and I really wish there were more videos stressing the advantages of a jointer. YouTube is my primary learning tool before practical application. I saw too many videos saying “no jointer, no problem” or some iteration of that sentiment. It’s too difficult to call anything the single biggest game changer as I was able to put together a pretty nice shop fairly quick. The jointer is right up there for sure. I primarily mill all my own lumber and my goodness, the jointer has revolutionized how and what I can do. I was blown away and couldn’t believe I had waited that long. A lot of people have said not to waste your time on a bench top version, I bought the Cutech 10in and for what i do, it has been an absolute dream. I’ve found I never really need anything over 4ft. I’ve jointed as long as 5ft on it

[RussThacher]

I've spent the last 7 months watching and studying your videos learning as much as I can so that I can start woodworking when I get home. I've been shopping for a used plane and jointer but I kind of want to try these methods out first. I got a few used hand planes before I left and never got to use them. I'm so excited to give them a try first even though it will take longer. Thanks again for sharing your wealth of knowledge with us.

[tyfg]

Would love to see a follow up with boards about 6ft in length where you are trying to get some long rails milled. While I have a jointer, it only has a 36" bed so edge jointing becomes tricky.

[garymiller]

Thanks for all the great tips Johnathan! I never take for granted the lumber I get is flat and square and you gave me some new ideas. 😊😊😊

[eitantal]

I still need the jointer table to get a super clean cut. I can't get such nice cuts with a tablesaw. This is critical for panel making

[cady.moriarty]

I work almost exclusively with a ros and trim router on my balcony, I cannot wait to pick up a slab flattening bit and the compact router table to speed up the process. Thanks for all of the help!

[terryt]

Great coverage of milling techniques for those of use without jointers or even planers. I've used these methods, but you offered some great advice for fine tuning the process. BTW, I've found that playing cards work as excellent shims for adjusting the offset of the intake versus outtake sides on the router fence when using it as a jointer.

[koonelos]

Very useful, thank you! I love the fast format!