How Much Will I Save If I Buy a Jointer and Planar?

[winlinmac]

How Much Will I Save If I Buy a Jointer and Planer?

I'm just entering the woodworking hobby as a beginner and have already invested in a few stationary power tools (i.e. Router and Router Table). However, I never conceived the idea of a Jointer and Planar until now. How Much Will I Save If I Buy a Jointer and Planer? I know there are different grades of wood, but as many of you know, woodworking can get pretty expensive in the long run, especially on the number of projects as well as quality of wood. I don't mind the lowest grade of wood, provided I can have it perfectly squared. I'm hoping that a Jointer and Planer will pay itself off down the line. Suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

[The Cobbler]

what kind of projects are you planning>?
I use thickness planer more than a jointer
not sure if it's a money saver, more the ability to do certain tasks

 

[winlinmac]

On a larger scale, I plan on building a workbench, mid-sized cabinets, bookcases, side tables, a TV console. On a larger scale, eventually something like a dining room table and bedframes as well.

I've taken measurements of the amount of wood I would need for such projects. A 4'x8' 3/4" MDF Plywood costs about $30 for one piece. Some of the stores have the S4S lumbar, but something as thin as strip of wood is running for $4-$5. I hear the S4S wood at big-box stores aren't truly S4S as they're exposed to the elements overtime, not climate-controlled, and eventually have higher chances of not being true-straight.

I got so ambitious at one point, I even thought about going really cheap and opting for Premium Kiln-Dried Whitewood Stud and Fir Wood (typically used in construction framing).

I mean overtime, its not only furniture I would be puting together, but smaller things as well.

what kind of projects are you planning>?
I use thickness planer more than a jointer
not sure if it's a money saver, more the ability to do certain tasks

 

[acer66]

Not sure about savings but an older craftsman etc 6” jointer is easily found way south of $200 around here and a friend lets me use his 12” cheap planer, $300 new iirc, which also does a decent job and I am using them quite a bit since I got used to use them.

 

[winlinmac]

I can probably see savings if someone was doing this as a day-to-day job. On the other hand, its just easier for me to go to the big-box stores as they are more accessible

Not sure about savings but an older craftsman etc 6” jointer is easily found way south of $200 around here and a friend lets me use his 12” cheap planer, $300 new iirc, which also does a decent job and I am using them quite a bit since I got used to use them.

 

[turbowoodworker]

Define your project needs.

Building a workbench may mean dimensional lumber, 2x4 etc.

Building furniture usually demands square lumber, square on all sides. You can only get that by paying the supplier to do it for you or by flattening one side, squaring one edge then surface planing to proper thickness. Then rip to width.

Having a jointer and planer will open up the world of wood and let you buy hardwood species from around the world. Maple, oak, mahogany, exotics typically only come as 5/4 rough needing milling before you start. So without power tools or hand planes, you have to pay the yard to do it. Or just use big box dimensional lumber, pine, hemlock.

It all depends on what you want to build.

Check out the Woodworking thread for inspiration but don't get intimidated. Just do what you like and learn.

 

[vhol5]

define your project needs.

Building a workbench may mean dimensional lumber, 2x4 etc.

Building furniture usually demands square lumber, square on all sides. You can only get that by paying the supplier to do it for you or by flattening one side, squaring one edge then surface planing to proper thickness. Then rip to width.

Having a jointer and planer will open up the world of wood and let you buy hardwood species from around the world. Maple, oak, mahogany, exotics typically only come as 5/4 rough needing milling before you start. So without power tools or hand planes, you have to pay the yard to do it. Or just use big box dimensional lumber, pine, hemlock.

It all depends on what you want to build.

Check out the woodworking thread for inspiration but don't get intimidated. Just do what you like and learn.

this^^^^^^^

 

[winlinmac]

Thank you turbowoodworker,

Just curious to know, how much would you expect something like this to cost without it being S4S?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Alexand...Wood-Pine-S4S-Moulding-0W256-20096C/205958717

Define your project needs.

Building a workbench may mean dimensional lumber, 2x4 etc.

Building furniture usually demands square lumber, square on all sides. You can only get that by paying the supplier to do it for you or by flattening one side, squaring one edge then surface planing to proper thickness. Then rip to width.

Having a jointer and planer will open up the world of wood and let you buy hardwood species from around the world. Maple, oak, mahogany, exotics typically only come as 5/4 rough needing milling before you start. So without power tools or hand planes, you have to pay the yard to do it. Or just use big box dimensional lumber, pine, hemlock.

It all depends on what you want to build.

Check out the Woodworking thread for inspiration but don't get intimidated. Just do what you like and learn.

 

[Voi]

I'm a recovering wood worker so I'm a bit out of the loop. But I have several thoughts on this.

1) If I could only choose one I'd choose a thickness planer over a jointer. If I had both I'd use the jointer more but the thickness planer is more versatile with the addition of sleds that allow face jointing or even edge jointing.

2) The bigger the planks you want to produce the bigger the equipment you'll need. Width and length of your desired boards will have the biggest effect on required equipment, assuming you don't want to do it with hand planes, etc. As others have said, try to identify what you want to build in the short and long term.

3) The whole large slab, live edge craze has affected wood pricing to some extent. It used to be a yet to be dried plank of log with the bark still on it was the cheap way to buy lumber. As a wood worker you'd let it dry and then mill it into boards. Now the darn slab is worth more.

4) Buying S4S wood is a great way to get into wood working. I can buy higher quality and less expensive S4S wood from our local cabinet supply shop than I can Menards. With more and more shops having those four sided planers/moulders there are more and more bosses willing to sell S4S stock at low margins in order to keep their machines running and their employees busy.

5) It's easy to convince yourself to start small with jointers and planers and upgrade as needed. But then you often have to upgrade dust collection as well. The dust collection issue was a big factor in my getting out of wood working.

 

[Voi]

Just curious to know, how much would you expect something like this to cost without it being S4S?

As milled, that is less than a board foot of pine, unless my mental math skills have eroded. My local cabinet supply store stocks a few species of milled pine. If I have time I'll swing in and check their board foot price.

I'm guessing it's way less than that.

 

[exmaxima1]

Not sure about savings but an older craftsman etc 6” jointer is easily found way south of $200 around here and a friend lets me use his 12” cheap planer, $300 new iirc, which also does a decent job and I am using them quite a bit since I got used to use them.

Please don't buy a vintage CM jointer. They don't have adjustable outfeed tables, and are really too short for good jointing. I wasted too many years of my life with those crappy jointers. Look for a Jet, Delta, Powermatic, or similar version with fully adjustable tables.

 

[turbowoodworker]

OK so a rough calculation. That board is (round numbers) 1/2 by 2 1/2 x 96 inches and they want $15.00 for it.

A finished board at those dimensions would be 1.33 board feet. Pine is under $2.00/ bd foot so say 2 bucks.

But if you used my typical supplier of 5/4 7/8 inch rough wood, you would start with 2.67 bd ft costing roughly 5 bucks and mill it to the finished dimensions. So there is waste and some leftover for other projects.

Again, my earlier point did not really answer question from op about saving money. Planers and jointers allow you to use woods you have never heard of. But this little exercise pointed out the big savings. Big box puts a name on a flat board (Alexandria) then jacks the price. They also limit you to a few types of wood in limited sizes...red oak, pine, knotty pine, engineered wood products and pressure treated. None of that is very good for furniture unless your building for the patio.

Want a real exercise. OP should find and visit a real wood store and see all the species available.

Hope this helps.
Rick

 

[3jakes]

A thickness planer will let you discover beautiful grain inside of old lumber,
I took ugly **** out of a barn & turned it into 12" tongue & groove planks on the walls of my kitchen.
Also used old 3" flooring ripped out of a warehouse & discovered tight quarter sawn that stained beautifully & ended up on a ceiling.
It's really loud & you need ear muffs for sure.

 

[thin_concrete]

I’m use my router or table saw for jointing until I can find and have room for a dedicated jointer. As far as planing, I do what I can by hand.

 

[JiminAZ]

turbowoodworker nailed it above.

Only thing I'd add is that if you are building furniture grade, and are gluing up tops or shelves or whatever, you'll want truly clean edges. You can pay all you want for S4S etc, but the edges and surfaces will get dinged in handling/transport, whatever. Plus thickness will not be consistent. I thickness plane all the stock in one setup. Then I run them through the joiner right before gluing up. Nice clean edges and if I dink it I can fix it on the spot.

So I agree with above folks that a thickness planer is also quite useful.

Before I had a joiner I had my table saw tuned up to the point that I had glue joint ready cuts coming off the table if everything went right in my feeding.

Even with all this you're going to be doing some planning and sanding on your glue-ups unless you invest in a really wide thickness planer or sander.

 

[toolmiser]

I can't see how anyone can tell you if you will save or not. Do you have a source for rough sawn lumber? How long will you be utilizing it? I bought mine because I wanted to get more into woodworking, I've also upgraded a couple times.

 

[thesilverone]

don't feed the troll

plus he spelled planer wrong

 

[bczygan]

Hobbies don't save money.....they spend it.

Bill

 

[Gotcha640]

How much has your table saw/screw driver/iPad saved you?

My neighbor had a sycamore come down about 15 years ago. We cut a 14 foot straight section out and took it to a sawmill. $400 got it generally cut up in boards we could move around. Stacked in the garage next to pine, walnut, oak, mulberry, all either self milled or bought from a mill rough, nothing over a dollar a foot. How much is a 4inx16inx12 foot piece from home depot?

That one tree has made 3 footlockers/blanket chests, 2 desks, several small bookshelves, 2 pairs of side tables, a headboard, a step stool, and easily a dozen picture frames. Local fine furniture shop has side tables and small chests and bedside tables starting around $1000. So did we save $9000?

If you have a truck or a trailer, you can grab a log off the curb, split it at home, let it dry a few years, and build some furniture. The jointer/planer will save you hours on the table saw and with the hand planing.

Once you have a big enough pile of interesting offcuts, you can flatten them with the jointer/planer, glue them together, and make cutting boards. I helped make about 50 for Christmas presents this year. There's no way you're doing those with a table saw. Etsy has them about $50 a piece. So did we save $2500?

 

[winlinmac]

I've been looking at these two Porter Cable models, one being a planer and other being a jointer

Time is definitely a factor here

 

[acer66]

Please don't buy a vintage CM jointer. They don't have adjustable outfeed tables, and are really too short for good jointing. I wasted too many years of my life with those crappy jointers. Look for a Jet, Delta, Powermatic, or similar version with fully adjustable tables.

******, off to CL I go.

 

[Tom Sestito]

You will save exactly $0. In fact you will spend more in getting power to the tools, dust collection, dollies to move them around, tooling to support you new toys.
You will definitely have some fun, make some cool projects and learn some stuff though - you should do it

 

[danwolfgang]

As others wrote, you'll save $0. IMO, those tools let you do other things. Personally, for a great many projects, I find 1" and 3/4" lumber to be grossly oversized. A large portion of my work is done with roughly 5/16" - 1/2" material.

 

[derosa]

I've been looking at these two Porter Cable models, one being a planer and other being a jointer

Time is definitely a factor here

Jointer is fine for a small hobbyist, lousy for larger projects. As for the planer I upgraded to a 13" jet from a lunchbox planer for one reason, noise, otherwise the 12.5-13" planers will do about the same quality job as the floor models.
Really I found a jointer and planer only saved me aggravation, though some money. My planer does moulding, redid my entire house with an 18th C replica trim in hardwood for about 1000 and a lot of extra time but all pieces were straight, untwisted and easy to work with.
When I first started woodworking I tried making a cutting board from HD oak and looked for the straightest, flattest pieces I could find, the results were expensive and ugly. Trying to glue up large or small pieces of dimensionally warped and unstable wood that is already too thin is just an annoyance. Buying 5/4 board, jointing it, squaring the edges, planing it flat and squaring the final edge doesn't really take that long and the resulting full 1" thick board is great. Can always make it thinner easily if I want, making boards thicker isn't as easy. Building a surface is better when the boards are square.

 

[ez-duzit]

I've been looking at these two Porter Cable models, one being a planer and other being a jointer...

You're not going to save any money by buying ****.

Start with a good used thickness plane.