# can I use a table saw in place of a jointer?



## SlowSteve (12 Jan 2015)

Hello all,

If I carefully select the blade, and very carefully true up the saw as a whole, is it feasible to get a good enough cut for gluing panels without a jointer?

Are there any jigs etc that could be used to further improve the quality of the cut over just using the fence?

I am currently pretty space limited, and I can't justify the space a jointer will take up. I am seriously considering mounting a power plane upside down and somehow using that in the future.


Steve


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## paulrockliffe (12 Jan 2015)

There'll be people that know better than me, but I'd think you could achieve a decent result, if not perfect.

Long-term you'd be better with a router in a table for jointing than a plane. Not sure what the longest cuter you can get for a router, but you'll comfortably do a 2 inch board that way. You just need to step the fence with a wing each side, with the outfeed wing being spaced out a fraction with washers. Setup so that the outfeed is coplanar with the cutting edge and away you go.


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## paulm (12 Jan 2015)

You could use a hand plane Steve 

Cheers, Paul


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## Ghengis (12 Jan 2015)

Youtube issey swan, i'm sure he's done it.


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## marcros (12 Jan 2015)

I you may get away with it, but a quick swipe with a number 7 would make a better job of it.


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## Ed Bray (12 Jan 2015)

I used to do it a lot. It works fine, use a fine toothed blade, set the gullets of the blade level with the top of the piece, take a very light cuts less than 0.5mm. The better the saw and the fence the better the finish, but certainly good enough for joining.


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## alan895 (12 Jan 2015)

Would a table saw jointing sled be any good to you? I made one which doubles as a tapering jig for leg blanks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrYjc3G1vgo


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## blackrodd (12 Jan 2015)

Ed Bray":1v73sagn said:


> I used to do it a lot. It works fine, use a fine toothed blade, set the gullets of the blade level with the top of the piece, take a very light cuts less than 0.5mm. The better the saw and the fence the better the finish, but certainly good enough for joining.



If the edge is clean, parallel and square, then I don't see why not. 
Not having the "case hardening" effect of planer knives, may well be an excellent idea.
Regards Rodders


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## sploo (12 Jan 2015)

Steve - this might do what you need: edge-trimming-jig-for-the-router-table-t86197.html

I made it to smooth up the sides of a cutting board, but it did occur to me that it might do a reasonable job of "jointing" the edges of boards. Roughly 50mm max depth of cut, but obviously depends on the length of the router bit.


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## custard (14 Feb 2015)

Steve, it sounds like you're not confident in your hand tool skills and are trying to substitute power tools and machinery. Jointing by hand is frustrating and awkward when you first start, but a couple of days of serious application, or less with some quality tuition, will see the skill mastered once and for all. I've got an industrial quality planer/thicknesser and table saw, but for fine furniture all jointing is done by hand with a No 7 plane, the results are just better.

Furthermore, if space and budget are tight then the power tools and machinery you're talking about are unlikely to ever give you consistently high quality results. You might be better thinking about a bandsaw and a "lunch box" thicknesser to handle the two most gruelling woodworking tasks (ripping and thickening to dimension) and doing pretty much everything else by hand. 

Another option is that you can make and use a shooting board to edge joint even quite long pieces, it's slower but removes a lot of the skill from the job. I always shoot veneers and drawer bottoms, because they're too thin for traditional jointing, and they can be quite large workpieces.

Good luck!


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## woodfarmer (14 Feb 2015)

Oddly enough I "jointed" some short lengths of 3x2 to make a bowl blank today. 

Just put them in a 3 jaw chuck on The Holbrook and faced them off.

I did have to grind a tool with the right angles to slice cleanly.

Now sitting quietly in the kitchen waiting for the Cascamite to set.

My first "glued up wood" for a bowl.


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