Jointer or Planer

[Hojo]

Thinking about a Christmas gift for myself....  

I'd like to be able to create some flat thin lumber for backings and lams.  Will a jointer or planer work well for this purpose?  If so, and you could only get one or the other, which would you choose?  

Or would you buy an altogether different tool for this?

Thanks, howard

[No-sage]

A planer will do better than the jointer, and it's safer.

I use a thickness sander for the job you're looking to do though.

I have both and use neither very much at all for bowmaking.

[Trux Turning]

I'd get a sander for making lams- with really thin materials- the jointer is libel to cause some real damage. The planer will work for 1/4 inch stuff or thicker.

[Ricky Wallace]

DONT USE A JOINER!!!!!!  Go back a few post and see the one where I cut the end of my finger OFF doing trying to do just that!!            Sander,sander,sander

[Diamondback59]

get a good drum sander/  thickness sander but i perfer a jet 18-32 drum sander  brock

[bjansen]

I 4th the drum sander.  If you can find a Performax 10-20 they are great!

[jsweka]

A bandsaw to resaw lumber and a drum sander to get them to the desired thickness is the way I'd go.

[Ranger44]

The two tools are for different purposes.

A jointer is best used to give you a flat edge and then a face that is 90* to that edge.

A planer will then give you a second flat face parallel to the first face.

Then there is the drum sander that is essentially a planer that can take off far less material in one pass than a planer will.

A perfect shop will have all but many wood workers do not have all of those tools at the start or sometimes ever.

I agree that a drum sander would be the best tool to make flat thin lams.  Usually the thickness is so thin that a perpendicular edge doesn't make much difference.

[JamesV]

My planer is the best tool in my shop. A must. I cut my lams and tapers with the planer. I do have a thickness sander I built from one of the build-alongs I found on this site and it also works great, just don't use it much.

[stinger2]

jamesV, can you give me a link or let me know where you found a build along for a thickness sander on this site?

[Andy Cooper]

Do thickness sanders also do tapers?

[Trux Turning]

Originally posted by Andy Cooper:
Do thickness sanders also do tapers?

Yes- you just need to build a sled for the taper you are wanting.

[fujimo]

jamesv,
what brand and size of planer do you use, and what would you reccomend. i would like to buy a planer, for some bow projects and other projects,as i mostly build self bows.
thanks
wayne

[White Oak]

I myself would not buy a planer if I didn't intend to buy a jointer at some point if you are working with raw lumber. One machine complements the other with the jointer usually being the first stop.The thickness sander may be a better option for ya but depending on what you want to do you can still have problems if you can't establish one flat side.
Take care,
          Ed  

[fujimo]

i have a jointer setup- was looking for brand and size reccomendations on an affordable planer
thanks
wayne

[NTD]

I bought a used bench top jointer and right now it's absolutely useless because I can't get the blades set correctly...

Now I wish I had just saved my pennies and got a thickness sander...

[JamesV]

Wayne.........

I use a Delta planer 12.5 inch. Use a sled and you can cut tapers with the planer. If they need a little touch-up I use a hand-held orbital sander. My planer has two knives that are reversble. replacement blades are easy to install and cost about $25 at Lowes. I think this planer sells new for about $259

Stinger2..............

Do a search on PowPow for a thickness sander build-along. Can't find the one I used but it was built using my Ridgid OBS as the power source without modifying the sander. Works good but a little underpowered.

[Hojo]

JamesV -- do you also use a sled when doing 1/8" (parallel) backings, for example, or does your planer allow you to do them that thin on its own?

The drum sander sounds to be the most useful for bow making and I'm leaning that way.  However, I'm still considering a planer for its usefulness in other woodworking projects I might do.

Thanks for all the input.  I appreciate all of your opinions on this!

[JamesV]

I clamp a short piece of 2X6 on the tray of the planner and you can cut to Zero

[7 Lakes]

For any kind of thickness work you can't beat a drum sander.  That includes tapered laminations.  Performax builds a pretty nice sander at a reasonable price.