After developing the woodworking skills, most people consider adding a jointer and a planer to their toolkit. Both of these tools are great to have as they treat rough lumber in a similar fashion. However, they are not same in characteristics.
With that said, all big woodworking projects need a level of tolerances and exactness to line up ends of lumber. Besides, when you buy wood from retailers and suppliers, you will not get a straight or flat wood for working. In fact, the wood you will get will be twisted, warped, and cupped lumber. In truth, this kind of wood is unfavorable for making furniture.
So, let us have a peek at the major differences between a jointer and a planer. It will allow you to understand how both of these tools can help you in your woodworking project.
Jointer vs. Planer: The Major Differences
- Normally, a jointer is a tool used to make flat surfaces on a piece of wood’s faces and edges. The retailers and suppliers sold lumber in rectangle board shape. You can cut this piece of lumber and customize them to width, length, thickness.
Nevertheless, when you cut a big piece of wood to a favorable size, the surfaces remain uneven. In that case, a jointer can easily help you in this situation. It can make the edge and face of the wood straight, which is suitable for a woodworking project.
At first, you need to place the piece of wood on the infeed table through which the wood will pass over to steel cutting blades. After that, it will be pushed out the outfeed table. Until the side of the wood is smoothed out, this process will continue. Every side of the wood will be even and the surfaces will be flat. In truth, the lumber would be perfect for building furniture. - On the contrary, a planer will cut pieces of wood based on the level of thickness. A planer is an ancient handheld tool that has been used from medieval times. However, the modern day wood planer utilizes electricity and it works more efficiently than the older version.
Typically, a planer comes with a cutter head, which planes the surface of the board. In this tool, the wood will go down through one end of the planer and pass through the cutter, which is led by a guide wheel. When the piece of wood comes out from the planer, it will come out with a desired level of thickness. People use a planer to make parallel faces.
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How does a Jointer Work?
The jointer possesses an infeed and outfeed table. These tables remain in the same place in an aligned manner. Between the tables, a cutter head with knives is mounted. Besides, the cutting circle is kept associated with the outfeed table.
Now, the infeed table will be put down to a lower level to make it equal to the depth of the amount of wood you want to remove. Then you will pass a board across the running machine to remove the wood.
This will cut the portion of the board and support the outfeed table. Besides, a fence is used while flattening a face. It also works as a support for joining the edges of a board.
How does a Planer work?
A planer is utilized to make a board, which is flat and equally thick from end-to-end. Mechanically, a planer is more complex than a jointer. However, the functionality of a planer is simple. A planer has a flat board on the planer table or bed. This board is pushed in and the feed roller of the planer grabs it and pull through a rotating cutter head beyond the bed.
As a result, the planer is able to remove wood. The bed is kept from the cutter head by a particular distance. This distance is measured by thickness. All types of planer are limited in removing the wood with one pass. Therefore, you will need several passes to achieve the desired level of thickness.
To conclude, both the jointer and the planer can help you in polishing this kind of wood. Thus, they can make the wood straight or flat for building furniture.