# Planing/jointing saw mill lumber



## mlrlangley24 (Dec 27, 2013)

For the first time I bought lumber from a guy that has his own saw mill. It is 4/4 Hard Maple and Red Oak. My question is how should I go about squaring the edges/faces? Do I use the planer right away or should the jointer be used first? I really need some experienced advice because I have a lot of money invested in this pile of wood. Please help! Thanks.


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

Hi Matt, the way I understand, is that you use the jointer first to get one side and one edge flat and square and then the planer to get the second side flat and parallel with the first side. The saw is then used to make the second edge flat and parallel to the first edge.

The planer and saw cut the lumber to final dimension.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

mlrlangley24 said:


> For the first time I bought lumber from a guy that has his own saw mill. It is 4/4 Hard Maple and Red Oak. My question is how should I go about squaring the edges/faces? Do I use the planer right away or should the jointer be used first? I really need some experienced advice because I have a lot of money invested in this pile of wood. Please help! Thanks.


plane 1st...
that is side that will ride against the jointer's fence...
you will also have a clearer view of how much needs doing to the edge..

now joiner a edge and then off to the TS.....


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

If the lumber was sawn with a band mill I would probably go Stick's method. If it was sawn with the old style 48"- 52" diameter head saw AND your planer has very short infeed and out feed tables (like some of the lunchbox style ones) then I would go with James' method. The old head saws could really wander in the cuts in hard/frozen woods. I've planed 1000s of board feet of lumber cut by both methods.


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

mlrlangley24 said:


> For the first time I bought lumber from a guy that has his own saw mill. It is 4/4 Hard Maple and Red Oak. My question is how should I go about squaring the edges/faces? Do I use the planer right away or should the jointer be used first? I really need some experienced advice because I have a lot of money invested in this pile of wood. Please help! Thanks.


Is the wood ready to be milled? I never bought it straight from the mill, but I have bought it from the lumber yard where they stock the 4/4 rough lumber that has been skip planed so you can see the grain of the wood.

I guess I am curious about the moisture content. If it was freshly sawed, I have heard where it needs to be stickered and allowed to dry for 1 year per inch of thickness.
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what I do...

I usually buy boards up to ten - twelve feet in length and 6 inches or less in width.
Depending on my project needs, I try to figure out a rough cut list so I can cross cut the boards into 4-6 foot lengths.

If the boards are bowed, I use my table saw ripping sled and rip one side straight.

Then I flatten one side on the jointer.

Then with that flat side against the fence, I run the straighten edge across the cutter. Now each board is flat on one side and one edge is flat and 90 deg to the flat side.

Next, I plane the boards to their final thickness. Note that I don't rip them on the table saw before planing because I will most likely be ripping and cutting different widths later.

When planing is complete, I will then turn to the final cutlist and start ripping and cross cutting my pieces. I might add that I usually leave the final length cross cuts until just before assembly so I can make sure I haven't made a mistake or measured wrong. It never hurts to be a little long. My shop doesn't have a board stretcher! 

Hope this helps.
That's my story and I am stickin' to it! :lol:
Mike


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Not taking sides here, just sayin...
The usually quoted rational for first *jointing* _one face first_ is that planing first simply makes the new finished surface parallel to the not-yet-planed or jointed face, with whatever faults exist now replicated. 
ie if the unplaned side has a twist/bow so now does the planed side...no real improvement.
I'm wondering if Stick has left something unsaid about his process?


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

DaninVan said:


> Not taking sides here, just sayin...
> The usually quoted rational for first *jointing* _one face first_ is that planing first simply makes the new finished surface parallel to the not-yet-planed or jointed face, with whatever faults exist now replicated.
> ie if the unplaned side has a twist/bow so now does the planed side...no real improvement.
> *I'm wondering if Stick has left something unsaid about his process*?


what could that be???

planing 1st shows you what you have... 
do sectionals to cull and jointing gets a lot easier...
less waste too...

because of the nature of the beast if you opt to use the router/straight edge/trim bit method the planed surface gives you a decent place to start...


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## 64 ford (Apr 21, 2013)

I'm with Stick- I plane first. All my lumber now I've had sawed on a band mill so it's much truer than the old rotary milled. I run the boards thru several times taking thin cuts. Take a couple , flip the board , take a couple etc. this always results in a nicely milled board for me. If a board has twisted, I put it on a carrier board and shim the two high corners between it and the carrier with a spot of hot glue or whatever works and run it thru in small passes. I then rough cut and joint the edges. This way I know that the face and edge will be exactly 90 degrees to each other. If I were to joint the edges first there is a possibility that when planned, it may not end up exactly perpendicular. As far as bows, I rough cut and run the straightest edge thru the jointer. Having a long bed jointer helps to get a straight edge easier.
Dennis


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

My quote..."ie if the unplaned side has a twist/bow so now does the planed side...no real improvement."
I should have been clearer and said 'if the unplaned _face_ etc etc...'


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## greenacres2 (Dec 23, 2011)

mlrlangley24 said:


> For the first time I bought lumber from a guy that has his own saw mill. It is 4/4 Hard Maple and Red Oak. My question is how should I go about squaring the edges/faces? Do I use the planer right away or should the jointer be used first? I really need some experienced advice because I have a lot of money invested in this pile of wood. Please help! Thanks.


As you can see from the responses so far, different techniques for different folks--none of them wrong. What's not been mentioned to this point is WHEN to process your stock (besides checking moisture content). Even if the moisture is correct, let the wood acclimate to your shop before beginning your milling. Also, the wood will move after you start jointing/planing/cutting. Because of this movement, i only mill what i need for a given project (plus some extra since there will be an error!!). If it's a small project, i run pretty close or dead on the finished dimensions if i'm using it in a day or two. For larger projects that will take weeks (i'm slow), i mill in two steps--first just to clean up, probably taking off about half of what's coming off. Then i wait a few days, at times as much as a week if that's the next time i have, then mill to finished size. 

I've got a pretty good stash of old cut cherry and white oak that stay pretty stable when milled. But i've got a bunch of poplar that is also about 25 years since rough cutting and that stuff tends to wander like a rabbit dog on a scent!! If you want to do some preliminary milling--you may want to consider "skip planing" so you can better see the grain and color of the pieces when picking for a project later. I keep meaning to do that but when i can get out to the shop i've usually got a project to work on so i'm rarely out in my "spare time". 

earl


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## Semipro (Mar 22, 2013)

Video
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G3YbasoBKpY


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

There have been times where the boards look nice straight from the yard. A light pass or two will reveal any unevenness. Then it is decision time - continue or move to the joiner.


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## mlrlangley24 (Dec 27, 2013)

Really appreciate all the advice! I didn't mention before but the wood is skip planed and kiln dried. After watching that video I really want to buy a jointer for myself instead of going to the base woodshop. Looks like it's pretty handy.


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## Jerry Bowen (Jun 25, 2011)

This is an interesting thread. I had never thought of what Stick brought up about making a light pass on the planer first to get a preview of what the character of the workpiece is going to be. This is sometimes more important than other times I suppose due the the project itself.

When buying straight from the sawmill and not having a straight edge to start with can be a problem, but there is a way to deal with that I saw in a video several years ago in which the workpiece was attached to a board that did have a straight edge. The boards were held together with double sided tape and the concept looked like it would work. I have never purchased lumber from other than one lumber yard but at that yard I do have them cut one straight edge so that I have an edge to start with and I suspect that this is normal at most lumber yards. There is a small cost to the extra service but to me it is worth it.

I do have a question that fits into this thread I think and it has to do with the fact that my jointer is only a six inch machine. I am coming to the conclusion that if I purchase lumber wider that six inches that I'm probably going to end up wasting material. I should say that I'm more likely to waste material, it does depend on the project of course.

But, even if I had an eight inch jointer, many projects would require several workpieces to be joined together. I'm just wondering if others deal with this when selecting lumber in their attempt to keep the waste to a miminum.

Where I buy my lumber the lumber has not been "skip planed" so I never know what the grain is going to look like until I begin to mill it, is this normal or can a person with more experience look at a piece of rough cut lumber and get a pretty good idea of what the grain is going to look like. Right now, I just look for splits and knots and take my chances which is less that a good approach in selecting material. I could purchase considerably more material than a project requires and then pick and choose after doing what Stick suggested, but then I'd end up with a lot of material that just real plain looking and have a lot of waste. So far, I've not been able to afford that luxury and have just gone with I what I have and while that has not been a big deal, it would be nice if one could be bit more choosy at the lumber yard.

Jerry B.


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## greenacres2 (Dec 23, 2011)

Jerry--this little jig will straight line and taper. Not nearly as nice as Mike's, but functional.

As far as picking lumber grain, i tend to like it all but do try to match grain and color to the extent possible. Fortunately, much of what i use came from trees harvested in the same woods, at the same time. Some of the walnut i got last fall was even still in flitches after 20 years of air drying. I'm blessed to have found a few folks with bandsaw mills who love to harvest trees, as long as i don't want anything other than walnut, red or white oak, elm, red cedar, black walnut--i can get local stock pretty cheaply. 

I can't speak for the rest of the country, but small "hobby" mills can be a great value and a treasure trove if you are a regular!!

earl


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## gomolajoe (Apr 23, 2011)

Earl,
Your jig is multifunctional, inexpensive and appears easy to build.
+1


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## Barry747 (Jun 16, 2011)

In addition to what everyone else has said, sometimes make a light "squiggly" pencil line on the side or edge that i'm running through the jointer. Taking light passes I know when the board is flat when the line disappears.


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