Sell me on the SS jointer

[algale]

Alan,

Thanks. Yes, you are right and that is why I was saying above that there are many ways to do woodworking. All dependent on the tools one has and your skills. I need to try to make a decent planer sled for face jointing boards, but my challenge is the Shopsmith Planer which only has a 4" capacity. There are different designs for planer sleds, but the ones I really want to use require much more height than the 4" height restriction allows (assuming 8/4 lumber for jointing). Also, I am usually jointing longer boards, so I'd want at least a 6' planer sled and want it to be as close to dead flat as possible, so perhaps a 3/4" Baltic Birch base for example...or at least that is what I have in mind for one day.

The solution might be a lunchbox planer that has a 6" or greater capacity like the DeWalt planers. Cheaper, lighter, smaller than a big 12" inch jointer for sure.

[RFGuy]

The solution might be a lunchbox planer that has a 6" or greater capacity like the DeWalt planers. Cheaper, lighter, smaller than a big 12" inch jointer for sure.

Alan,

Yeah, I know and you are exactly right. I almost shipped my FIL's DeWalt planer here, but it just wasn't cost effective to ship vs. estate sale it. That and the fact that I paid $$$ for my Shopsmith planer new from Shopsmith makes it difficult for me stop using it. I do really like using it, even though it is a beast to lift on/off the waytubes. Like I have said many times on the forum, there are aspects to my Shopsmith tools that I love, even though I tend to complain about the few things I don't like here. My dilemma is to continue to use my Shopsmith planer and try to get an 8" jointer that I can squeeze in somewhere (NOT easy in my shop), or go the planer sled method and get a DeWalt lunchbox planer. Decisions, decisions, decisions...

With infinite time, I would just perfect my hand tool skills and hand plane and joint all lumber.

[jsburger]

If you are considering an 8" jointer why not buy a power stand for the SS planer and use a sled with it. The SS planer on a stand will take up a lot less space than an 8" jointer.

I have the SS Pro Planer here and I wouldn't trade it for anything except probably a 15" Powermatic or such but I have not had a need for anything bigger than 12".

[RFGuy]

If you are considering an 8" jointer why not buy a power stand for the SS planer and use a sled with it. The SS planer on a stand will take up a lot less space than an 8" jointer.

I have the SS Pro Planer here and I wouldn't trade it for anything except probably a 15" Powermatic or such but I have not had a need for anything bigger than 12".

John,

Thanks. I agree and I don't have a problem with mounting/unmounting the planer on the waytubes. The issue, and maybe I am more concerned with it than is necessary, is about height clearance in the Shopsmith planer. The planer sled designs I have seen for face jointing tend to take up good space in the vertical dimension when you factor in the bottom of the sled, whatever shim/wedge mechanism is used to compensate for board bow/twist and then the board itself. I have been using a lot of 8/4 stock in recent years as a starting point on projects. Factoring in the 2" or more of my lumber, a 3/4" Baltic Birch base for the sled and the adjustment mechanism doesn't give a lot of leeway if the board has more than a little bow/twist to remove. There are some sled designs that are more compact and I could relax my 3/4" base requirement, but I like the idea of a thick, solid, flat base for this because my intent is to use it for face jointing. Kind of defeats the purpose if I compromise on the sled base for flatness, I think. Last time I researched it and was about to start prototyping a sled, I backed off so I could noodle on it some more. Maybe I am overthinking the height constraint. It is close with the Shopsmith planer and may fit fine most of the time, but then again I don't want to get a jam in it either, because I really like my Shopsmith planer! Hence my caution. Thanks again.

[BuckeyeDennis]

Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.

My 4” Shopsmith jointer works fine for most of my projects.

Exception #1: Really long boards.
Solution #1: Precisely aligned infeed and outfeed roller stands. This requires a good straightedge and a little bit of patience.

Exception #2: Wide boards.
Solution #2: A ridiculousy simple Thein planer sled. Seriously, all it takes is a melamine shelf or the like, some painter’s tape, and a hot-glue gun. The investments of time and money are both negligible, and the results are fantastic. Bonus: You can still flatten stock up to 3” x 12” wide in a SS planer.

Do I still want an 8” long-bed jointer? Of course I do! But so far, I haven’t been able to justify the cash and space costs.

[jsburger]

The Thein planer sled is what I envisioned. With a 4" height on the SS planer, a 3/4" sled and 8/4 stock you still have 1 1/4" to spare. If I had a piece of 8/4 stock twisted more than 1 1/4" I would probably relegate it to the wood stove.

The other thing is cutting stock to rough length. That should be the first thing done when milling stock for a project. That greatly reduces the twist that needs to be milled out.

[JPG]

Seems to me a 1/4" plywood/underlayment/masonite base to glue/shim a board to would work with minimal height reduction.

Trick is to glue it while the 'base' is flat on something known to be flat.

No I ain't tried it!

[RFGuy]

Dennis, John, JPG,

Thanks guys. Well, I didn't meticulously build a Thein planer sled, but I did make a 1st attempt at it a few years ago when this topic came up on the forum last. Around the same time that it was discussed here, I also saw a Jonathan-Katz Moses video online. He did a slightly different variation on the Thein sled where instead of hot glue, he used drywall joint compound to level the board on top of it. I really like JK Moses educational style and he appears to be a solid, old school type woodworker so I gave it a go. Admitting this was likely all "user error", i.e. I messed it up. I did attempt a Thein Sled, but of the JK Moses variety. I had some 1/2" MDF sheet leftover here so I attempted it with joint compound on top of it with a section of 8/4 cherry that was particularly twisty in about a 3' length. From what I remember, it didn't go well. I took small passes and at one point it jammed in the planer. I abandoned my efforts to regroup and haven't come back to it yet. I didn't get around to going out and getting double sided tape and building a Mark 2 (pun) - 2nd attempt at it with hot glue. I am really not a fan of either approach because they are messy, but if it works well it would give me capability in the shop that I don't have today, so I guess I shouldn't complain. I just have never liked hot glue on any project for anything, which is why the only hot glue gun is in my wife's craft closet in the house. Not trying to complain, but just explaining why I haven't tried it yet. What I always wanted to build was a planer sled more akin to the ShopNotes variety (see link below):

https://www.shopnoteslibrary.com/view/issue/137/#page=1

I have seen some different variants of the Shop Notes variety planer sled and I was hoping to perhaps engineer and build a lower height version of it. Of course, weight is something to keep in mind with it as well. In contrast the Thein sled is simple and elegant in comparison. IF I can get over my dislike of using hot glue, it is most likely the better solution. I still dream of having a dedicated, larger width jointer, but that may never happen. Definitely better for my small shop layout if I don't get one. Thanks guys and let me know if you have any more feedback. Always appreciated.

[BuckeyeDennis]

You really ought to give the real Thein sled technique a try, RFGuy. Thein himself explains it best, in the link I posted earlier. There’s no double-sided tape required — just ordinary wide painter’s tape.

Like you, when I first heard of the technique, the only hot glue gun in my house was a small one that my wife uses for crafts. I quickly concluded that it didn’t have enough glue-melting capacity for any but the smallest planer-sled jobs. So I researched glue guns, and decided on this Surebonder gun. Ten years later, I’d still buy it again.

Actually making the “sandwich” couldn’t be much easier. The only time-consuming part is waiting for the glue gun to heat up. I try to remember to turn it on first, so that it can be heating while I lay down the tape strips. If you’re doing more than one board, even this is a non-problem after the first one.

As for any “mess”, I keep a paper towel under the glue gun to catch any drips while it’s heating or at rest. And with wide tape, it’s no problem to keep the glue blobs entirely on the tape. When you’re done, just throw away the tape strips and the paper towel, and all traces of hot glue are gone.

[algale]

Interesting video of the drywall compound technique. Theoretically, the drywall compounds provides better support all over the board but doubt 100% support necessary. The Thein method looks a lot less messy to me and I would guess that putting a third strip of painter's tape up the center of the sled and the center of the board would take care of any issues with planing thin stock.