Good point, Chris. Creating a bevel would be another concern of mine as
a newbie Neander. Maybe I could put some "training wheels" on my plane
(when I actually GET one) to keep it on the straight and narrow.

I think perhaps I should get the darn plane anyway and try my hand at
edge planing a 2 footer that has been run through the jointer and hold
it up to a jointed edge and see what it looks like. As some have said,
the smoother is the wrong tool to be using for that and if that turns
out to be my experience, I'll keep it for other things.

dave


Christopher wrote:

"Bay Area Dave" wrote in message
m...

Chris, you understand my dilemma exactly. If I get a smoother (sorry, I
had misspoken earlier when I referred to a block plane) as my first
quality plane (Veritas $160) I was wondering if I could smooth a power
jointed edge to perfection. The edge would already be flat, but the
object of further work would be to remove machining marks, as you noted.
Somebody understands me!

dave



My guess is that if you are very practiced with a handplane you could
improve the edge slightly. I've been practicing a lot lately and though I'm
getting better, I doubt I would actually improve the results provided by a
power jointer. It would probably be a bit smoother, but I'm not sure I
could maintain square without some kind of shooting board. I actually
disagree with Charlie Self below where he says a jointer plane would be
better than a smooth plane here. Being a newbie, I'll probably get eaten
alive for doing so but that's OK. I think that taking a shaving of even
thickness, down the entire length of the board, will maintain the same level
of flatness produced by the jointer. It's introducing an unwanted bevel I
would worry about rather than making the piece concave or convex.

-Chris