Trent© wrote:

On Wed, 12 Nov 2003 17:05:21 GMT, Bay Area Dave wrote:

I was thinking about the difference between a jointer (powered) and a
plane. A jointer has the outfeed table level with the blade so that as
the work passes over the blade and onto the outfeed table, if the
operator uses good technique to keep the board flat on the outfeed
table, the board pretty much has to come out FLAT.

Yes...flat. Not SQUARE, mind you...but flat.
Why not? Are you assuming use of a jointer without a fence, or with a
fence not square to the tables?

What do you mean by 'straight'? Do you mean flat? Sure you can. The
front and rear are on the same plane...its the cutting blade that
projects below that plane...that does the cutting.

You start by running the front of the plane...the blade finally
contacts the work and starts cutting...the rear of the plane follows.

When you finally get done, the surface will be flat...but NOT
necessarily square.
See Gorman's post. It will be VERY slightly concave.

The key to getting the proper result is the WASTE...along with the
eyeballing. If it looks good...and then you run it thru one more time
and you get waste from the front to the back...it's flat. This is
true with any tool you use.

But maybe ONLY flat. That doesn't guarantee that there isn't a bevel
in it. That doesn't guarantee that it's square.
Again, assuming your fence is not square.

That's why I like my router table. My bit is square to the table.
When I run it thru, its automatically square...and also flat when I
get done.
And my jointer's cutter is square to the fence -- same result.

This would be extremely difficult to do with a plane on
very thin stock...1/4" and less, let's say.
Easy. Shooting board.

It'd be hard to plane
that...free standing... without tilting the plane to one side.
Very true.


And, don't forget...a plane is but one way to get the job done.
There's a lot of other tools...or combination of tools...that can do
the same job as the plane.
Yes, and some jobs better and some not as well.


I've said it before...got flamed...but I'll say it again...

A plane's primary job...except for specialized planes...is simply to
remove huge areas of waste quickly...back when no other tools did the
job as easily. Even then, there were other tools that could do the
same job.
Interesting. I wonder why we see other than scrub planes on the old
tool market. I guess the rest were just used for decoration...

What you're attempting to do is not the job of a plane. If yer tryin'
to take off thousandths, you should consider sandpaper.
Unless you prefer the surface left by a plane.


--
Alex
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