On Apr 7, 2:08*am, wrote:
I've been looking at jointers and planers for a home shop. *It seems that all of the commercially available jointers are 6" and the planers are about 12". *What's the point in having a planer twice as large?

I must be missing something obvious... *help a rookie out?

Thanks!

Theoretically jointers and planers serve two different purposes - but
not entirely.

- Primary purpose for a jointer is to edge plane boards to provide a
good straight glue-able edge - thus "jointer". But Jointers are also
used to plane one surface to obtain a flat face before it us run
through a planer (if you have one)

- Planers surface plane and provide parallel surfaces. They are also
very useful for smoothing boards that have been edge-glued.

The thing you need to keep in mind is when making large flat surfaces
for table tops, book case tops etc., where you are using lumber
instead of hardwood ply, you need to keep boards narrower. I often
cut nice, 10-12" wide boards into 5-6" strips so I can reverse the
growth rings and glue them back together. A nice, wide board looks
pretty until it starts to warp and cup - or even split because it is
restrained from cupping. Cutting into smaller strips and reversing
the growth rings slows this down. So, with that in mind, a 6" jointer
can surface plane one side of a ripped board and provide a joint-able
edge; then the 12-1/2 planer can surface plane the glued boards.

You can pay any price for "portable' surface planer but don't skimp
too much. I see some in the big box stores that don't even have
infeed and outfeed tables. Most of these are Ryobi equipment which is
a shame. Ryobi came out, during the 1990's with a couple of the best
suitcase planers ever built. their 10" and 12-1/4" inch machines
became almost legendary for quality, smoothness and durability. I
owned the latter for 15 years when I turned it over to the son and
upgraded in size. Apparently Ryobi adopted the Craftsman business
model because it has been down hill since the late 90's. Shop
carefully and use on-line reviews before you end up buying a bargain
that will frustrate you for as long as you own the machine.

RonB