On Wed, 21 Sep 2005 13:40:42 GMT, Art Greenberg
wrote:

I just had my first real opportunity to prep some rough stock yesterday. I
thought the conservative thing to do would be to set the jointer for very
shallow (about 1/32nd) cuts, and make as many passes as necessary to remove
all of the milling marks on the face of the board. I left the jointer set the
same way to do the edge of the board, once the face was flat.

The results seem OK, but after about a zillion passes, I started to wonder if
this was the proper strategy. Should I have used a more aggressive cut? What
are the factors that I should apply when making this decision?

Thanks.

I generally use aggressive cuts with a shallow final pass, both
jointer and planer. The small last cut gives a smooth surface.