Art Greenberg wrote in
nk.net:



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.


Coupl'a thots: (a) I'm usually a shallow person too! Jointing and
planing - it's 1/32nd to 1/16th at most. (b) if I'm face jointing a board
with a bad cup/bow/warp - then I'll work it up to 1/8th. As another said
there are a half-dozen other factors to consider.

Also recall that you needn't face joint the board so the entire face is
getting cut - you can sometimes just face joint enuff to present a flat
face to the planer. You then let the planer do the work.

I also have found that I get much better results when I don't push down
hard on the outfeed table. For the initial cuts, I have firm, but not
heavy pressure down on the outfeed table and concentrate more on the
force required to slide the stock horizontally.

At least that's what's been working for me!