Use Your Router Table as a Jointer

[Music] when people ask me about tools to get for their shop when they're getting rolling router table for me is really really high on the list it's such a versatile addition to the shop because there's all sorts of stuff we can do on the router table of course the router can come off the router table be used handheld and in the world of Versatility one of the things that not everybody knows is we can use the router table as a jointer so let's talk a little bit about attributes of a jointer on a jointer there's an infy table a cutter and an outfeed table the infeed table is slightly below the cutter the outfeed table is offset and it's even with the cutter so on a router table here's what you got to have there needs to be a way to offset our outfeed fence so the outfeed fence is the one on this side the reason I'm pointing this out is this is a really cool setup with this Craig table this Rod will store here and there's another one just like it on the other side of the fence then when we don't use these the fence has our co- planer when we want a joint on the router table then we can slip this in and there are spots available there the spots to put it into are different sizes the differ size slots controls how much offset you're creating so you can take off more or less per pass depending on which slot you use what that Rod is doing is shimming the fence out consistently now there are a couple things I like about this one is if you've got a limited budget and you're not ready to buy a jointer yet this solves that problem we can Edge joint here on the router table even if you already have a jointer sometimes I joint on the router table because router bits currently unplugged spin at a very high RPM two flutes on the router bit so we're getting somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 44,000 Cuts per minute from this cutter that really high Cuts per minute number is something that'll give us a really good surface finish even in materials like Curly Maple which can have a tendency to chip when you're jointing them also because the router bit is carbide tip we can Edge joint pretty much anything man-made materials plexiglass if you have tool steel knives in a jointer you shouldn't be using your jointer for man-made materials to get this to work what we need to do is get the outfeed fence the one that we shimmed out in line with the router bit so I'm going to do that using a straight edge put that on the fence and what I'm looking for is when that bid is top dead center the cutter is at its maximum point in this direction align the fence now I'm going to lock it and then I'm going to spin the cutter and what I'm looking for is right there it's dragging on that ruler just a little B bit so I think my fence might be a little too far back micro adjust hand spin just kissing it right there might be the perfect spot let's get some dust collection some power some hearing protection and then we'll be ready for a test [Music] cut [Music] you got to love it when the cut quality is so good on that jointed Edge that it's got a little Sheen to it and you can really see the cool cool curl you can really see the curl in that Curly Maple now let's talk about that cut when you set this up one or three things are going to happen this cut cut perfectly on the first try that doesn't always happen for me one scenario would be I'm cutting no no no no and the board hits the outfeed side it bumps into it and it can't continue that tells you you're not taking enough Material off the fence is too far forward alternatively it cuts and when you get to the bit it Snipes So what that tells you is the fence is too far back and it's taken too much material off so let's just for the sake of you understanding what this part is I'm going to bring the fence a little bit forward see if we can simulate our two setups here right there it made a cut but it can't continue the sun is too far forward let's go the other way [Music] well you heard it at the end of the cut the board kind of fell into the cutter snipe is that little overcut right there that tells us the fence is too far back so a good idea is when you're first set up grab a piece of scrap and do some test cuts and symptomatically after the straight edge setup you can tell if this is cutting right or not and you can adjust accordingly end of the day Edge jointing stock like this the router table makes a great jointer and it's a great workaround if you don't have a joiner and it's a great technique to know about even if you do own a joiner

Channel: WoodWorkers Guild Of America

Views: 19,947

Keywords: woodworking tips, woodworking projects, wood project, wood tips, woodworking lesson, woodworking how to, woodworking diy, wood working, wood work, woodworking tutorials, woodworking videos, woodworking class

Id: Bun_EJ7QqhI

Length: 7min 2sec (422 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 26 2023