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af_one,
I used to use my jointer - but I "upgraded" to a Lie Nielsen #6 Fore Plane,
which is absolutely incredible by the way.

There is this myth going around that you can't get as good a surface on a
power jointer as you can with a good jointer plane - this is simply not
true. The joined surface I had coming off my MiniMax jointer was as
perfect and as glass smooth as the surface I get with my Lie Nielsen after
it has been honed with a Takenoko 8000 grit waterstone. However, I will
say that most people have not set their power jointer up correctly enough
to achieve a perfect joint. It is very possible but each of the knives have
to be at the perfect height and the outfeed and infeed tables need to be
correctly aligned. Also, a power jointer is more difficult when you boards
have a bit of a bow to them. You can clamp them down when you use a
shooting board, which makes life much easier.

Overall, a hand plane gives me perfect results very quickly and its a very
fun process for me. But there is nothing wrong with using your jointer -
just make sure you tool is set up correctly, is very sharp, and your
technique/feedrate is good. However, I do think that most people will
have better success with a fine hand plane than with a power jointer.

Peace Out,
Simon

I'm with Simon on this one....I've experimented with a hand-plane vs. a power jointer...set up properly, and if the user passes the wood through the power jointer appropriately, it creates a beautiful joint in a couple of passes...I know microscopically the power jointer joint is supposed to be somewhat inferior, if so you couldn't prove it by me as they both seem equally strong and I've never had either fail.

Cheers,
Greg

_________________
Gwaltney Guitars

Up untill now (picking it up today that is) I've not had a plane long enough to shoot the edges. I've used my jack plane, working along the edge, marking out the high and low spots and jointing accordingly. Than I would use 400 grit on a level to make sure it was straight.

I've never liked using the sandpaper, although I've had no joints fail yet (knock on BRW) but I'm just fearfull that it will one day.

Now I've got me a #6 Stanley (Thanks again to the OLF swap meet and Bruce Dickey) that I plan on getting nice a true so that I can finally shoot the plates properly. I just feel that the edge will be that much better for gluing if there are no microscopic ridges for the glue to try and gap fill.

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I use a wooden jointer plane I made and a shooting board. Like Michael said, pressure on the front of the plane when starting the cut, shifting to the back of the plane as you finish. I usually do a slightly sprung joint - when you candle the joint it shows a very slight gap in the middle. You should be able to press the halves together by hand with only light pressure. This way when the two sides are glued toghther the ends of the joint will be tight - and the ends of an edge joint are almost always where they fail. Furniture makers have been doing this forever, and it works to keep joints in table tops and other things from opening up at the ends over the years.

                  Peace, Paul

rod, the no 5 jack is long enough to join plates. it is all i have used since the early days when i experimented with everything from a block plane to a #7 jointer.

i finally settled on the jack as it was, for me at least, the easiest with which to get a satisfactory joint.

[QUOTE=crazymanmichael]waddy, i just had a look in the techniques section and couldn't find the post describing the planing technique you described.



could you give a better pointer?[/QUOTE]

Michael:

Now I don't know where I saw that tutorial on shooting plates.  May have been on another site when I was searching for information, or hitting links.  But, it was there, bigger than life.  He was using a Bailey #26 - wood based plane.  It interested me, because I have one of those too.  Wish I had bookmarked the site.  It was definately by Serge, though.

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Waddy

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Strangely I was "just" rereading this part of Cumpianos section on soundboards this morning
and he states that sanding leaves very small uneven ridges in the faces of each joint, and hence the planing method is superior in his estimation.. in that it creates ridge free surfaces to mate together.
Im going to be planing mine over here, when I get gluing up.... in only a short time now
Cheers
Charliewood

[QUOTE=charliewood] Strangely I was "just" rereading this part of Cumpianos section on soundboards this morning
and he states that sanding leaves very small uneven ridges in the faces of each joint, and hence the planing method is superior in his estimation.. in that it creates ridge free surfaces to mate together.
Im going to be planing mine over here, when I get gluing up.... in only a short time now
Cheers
Charliewood[/QUOTE]

I could be wrong here but this may be a bigger issue for those using Hide glue that those using titebond as the spruce absorbs titebond more readily into the fiber. In either case really a smother joint would be a bit superior

Sorry Michael,

I meant block plane. For some reason my brain always wants to call a block plane a jack plane.

So know my post should make a little more sense.   

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"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

[QUOTE=paul harrell] I use a wooden jointer plane I made and a shooting board. Peace, Paul[/QUOTE]

I've seen these planes, and that shooting board. It is nothing short of pure art. Paul you should post some photos of it, and maybe a tutorial on how to make one of the shoot boards. It is awesome.

Bill

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Yeah Paul!  Show us how to shoot a joint correctly.  Some of us need to learn from a pro.  Particularly, that way of creating the very slight concavity to produce strong joint-ends.

_________________
Waddy

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Sound Clips of most of my guitars

[QUOTE=crazymanmichael]waddy, i just had a look in the techniques section and couldn't find the post describing the planing technique you described.



could you give a better pointer?[/QUOTE]

My fault!
It was on the Sound Salon site.  Sergei de Jong's pictures on shooting a joint.  Here

I'll try to be more careful.

_________________
Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Don't want to get too Zen here= the planerequires that the user have a feel for what is happening. There are usually places on a bookmatched pair of plates that will require more pressure or less. Done properly, a small error will not be a disaster because the bookmatch complements the angle. And, yes, if you angle plane on purpose there is more gluing surface-- though the center line may be offset by .01 mm(he giggles).mt