Is it even worth jointing boards before glue-up anymore? I see guys skipping it left and right.

I was over at a buddy's shop last Tuesday helping him build a dining table. He's been at this for maybe 5 years, and he just slaps boards together out of the planer without jointing the edges. I told him he's going to get gaps, but he says the clamps will pull it closed. I've been doing this for 15 years in Pittsburgh, and I've seen too many joints open up 6 months later when the wood moves. On the other hand, I get that jointers take up floor space and not everyone has a big shop. What do you do when you're putting together a wide panel out of 2x6s or 4/4 stock? Do you always joint first, or have you had good luck just relying on a sharp blade and glue?

2 comments

2 Comments

rubyj111mo ago

Yeah I actually read something from a guy who restores old furniture, he said back in the day they didn't even have jointers but they'd hand plane every edge and check with a square. He said the real trick is making sure the boards are dead flat first, not just the edge. I tried that once with some construction grade pine, spent an hour flattening each board with a hand plane, and the joint still opened up because the wood was just too wet. Now I just joint it, no shortcuts.

claire9921mo ago

The clamps will pull it closed" - that's what my Uncle Larry said when he built a bookshelf in 2018 and now it looks like a zigzag puzzle lol. I had this one time where I tried using just a sharp blade and glue on some 4/4 walnut, figured it'd be fine since the jointer was buried under scrap. Six months later that panel had gaps you could slide a nickel through. Now I just run every edge through the jointer even if it means clearing off the bench for 20 minutes.