For flattening a surface I have had good luck with a router sled / flattening jig, and a router bit of this type (plus some sanding with an orbital on P80 paper). I have not flatten yet long boards, but I guess all you need is a flat floor and a router base with fixed skids (It is on my to-do list for next month).
It takes much longer than a bench planer but it does the job.

 

Thanks. I've thought of that. I was hoping to avoid spending more time and money by buying a bit/router or building a new jig, but I may have to.

 

Jointing large boards without a jointer is a lot like fishing for river monsters with bamboo fishing pole that has line attached to the end.
Good Luck

 

Several years ago, I made a 5'x13' long & a 4'x10 Counter-top for a Resort Lodge. What I did was plan the boards to a desired thickness. Then placed them on saw-horses, matched the boards for appearance. Mark lines to mark edge matches. I used a hand plane and spoke shave to straighten the edges for jointing. I used pencil marks on the areas I needed to sneak-up to a straight edge. Constantly repeating the process. Laying the boards together to check for separation gaps. After the eye-balling the straightening each time. Once they looked like a good matching straight joint, I turned the lights off and used a flashlight to check if light was shining through the joints. Marked what needed more sneaking-up on. Kept repeating till no light shown through the joints. Ta-Dah, now ready for glue-up.

What you see below is jointing, results without a jointer
This is the 5'x13' countertop. Showing me using a card scraper, for final touches. The second picture is the 4'x10' countertop, that was installed just around the corner, in the same room.

This 4'x10' countertop

This is the 18' wall bench with no legs. Made for the same place

 

What I did was plan the boards to a desired thickness. Then placed them on saw-horses, matched the boards for appearance. Mark lines to mark edge matches. I used a hand plane and spoke shave to straighten the edges for jointing.

For edge jointing, there is a technique, called suriawase in japanese:
placing the two boards one against the other ans sawing between them,
repeat with a finer saw if necessary.
example see 2d and 3rd pictures.
traditionnaly made with hand saws but can be done with a circular saw:
" suriawase, the process Japanese boatbuilders use to fit parts of the boat together. This involves running a series of saws through the seam, using a very specific motion, to "reconcile" (one of the meanings of the word) the two edges and make a tight fit. Yesterday we watched as Murakami san laid the two halves of his planking on the horses and then reach for his circular saw and begin adjusting the depth of cut. I asked him, amazed, if he was getting ready to do suriawase and he chuckled and said, "Yeah." "
extracted from here

The joint might not be straight but there is a perfect mating.

 

That’s a interesting looking table Mr Wooden dreams. Does it have a hidden drawer coming out of the end? What kind of sorcery is this.
I also enjoy and encourage hand planes use they can be very accurate maybe even more accurate then machines sometimes.
Good Luck

 

It looks like the board shifted. I think you may need more wedges or playing cards to support the board. Also, I’ve seen people using sleds on their plainer and they used prodigious amounts of hot glue to help keep the boards from shifting. I don’t know if it works, I’ve just seen it done.

I was thinking that If the front (outfeed) roller pushes the board down before a wedge then the board will bend up into the cutter causing scallops after every wedge. Possible solutions are more wedges, less outfeed roller pressure, more infeed roller pressure.

 

That's one of the things I've learned as well. I use hot glue on the wedge supports. Combined with the wedge clamp, the boards are pretty solid and don't move around from what I can tell. That's why I'm so confused. I may have to just keep practicing until I figure it out. But boy, I'm getting more and more tempted to just throw down the money now for the big jointer I'm saving up for.

 

The sled looks backwards in that first image of @GLENNpm's original post. In the photo, the "fence" is at the rear of the sled. It doesn't work that way. With the fence in the back as shown, the planer's rollers can shift the workpiece forward on the sled. The workpiece may no longer align with the wedges and change its aspect to the cutters.

The fence should be at the front of the sled, the first part that goes into the planer. The workpiece should be against that fence, and you should push on the back of the workpiece, not the sled. Let the workpiece push against the fence to drive the workpiece and sled together into the planer. As the rollers engage and press down on the workpiece, you can prevent a pop-up that has never happened to me. Once the rollers are pushing on the workpiece, they will drive the workpiece and sled together through the planer. The workpiece should stay engaged against the fence the entire time.

Another comment I will make about the fence is that there is no side support for the workpiece near the fence. I prefer an "L" shaped fence so the workpiece is less likely to shift sideways.

Sometimes the workpiece is so bad that rollers stop grabbing in the middle of a pass. Never put your hands in a running planer. Either push or pull the combination, or stop the planer, raise it, and start over. If you push, push on the workpiece. If you pull, keep the workpiece engaged against the fence until the rollers grab again. Stand out of the line of fire with a running planer. Use common sense and good safety practices. (I point the outfeed over the lawn or at a cinderblock wall. So far, no firings ... yet.)

I am very reluctant to admit this, because it is probably considered unsafe, but I do not use glue often. I just make sure that the workpiece is rock solid stable with shims and wedges, so it can't shift or move any time, especially when the rollers are pressing down and driving the workpiece and sled through. I use woodturner's tape (a strong double tape) where needed, but not very often. You get better with practice.

Most of the time, I want to plane both faces of a board. All I need for that first pass on the sled is to get a sufficiently flat reference surface to plane the other side. It does not have to be perfect, just flat enough and not going to shift when it is on the planer bed to do the opposite side. Once the opposite side is flat and good, you can complete the planing on the first side without a sled.

Here is my KISS sled, a mere plywood board with a "L" shaped fence. The fence is clamped and glued. I did not use nails or screws, to eliminate the possibility of hitting metal with the planer's cutters. It stores easily. I have used it for years.

 

The sled looks backwards in that first image of @GLENNpm's original post. In the photo, the "fence" is at the rear of the sled. It doesn't work that way. With the fence in the back as shown, the planer's rollers can shift the workpiece forward on the sled. The workpiece may no longer align with the wedges and change its aspect to the cutters.

The fence should be at the front of the sled, the first part that goes into the planer. The workpiece should be against that fence, and you should push on the back of the workpiece, not the sled. Let the workpiece push against the fence to drive the workpiece and sled together into the planer. As the rollers engage and press down on the workpiece, you can prevent a pop-up that has never happened to me. Once the rollers are pushing on the workpiece, they will drive the workpiece and sled together through the planer. The workpiece should stay engaged against the fence the entire time.

Another comment I will make about the fence is that there is no side support for the workpiece near the fence. I prefer an "L" shaped fence so the workpiece is less likely to shift sideways.

Sometimes the workpiece is so bad that rollers stop grabbing in the middle of a pass. Never put your hands in a running planer. Either push or pull the combination, or stop the planer, raise it, and start over. If you push, push on the workpiece. If you pull, keep the workpiece engaged against the fence until the rollers grab again. Stand out of the line of fire with a running planer. Use common sense and good safety practices. (I point the outfeed over the lawn or at a cinderblock wall. So far, no firings ... yet.)

I am very reluctant to admit this, because it is probably considered unsafe, but I do not use glue often. I just make sure that the workpiece is rock solid stable with shims and wedges, so it can't shift or move any time, especially when the rollers are pressing down and driving the workpiece and sled through. I use woodturner's tape (a strong double tape) where needed, but not very often. You get better with practice.

Most of the time, I want to plane both faces of a board. All I need for that first pass on the sled is to get a sufficiently flat reference surface to plane the other side. It does not have to be perfect, just flat enough and not going to shift when it is on the planer bed to do the opposite side. Once the opposite side is flat and good, you can complete the planing on the first side without a sled.

Here is my KISS sled, a mere plywood board with a "L" shaped fence. The fence is clamped and glued. I did not use nails or screws, to eliminate the possibility of hitting metal with the planer's cutters. It stores easily. I have used it for years.

View attachment 3895521 View attachment 3895522

It's correct. I think you're looking at it backward. The first picture shows the sled about to go into the planer. The dark wood strip near the planer is the fixed fence. The light plywood in the foreground is essentially a wedge vise. I've got a wedge fixed to the sled and another one slid between that wedge and the board holding it in place. The board isn't moving. At my first attempt a while back, I did it backward as you suggested. But I figured that out pretty fast and it's correct now.

Making a bracket to hold the board in place at the fence is a good idea. I've been using hot glue which seems to be working fine, but I'm going to glue on an L bracket like yours to see if that helps.

I appreciate all the thoughtful advice. Unfortunately, I'm already doing most of it. Maybe I just need more practice. I know in the past, I really wanted to wedge my shims in tight and that would just raise the board, messing up accuracy. Maybe I've overcompensated in the other direction making it too lose now. I didn't think I was getting any movement, but I suppose it's possible.

 

You're right. I missed the dark wood fence at the front of the sled. Could it be too high? Are you raising the board with the wedges so that it clears the fence? The bulk of the board should be "flat" on the sled.

 

Yes, these were fairly decent boards to begin with. They need minimal shimming. The fences, front and back, are both about half the height of the wood being planed.

 

I've got a jointer but very seldom use it, I joint longer boards on my table saw and then take out the saw cuts with a jointer, jack or smoothing plane. I don't buy lumber from a sawmill because of 2 reasons. We've only got one close enough for me to drive to, and he charges more than what I can order almost ready to use from one of our vendors.

 

I use my table saw for edge jointing, but for the face? how?

 

While I tend to use a Jointer Plane..

There is a wooden version sitting up on top of my Plane Til..

22" long Sandusky, with a Barton iron and chip breaker...same size as a Stanley No.7...which is sitting on the 3rd shelf down....

But, since the OP is Swiss...maybe Sylvain can recommend a maker close by?

 

While I tend to use a Jointer Plane..
View attachment 3895544
There is a wooden version sitting up on top of my Plane Til..
View attachment 3895545
22" long Sandusky, with a Barton iron and chip breaker...same size as a Stanley No.7...which is sitting on the 3rd shelf down....

But, since the OP is Swiss...maybe Sylvain can recommend a maker close by?

Bandit you need all this just to joint a boards?

Your either A. Hand power tools or B..power tools or C.. buy it already straight edged.

 

I am a Hybrid Tool user...and there are such shops around...The Ash I buy NEEDS jointed, in order to make gap free panel glue ups..amongst other things...such as removing a ROUGH edge of a part,,

In order to allow a molding plane to do it's job a little better..

I also size the plane used to the size of the work being done...
Of course, there are some out there, that rely on others to give them a "Straight Edged" plank...
I much prefer to edge my own...that way I know it is straight and square to the face...

Some jobs...I can get by with a No. 4...and some just need Old Heft &Hubris to show the board who is Boss..Have used every sized plane from a block plane and a No. 3, all the way up to that No. 8c..all depends on the size of the work being done..so, yes..I do need a few planes on hand...extras of each size in case the one I am using at the time develops a problem...set that one aside, and grab it's "twin" that IS ready to work..

My Shop, My Rules...

 

“My Shop, My Rules...” That's the bottom line. There are a lot of hobby shops doing it this way for personal reasons..

 

I always understood a jointed edge is something only a jointer can do. It’s a flat face to a square edge. A planer isn’t a jointer or a table saw.
It been that way a long time.
See pics provided

 

I always understood a jointed edge is something only a jointer can do. It’s a flat face to a square edge. A planer isn’t a jointer or a table saw.
It been that way a long time.
See pics provided
(B&W old time images of jointers and tools)

True. A planer is not a jointer or a table saw.

The primary functions of a jointer are to:
(1) flatten one face
and
(2) to cut 90 degree straight edges using a flat face as a reference.
Notes:
Some jointers can make rabbets or beveled edges, but I would not consider them a jointer's primary functions.
If you flatten both faces of a board on a jointer, the faces may not be parallel to each other.

How I get by without a jointer?

• With the sled, my planer serves as a face jointer to flatten faces.
• With the sled, my table saw serves as an edge jointer.

Neither one is as fast or convenient as a true jointer, but it works for now. Someday the right jointer will come my way at the right price. In the meantime, I get by.

Terminology:

Jointer: In the US, most woodworkers call it a "jointer". Others may call the same tool a "jointer/planer" and a few call it a "planer". You will also see "jointer/planer" or "planer" in older documents from the US.

Planer: In the US, most woodworkers call it a "planer". Others may call the same tool a "planer/thicknesser" and a few call it a "thicknesser".

 

How to joint a face...hmmm...this is reported to do a decent job..

But..it IS only 24" long....

 

Nice write-up on using hot glue, sled, and planer:

J. Phil Thien's Planer Sled

 

This MDF jig could use some improvements, but this is what I use for face jointing large boards in the planer. I later modified it so I can use it as a router sled for flattening boards wider than my planer.