Can I get by without a jointer?

If you are buying 3S or 4S lumber, a TS with a good blade and a offset fence can do an excellent job of glue lines. Or, you can make a sled to cut a strait edge. But not much help is buying rough cut limber.

I wish I had the space and money for a big combo, but alas, I roll my 6 inch jointer into the corner and wil soon replace my Delta lunchbox with the DeWalt.

Can you get buy? Go visit a museum with antique furniture. We got along without any of these tools for several thousand years and for the last thousand or so, produced music/palace grade work. Power tools just make it easier.

“Can I get by without a ….?” answers will almost always be yes with a caveat of use this instead. I had no jointer for many years, but I also had a large cabinet saw with a solid fence. Between that and a router I got by without even knowing I was getting by. When I first got a jointer I also got a planer. The planer I used way more because I did not have a good way to thickness wood. Took me a bit before I really started using the jointer in combination with it. Fast forward to some projects that I was doing with some rather twisty reclaimed oak. When I started using the jointer first to get that good reference surface then moving to the planer and finally the table saw I got so much more consistent results by the time I was doing the final sizing that those steps were way faster. I would not go back to the old way now, but I also know I managed it before without the tools needed for that process. My advice, for a hobbyist, is start with the tools you need and get the best fit tool of that type for your situation. When you get through all the needs, then worry about improving efficiency. If you are doing this for a business that is not great advice.

My one exception, get a tracksaw if you use sheet goods. %100 not “needed” but your back will thank you.

I hope to make a set of winding sticks in the future to try my hand at dimensioning lumber by hand. If I keep my small shop it would free up a lot of room if I could part with my 6” jointer and DW735 planer. After all the trouble I had with Padauk getting stuck in the DW735 and not feeding smoothly I may not feel bad parting with it.

A jointer is one of those things I wish I had…. But, haven’t ever had the space for.

I use my table saw, planer, router, hand planes, whatever I can get away with to get the job done. We humans always seem to find a way to adapt, if we really want.

Someday I’ll have a jointer, and I know my work will get better, and probably faster.

-- John F. SoCal transplant, chewer uppper of good wood

Good table saw, good fence, sharp blades; and a thicknesser/planer, all I need. Magnetic digital angle finder thingy for precise blade adjustment is a handy thing to have also.

-- Wildwood by Brian Johns: The Big Bang: Nothing - exploded into Everything. Thanks to Nothing.

You can definitely get by without a jointer. I’ve been a hobby wood worker for over 40 years without one and have built all manner of things. I find that sharp planes do a great job without all the noise and dust.

-- Sawdust Maker

I’ve gotten by without one for nearly 30 years. I WISH I had one, but there are other things I need more and my shop is very small. I do have a No. 7 plane that works quite nicely as a jointer, it just takes a bit longer.

-- –Chuck M. Nutmegger by choice

Yeah, but why would you want to. Jointers need love too. Outside of a hatchet I can’t think of a woodworking tool that is so easy to live with, hardly any parts, they do what they do way better than the list of, or you could use a …....

-- Think safe, be safe

Massive number of existing threads on the topic of needing a jointer.
Please search forums so save us all the trouble of typing it again.
Thanks!

-- If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all, - Albert King - Born Under a Bad Sign released 1967

I do not have a jointer and would not consider getting one unless I needed to use it often. I’ve found a planer sled works very well and a table saw sled or equivalent works very well for straightening an edge.

I would think the table saw is actually faster. Clamp the wood cut done. No multiple passes and so on. You do need a saw and blade that makes good clean cuts. But if your table saw can’t make clean cuts, then I’d replace the saw before buying a jointer.

No question a planer sled is more time consuming to setup. But the results are great.

For me, I can’t see how I would get along without a planer, but have done just fine without a jointer. It’s very satisfying to work with rough lumber. And you can do that well with just a planer and sled.

For me, it would be nice to have a jointer if I had room for it. But my shop is small and I just wouldn’t make use of one often enough to justify having it in the way.

A DW 735 is a great planer. I wouldn’t invest in a Shelix head right from the get go. The stock knifes work just fine, though will dull faster. Just see how your usage of the planer goes. If it takes you years to wear out your knives, then stick with the just replacing those. If you wear out a set of knives quickly, then it would make sense to spend the money on the helical cutter.

-- Clin

If it’s just for edges you can get by with a table saw easily. The face though. It’s possible with a planer to make a sled to flatten a board but it’s a lot of bother if you’ve got a lot of them to do.
For edges though. When I have longer boards I put them on a piece of plywood with a couple of screws on the edge and use the straightness of the plywood to make that initial edge on the board. Very easy.

-- The smell of wood, coffee in the cup, the wife let's me do my thing, the lake is peaceful.

I got by without a jointer for years – until I got into the business of making large
pieces that needed to be edge glued to make a large slab.
then – I wondered how I got along withOUT a jointer for so long !!!
if you never had one – you don’t miss it. (too much).
if you had one – and it went away for some reason – you miss the heck out of it !!!
of course table saws have an advantage for some jointing. but, a jointer is just plain convenient.

.

-- there is no educational alternative to having a front row seat in the School of Hard Knocks. --

Sure you can, lot of guys do, I did for a long time . But, now that I’ve been using one for 30 years I’d recommend getting one.

Heck some guys even get by without at table saw.

-- Alaskan's for Global warming!

Yes and no. I dont, you’ll find it useful when you use it and you’ll find it eating space in the shop you wish you had for more important tools.

It’s different for everyone. If I wanted to spend a grand I’d get more out of a Domino…

Rough lumber-it’s pretty darn handy

Lumber semi dressed from Supplier-can easily be left off the menu

For me, Building is more fun/get more done buying lumber prepped. The way I look at it-my supplier has a 60hp planer and a 15hp straight line rip, and doesn’t really charge for the service. Why would I waste my money and time with “toys”? When they can do it in 20% of the time