Thread: Planer or jointer..which way to go?

The first question is what are you trying to achieve? A jointer is designed to make a true "flat" surface, i.e. to remove any curve, and then to make another true flat surface at 90degrees to the first one. A planer (which I'm assuming is what I call a "thicknesser") is designed to take a piece of wood with a true flat side, and remove material on the opposite side (in multiple passes) to create a piece of known thickness with flat, parallel sides.

If you feed a curved piece of timber through a thicknesser, multiple times and on both sides, you'll get a piece of known constant thickness, but it might be shaped like a banana, or an "S" (in either or both planes) if the first ("reference") surface wasn't flat and true. The machine simply duplicates whatever the reference side does!

If you feed a curved piece of timber over a jointer on opposite sides, you'll get flat sides but it might be shaped like "V" or a ">" or both! In theory you can work your way around all 4 sides using a jointer, and if every pass was perfectly 90degrees to the previous side it should end up all square and true, but this is very hard to achieve because any error is multiplied on every side. It's even harder on planks (rather than square sections) because the third cut (i.e. the second "face") only uses the edge, which is very narrow, as a reference. Supporting the plank to get a good second face cut using the edge as a reference is tough to do!

So, if you want flat, parallel sides and constant thickness then really you need both machines. And a metal detector to find any nails, and spare blades/cutters in case you hit a nail anyway!

However, if these boards are going back to the deck, do you really need that degree of accuracy? Perhaps a sander might be all that is needed? Or, and I've done this myself, a panel saw? We did a deck rebuild many years ago, used a jig to rip 1/4" off both sides (edges) of the boards to get straight and true sides, then ran them though a drum sander..... Or, if the timber is sound and straight and it's just an issue of appearance, another option is to sink the fasteners below the surface and sand in-situ with a rotary floor sander - cheapest and easiest for a house flip!

The Jointer is as good a way as thought. It will clean all sides keeping the material square if the machine obviously has the capacity to do so.

It really depends on what you want to do with the finished boards.
I did a similar thing with the boards from my front veranda by putting them through a thicknesser but they weren’t 11’ long. I used them to make a table top. The small amount of warp was easily countered for with fastening. If it’s 11’ long and warped, you will most likely end up with a very thin piece of timber if you try to get it dead square and flat using a jointer with that sort of length. You would be better cutting it into smaller lengths but, as I said, it will depend on what you wish to do with the timber.

Trying to jointing 11' boards is asking to be left with nothing but shavings.

Highly recommend determining what you're planning on using them for cutting it down to roughly the size you're after and jointing/thicknessing. you'll get a much better result and less timber would be removed.

If you must do it, a sled and a thicknesser is the way to go.

What are you trying to achieve? Are you rehabilitating the decking or reclaiming it to use for something else? If you're just trying to spruce up the decking would it be possible to hire a floor sander and just deal with it in situ?

The jointer is the wrong way to go! Sorry lads.

What you want is a board with parallel upper- and lower sides. The boards will be laid on battens, and unless they are parallel, the top side will not be even. The boards all need to be thicknessed (planed) to the same thickness. In other words, you need a thicknesser (as it is called in Australia) or a planer (as per USA).

The sides are not important, unless they are extremely wavy. Long boards can be pulled straight/ into alignment.

Regards from Perth

Derek

I agree with Derek.

If the edges need a clean up do it with a hand held plane without worrying about straightening. Again, as Derek said, these can be pulled back straight when you come to lay them. However I note that you are starting with quite thick and wide boards and even in Redwood you may need a mechanical device to straighten them as they are fixed to the joists. Also bear in mind that if you reduce the width of each board you will not have quite enough material to cover the deck when it is replaced.

Consequently I would only treat the edges (which are not that visible normally) if I absolutely had to.

I have never worked with redwood, but my understanding is that it is brittle so some care would need to be exercised when initially lifting the boards to minimise damage. The boards are thick so it may not be too much of an issue.

Regards
Paul

PS: Redwood here in Oz is prohibitively expensive so maybe we do not have too much experience with it, but it would certainly be easy work for a thicknesser (planer).

Thicknesser is the go, just a cheap benchtop one would be fine for cleaning up decking .

Unless you are intent on pursuing the wood machine of your choice which was your question here,there is of course another option in that perhaps you could get your lumber off of your deck put through a machine shop happen one was handy .

Smaller benchtop thickness planers can usually handle boards 6" thick. So you would be able to machine all four faces of the 6x2"s by running the boards through on edge first (while the boards are thicker), then machining the faces down. That would only leave the 2x8"s to deal with, which you could then use your manual planer and sander for those edges. Running boards through a thickness planer is the lazy way. Pick em up, shove em through, wait, take em out. Running boards over a jointer, although faster, is actual work.

Aeros

I think we may be making this seem like a difficult task. Apart from lifting your decking and ensure all fasteners are removed, it is not difficult.

My understanding is that your deck is structurally sound but has become weathered. That being the case all you need to do is freshen up the visible face. The requirements of a decking timber is that each board is an even thickness. Look for your worst board and run that through the planer/thicknesser until a clean face is evident. All the other boards will need to be planed down to the same thickness. Depending on how weathered the boards are you may only have to take, say, 1/16" off. I don't see that you would have to treat the joists (2 x 8) at all. If you wish, only a single side of the decking needs to be planed. If the boards are very rough then plane the other wide face too, but needless to say this will double the work load and I would not do it unless it was really necessary.

There is one additional aspect that has not been mentioned and it is that most decking here in Australia has the top two edges rounded over. After running the timber through what I derogatorily (they actually work very well) call a "lunch box thicknesser" run a small rounding over bit mounted in a router along both face edges. Otherwise there will be a sharp edge remaining which will snag stockinged feet or cut bare feet. You will have to do this with the timber on edge so the bearing runs on the smooth face. Make up two simple stands from thick blocks of wood with a cut out to hold your decking board standing on edge. You will be able to put the rounded edge on the board as fast as you can walk it's length.

An example below of the lunchbox thicknesser, but I am sure there are cheaper versions than a Porter Cable. It was just first up on US Ebay.

Porter Cable thickness planer.jpg

Incidentally, if you really felt you had to plane the edges too, it is not an issue. Your boards are thick and if you are worried about them tipping over, run two through at a time. We are not looking at fine joinery here. Remember that whatever you do to one board you have to do the same to them all.

Regards
Paul

Until the OP tells us his intentions, we are all just assuming that he's going to rebuild the deck with the same timber (this was not explicitly stated). However assuming that to be the case, and that the requirement is for appearance rather than structural soundness, I still don't see why a quick run over with a floor sander wouldn't be far quicker and easier than an entire dismantle and rebuild. The effort involved in sinking all the fasteners is far less than pulling them all up and replacing them, and it avoids the need to label all the boards so they go back in the same place (if they're not all identical lengths).

Now if the structure needs rebuilding due to rot, termite damage etc., then that's another subject. But if not, for an "extremely lazy person with back issues" I'd go with an in-situ sand every time.

Thanks Warb

I had meant to add that, but got distracted when I was called away for breakfast (and admonished when I didn't come quickly enough, because it was getting cold ). I completely forgot.

If you do sand, remember that the fasteners will have to be punched or you will incur the wrath of the hire company when the sander is torn to shreds. Easy if your deck is nailed: A little difficult if it is screwed. You would have to remove batches of screws, sand and then replace the screws unless they can be screwed further into the floor and that may be possible with a timber such as Redwood.

Regards
Paul

Thank you all for the many post and many things to think about. This is just a deck that is still structurally sound except for a 2"x8"x16' support beam that needs replacing. All the decking is screwed so those are going to have ot be removed anyway to get the decking up. I am leaning more towards a planer again. It's rue that I can take the 2x6's and run them through on their side. There's very few 8" wides and I can just hit those with a belt sander or a manual planer.
Thank you all for giving me a lot to think about. It it truly appreciated.