Jointing
In order to craft a good woodworking project, it
is necessary to have a square piece of wood
to start with. The way to do this is with a
jointer. You need one straight edge and one
flat face. After you have these, you can plane
to thickness and rip to width and the resulting
piece will be square and true on all four sides.
At this point you can begin building your
project.
Direction of the Grain
To avoid tear out, always feed the material in
the direction of the grain. If the direction of the
grain changes half way through the board, try
taking lighter cuts at a slower feed rate. If the
results are still unsatisfactory, try turning the
material around and feeding the other way.
(Figure 13)
Figure 13
Edging
(Figure 14)
To give a good straight edge for gluing or
joining, set the fence square with the table.
Remove the least amount of material required
to obtain a straight edge. Hold the best face
of the piece firmly against the fence
throughout the feed. When finished you will
have a perfect starting point for your project.
Figure 14
Facing
(Figure 15)
Once you have a good edge it is time to
eliminate any warp or cup on the board. Keep
in mind the outfeed table is the reference point
and once the material is past the cutterhead,
downward pressure should be applied to the
outfeed table only. Putting downward
pressure on the board over the infeed table
will bend any cup or warp prior to hitting the
cutterhead and after the pressure is released,
the cup will spring back. At the same time try
keeping a constant feed rate in order to give a
good smooth cut with no burn marks
.
Figure 15
11