Have planer, do I need jointer and what size?

[rwe2156]

Expand your search, too. I would have no problem driving 200 miles, depends on who you're dealing with.

Due to supply chain issues and inflation, even the cost of used machines is going way up.

I've never figured out the difference b/t spiral vs. helical.

[stav]

A jointer is not a complex machine.  Even one that needs a bit of work could be a great option.  Or, you could build your own from a planer cutter head.  Lots of plans out there for that if you are up to the task.

[Rob Young]

Expand your search, too.  I would have no problem driving 200 miles, depends on who you're dealing with.

Due to supply chain issues and inflation, even the cost of used machines is going way up.

I've never figured out the difference b/t spiral vs. helical.

Usually the inserts on a helical head have a slight skew to the cutting direction while spiral heads have the inserts aligned straight on to the work.

Depending on the manufacturer there are other differences in designs. Things like having some overlap between cutters as you move from "row" to "row". I've seen that on helical heads but not spiral heads. There the cutters are spaced equally with each row filling in the blanks of the one ahead of it.

[skeeterk]

I sold my 6" jointer several years ago as I needed more floor space and never looked back. The real lumber yards around here (all 3 of them), their rough lumber has already passed through a planer at once so the faces are flat enough and can go directly to my planer. My LN No. 7 plane handles edge jointing up to 6/4 boards. Sort of depends on which path you choose to take. Jointing with a hand planer is best when you have a bench and vise setup so that has to be considered cost wise as well.

[rayknight]

lots of discussion of 6 vs 8, setup etc, but the critical issue is dealing with a bowed board or a twisted board. A jointer lets you get first reference face flat & straight, then the planer gets the other side equidistant & parallel. If twisted or bowed the planer will follow & you get parallel twisted & bowed thinner board with fixed thickness.  You could with great effort & time approach the same with a sled & wedges & hot glue, flattening the top side before planing to thickness. If you are starting with straight flat stock you can sneak by with planer only, but reality will catch up with you.
Hope this makes sense & helps.
Ray

[jteneyck]

"Using alternate methods taught me more about wood and its characteristics" - it is a good point and I am sensing that I will go through rounds of using planer and jointer before I get this working right

Thanks,
P.S. whatever my search will end in - I know it will be 8" as I am "buy once, cry once" kind of person

It's true that a lot of cabinet shops use an 8" jointer and a 15" planer w/o complaint.  That fits their needs, but what are yours?  I started with a 10" jointer and used it for 25 years or so until a 14" wide one found my shop.  I often wish for one even wider.  It all depends upon what your needs are, and they may change.  

You can get by w/o almost every machine, including a planer.  But machines make getting 4 square stock so much easier that I'd never want to be w/o the two key machines required to do it, a jointer and a planer.  Buying truly rough stock requires getting one face flat before you can send it through the planer. That's a thankless task by hand, pretty darned easy on a jointer.  Edge jointing is a little easier by hand as long as the edge isn't too irregular to start with but, again, so much easier on a jointer.  In the end it depends upon how you like spending your available woodworking hours.      

John

[Handplanesandmore]

lots of discussion of 6 vs 8, setup etc, but the critical issue is dealing with a bowed board or a twisted board. A jointer lets you get first reference face flat & straight, then the planer gets the other side equidistant & parallel. If twisted or bowed the planer will follow & you get parallel twisted & bowed thinner board with fixed thickness. 
Ray

As I said earlier, it's the twisted piece that throws most beginners off. By beginners, the jointer beginners. Someone above said the jointer is not a complex machine, and that's true ---- if one knows the machine well enough. I just came across a post in another forum in which the owner of a jointer (for years?) still struggles with getting his jointer cut properly.

I'm not discouraging anyone who wants a jointer but am sounding a warning that its operation is not like using a thickness planer. If someone has no jointer training, start with dirt cheap pine or spruce boards from the big box stores before fooling around with any 3" thick walnut planks!

I had used my Delta jointer for 18 years before selling it, and found the space vacated one of the best gains as I've never needed to use a jointer again. The fine tuned tablesaw takes care of all edge jointing while the planer all dimensioning. (Handplanes? Look at my handle.....I have the jointer plane at my disposal if any mill marks bother me.)

Simon

[AHill]

You don't "need" either, but I'll tell you my story. When I started woodworking, it was all power tools and getting things flat and square was a real chore. Try making large panels that fit or boxes that are square. Or fitting drawers whose sides are twisted or cupped. I bought my jointer first, then my planer. I can't imagine dimensioning lumber without BOTH. A planer won't resolve a twist or cup, since the feeder rollers are compressing the stock while it's passing through. A jointer ensures at least one side of your stock is flat before you start thicknessing it on the planer.

[Handplanesandmore]

  A planer won't resolve a twist or cup, since the feeder rollers are compressing the stock while it's passing through.

That's true ONLY if one doesn't use or doesn't know how to use the planer with a sled. Many youtube vids show how to do it.

Fine Woodworking has, if my memory is correct, two articles showing how to build the (different) sleds. I work with 10" wide rough lumber now and then, and while it's possible (again, if one knows the trick) to flatten a 10" wide board on a 8" jointer, it's a lot simpler to do it on a thickness planer (with a sled).

Simon

[toolmiser]

I filled in for a teacher for Adult Evening Education a quiet a few years ago. It was mostly people just wanting to use the equipment. Anyways there was one person who showed up with a pickup load of rough sawn lumber. He was going to run it all thru the planer to finish thickness. I explained that if there was any twist, bow or they wanted to glue some board together for a table top that it would be tougher. He listened and then planed it all to 3/4". You can only lead a horse to water.