When you first started woodworking, you undoubtedly were used to settling for minor imperfections. After all, practice makes perfect in this craft, even if each new practice project doesn’t come out perfectly.
But in time, you’ve probably become more accustomed to seeking out perfection, whether you’re a professional woodworker or a hobbyist. Fortunately for you, there are a handful of useful tools that can make that goal a reliable reality.
Introducing the planer and the jointer, two pieces of woodworking equipment that can enhance your ability to perfectly square wood planks and panels without relying on hand tools. Both pieces of equipment perform a similar function, but they are by no means one and the same. In fact, each cannot really reach its full potential without the other.
But that being said, you may be wondering which is more important to purchase first. This guide will help you figure that out as well as explain the key differences between both the planer and the jointer. In this guide, you’ll even learn a bit about planer-jointer combos that have started to become popular with today’s woodworkers.
Planers and Jointers: The Basics
Let’s start by looking at what each of the tools is in general.
What Is a Jointer?
A jointer is an important piece of woodworking equipment for woodworkers who want to ensure their building material is free of defects from square one.
To that end, these machines are designed to remove all twists, bows, and cups on a piece of wood you wish to use. In many ways, they operate like a motorized hand plane but flipped upside down. As such, you can expect a jointer to slightly grind of a single side of a board until it is perfectly flat.
To learn how to use this tool, read this article.
What Is a Planer?
A planer’s main purpose is actually right in its name. Though they are also known as thickness planers outside the US, these devices are able to create a parallel flat side on a board that has already been partially flattened. They are not to be mistaken with hand planes.
This creates a flat “plane” on both sides of the target board, thus ensuring that both of its sides are aligned with precision.
Planer vs. Jointer: What Are the Differences?
In many ways, a planer and a jointer may sound very similar. Indeed, both are critical tools when it comes to smoothing and aligning your lumber before assembling it into an item. However, they both do so by performing a task the other cannot accomplish.
For example, a jointer is uniquely able to remove twists, bows, and cups due to the manner in which they grind down a board’s bottom side. A planer alone is not nearly as able to do this with a reliable level of precision.
However, a planer is able to remove many of these imperfections if they had already been removed from the active board’s opposite side. That’s because a planer can replicate a board’s smooth surface, so long as at least one side has already been freed of defects (whether by hand or by the way of a jointer).
From the reverse angle, though, a jointer cannot accomplish the task of smoothing and squaring both sides of a board on its own. This is because a jointer actively remove material from the downside of a board to ensure that it is precisely smooth. If you flip that board over and run it through again, you’ll get another smooth side. But that second smooth side won’t be parallel because a jointer does not align a board to be parallel as it passes over the blade head.
One other important difference between these two types of woodworking equipment is their price. In most cases, a planer is slightly more affordable than a jointer. This is especially true when it comes to shipping and installation costs, given that a planer is usually smaller in overall size.
However, in the larger scope of power woodworking tools, their prices are fairly comparable. Those who want to save money on getting a set of both may also consider a planer-jointer combo (as discussed later in this article).
Planer or Jointer: Which One Should You Get?
This is a burning question among amateur and professional woodworkers alike. This can be particularly a pressing question for woodworkers who are looking to maintain a tight budget, given that a set of both appliances can be a major upfront cost.
However, a general consensus has begun to arise among seasoned woodworkers online. I tend to agree with them in the belief that you should invest in a planer first.
Simply put, this is because you’ll likely be able to do more with a planer right off the bat when compared to a jointer. To that end, a planer’s ability to “thickness” a piece of wood can be utilized to smooth out both sides of a board while also make those sides fully parallel.
Admittedly, the smoothness of both sides will not be as refined as the same effect after a jointer treatment. But the result will suffice until you can afford a jointer of your own.
However, there are some limited situations where buying a jointer first may be a better option. For example, if you really value having at least one perfectly smooth side, then a jointer is for you.
Purchasing one can also give you an opportunity to learn the art of smoothing a board down using the proper hand tools. Taking this route will require you to make your board’s sides parallel by hand, though, unless you carefully source your lumber stock.
Jointer-Planer Combos: What Are They and Are They Any Good?
A jointer-planer combo is exactly what it sounds like, which is to say, a single woodworking appliance that is able to perform the jobs of both a planer and a jointer. They have only come into vogue lately, not least because they are cheaper than buying both a jointer and a planer on their own. Many professional and amateur users also like them because they take up less floor space than both machines separately.
As for whether or not they are “any good,” most woodworkers with experience using each type of appliance separately tend to agree that this is the case. In other words, this combo tool offers just as good, if not better, of performance than each separately while cutting out the time needed to adjust and feed each tool.
They are definitely more expensive than either a planer or a jointer alone, though. They are also very heavy and require professional installation, which might be a drawback to hobbyist woodworkers.
Summary
At this point, the differences between a planer and a jointer should be clear. In fact, you should now be able to differentiate these woodworking power tools well enough to decide which you need to add to your workshop in the near term.
If you can afford it, though, you should definitely invest in both. You simply won’t believe the difference that a perfectly smoother, perfectly parallel board can make in perfecting your next woodworking project. If you decide to get a thickness planer, make sure to start by checking my recommendations and reading my guide on how to use the tool.
How Do Planers and Jointers Compare with Other Tools?
See how planers compare with: belt sanders | drum sanders
See how jointers compare with: joiners | table saws