Edge jointing using a router | Mere Mini
If you want to use solid lumber for a woodworking project, it is often necessary to join boards together to make wide panels. In order for the edges to glue together properly, they need to be square. To do this, you need to “joint” the edges. I prefer using the term “square up the edges” which is more descriptive.
This procedure is simple if you have a dedicated jointer, but you can get the same results with a router.Here’s how.
May 28, 2014 @ 1:06 pm
Thanks for posing this tip again, Steve. It’s a nifty money saving trick!
May 28, 2014 @ 2:10 pm
You might mention that it’s important for the two halves of the router table fence to be parallel, just like the tables on a jointer. Obviously you set yours up that way with the same thickness washer on both bolts, but it might not be obvious to those less experienced.
The board also needs to be flat (at least relatively) for this to work. If it rocks on two corners then you’re not going to get a straight and square edge. That’s where a jointer beats this method, first flatten the wide face, and then square and straighten one edge referencing the flat face on the jointer fence. The follow up is to rip the opposite edge parallel, as you show in the video, and then plane the opposite wide face parallel to the one you started with on the jointer.
When I rip the opposite edge parallel I like to oversize it by the depth of cut on my jointer and then go over it one time to get a smoother surface than I can get even with a high quality rip blade.