Can You Use A Table Saw As A Jointer

Make a jointer jig for the tablesaw.

Can you use a table saw as a jointer.

As long as you have a table saw the heart of any woodshop then you can get by. To make this cut move the rip fence to the left side of the saw blade. Quite simply there are more versatile tools that are your first priority when putting together a woodworking shop. Turning your table saw into a jointer is simple.

You don t need a jointer to get a straight square edge on a board. On a jointer the workpiece is fed along an infeed table set slightly lower than the knives. Just like a jointer the table saw setup requires an infeed and an outfeed side. It doesn t require modifying the components of your table saw in any way.

Jointing on a table saw. Even if you own a jointer jointing on the tables saw is a handy technique to know about. In fact all you need to do is construct a jointer jig which pushes your lumber close enough to the saw s blade to shave off slivers giving it beautifully flat and squared edges. The fence works on the same principle as a jointer.

Build a simple table saw jointer jig that will give you the clean straight edges necessary to do glue ups and make other tight fitting joints. If you ever need to clean up edges on abrasive material like plywood particle board plexiglass the carbide teeth of a saw blade will stand up to it much better than tool steel jointer knives. An l shaped auxiliary fence makes it easy to joint a board on a table saw see photo at right. The outfeed side must be perfectly even with the saw blade.