Got chewed out at the woodworking meetup for not jointing boards first

Last Tuesday I brought a cutting board I made to the local woodworking meetup at Ron's Garage. I was proud of it until this old timer named Bill picked it up and pointed out the gaps between the strips. He said I should have jointed the edges before gluing, which I didn't even think about since I just used a saw and sandpaper. Now I'm looking at used jointers on Craigslist, but I don't want to spend more than $100 on something I might not use much. Anyone else skip a step and learn the hard way at a show and tell event?

2 comments

2 Comments

lunaf6711d ago

Got chewed out at the woodworking meetup" - oh man, I feel that. I took a box to a guild meeting once with the same issue, gaps everywhere from not jointing. Used the same trick on a budget - just ran the edges over a flat piece of sandpaper on my table saw top. Doesn't work perfect but it does the job for small boards like cutting boards. My advice is to look for a benchtop jointer on Facebook marketplace, I snagged one for $60 that just needed new blades. But honestly a hand plane will do the same thing if you just take your time getting the edge straight.

matthewmartin8d ago

Man that's rough! @lunaf67 a buddy of mine once did the same thing and his cutting board warped so bad it looked like a potato chip.