Can You Use A Table Saw As A Jointer

Jointing on a table saw.

Can you use a table saw as a jointer.

To make this cut move the rip fence to the left side of the saw blade. Turning your table saw into a jointer is simple. An l shaped auxiliary fence makes it easy to joint a board on a table saw see photo at right. 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.

It doesn t require modifying the components of your table saw in any way. The outfeed side must be perfectly even with the saw blade. You don t need a jointer to get a straight square edge on a board. If you have limited space or funds make one tool into other tools.

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. With the help of a simple shop made jig you can be jointing on the table saw. As long as you have a table saw the heart of any woodshop then you can get by. The fence works on the same principle as a jointer.

Even if you own a jointer jointing on the tables saw is a handy technique to know about. The infeed side must be a blade s width short of this point. Quite simply there are more versatile tools that are your first priority when putting together a woodworking shop. Just like a jointer the table saw setup requires an infeed and an outfeed side.