Difference Between Jointer and Planer
As your woodworking skills expand, you’ll want to add a jointer and planer to your arsenal of tools. They both handle rough lumber in the same way, but they are not the same tool.
Most large woodworking projects require certain tolerances and precision when aligning the ends of the lumber. Unfortunately, the wood you buy from major retailers and suppliers is never completely straight or flat. Deformed, twisted and bent lumber is not suitable for building furniture. A jointer and planer can fix this.
The jointer allows you to make the board perfectly flat and removes distortions and twists on the board. Thus, you first need to run the raw lumber through the jointer and then use a planer to get a board of constant thickness and perfectly parallel.
Quality jointers like this one from Delta are available for $ 370 but can go up to $ 1,500. A tabletop wood planer like this one from DeWalt retails for a similar price of $ 399. You can also buy a combo block that combines both tools from Jet for $ 2,244.
Using both tools, you get straight flat lumber suitable for any woodworking project.
What does a jointer do? | Matthew Cremona (YouTube)