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How to Make Board Joints With a Table Saw

A jointer is a standard piece of woodworking equipment used to smooth and flatten jointed board edges in many well-equipped professional shops. Amateur woodworkers with limited budgets or shop space often avoid purchasing this piece of equipment by using a hand plane to achieve the same effect. You can avoid the expense of purchasing a jointer and the extra labor of hand planing by using your table saw and a simple jointing jig.

Things You'll Need

  • Carpenter's glue
  • 2 pieces of 3/4-inch medium-density fiberboard (MDF), 48-by-3 inches
  • Clamps
  • Table saw with rip fence
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Instructions

    • 1

      Run a bead of carpenter's glue the length of one edge of a piece of MDF.

    • 2

      Place the second piece of MDF perpendicular to the first with the edges aligned. Clamp them together for form an L-shaped jig. This jig is used as an auxiliary to your rip fence. Leave the clamps in position for at least two hours to allow the glue to cure.

    • 3

      Remove the clamps holding the jig pieces together.

    • 4

      Place the rip fence on the left side of your saw blade.

    • 5

      Set the wider side of the jig flat on the saw table, next to the blade.

    • 6

      Raise or lower the blade until the top of the cutting edge is about 1/4-inch above the top of the jig's bottom plate.

    • 7

      Adjust the rip fence to remove the width of the saw blade from the jig's bottom plate. Removing the width of the saw blade from the jig's leading edge simulates the bed of a jointer by creating a stepped surface for the in-feed and out-feed sides of the jig.

    • 8

      Turn the saw on and rip half the length of the jig's bottom plate.

    • 9

      Turn the saw off and move the rip fence to the right side of the blade.

    • 10

      Place the jig on the right side of the blade. Carefully align the notch created by the end of the previous cut with the saw blade.

    • 11

      Slide the rip fence up to the back edge of the jig. Clamp the back edge of the jig to the rip fence to hold it in position.

    • 12

      Turn the saw on. Hold the edge of the board to be jointed firmly against the leading edge of the jig while feeding it through the saw.

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