Centuries ago, our woodworking forebears spent a great deal of time with hand planes such as the #8 jointer (below) in order to take the twist, cup, bow and crook out of their lumber. Hand planes ensured that boards could be made flat, straight, square and smooth, and doing that work by hand was the only real option they had. Those capabilities haven’t changed, of course, and these days you can still prepare lumber this way. A good deal of practice with a collection of hand planes will yield excellent results. But, if you want to produce flat faces, edges and square reference surfaces in a fraction of the time, a power jointer will get the job done with minimal skill and effort. For most of us, it’s the more…
