Planer vs Jointer: What Each One Does and Which to Buy First

If you have ever tried to buy rough lumber and turn it into flat, square, consistent boards, you have run into the planer-versus-jointer question. They look similar, both are big machines with spinning cutterheads. Both remove wood. But they solve completely different problems, and understanding the difference saves you from making an expensive purchasing mistake.

I bought a planer first and spent months frustrated that my boards were not flat. Then I understood what a jointer does, and everything clicked. Let me save you that learning curve.

What a Jointer Does

A jointer makes one face of a board flat and one edge straight and square to that face. That is its entire job. You run a warped, cupped, or twisted board across the jointer table and it removes the high spots until you have one reliably flat reference face and one straight reference edge.

The jointer has two tables, an infeed table set slightly lower than the cutterhead, and an outfeed table set exactly level with the top of the cutting arc. You press the board down on the infeed table, push it across the cutterhead, and the cutter removes whatever material sticks up above the outfeed table height. Each pass removes a thin layer from the high spots, and after several passes, the entire face contacts the table evenly.

What a Planer Does

A planer makes a board a consistent thickness. It does this by referencing off the bottom face, the board sits flat on the planer bed, and the cutterhead above removes material from the top face to make it parallel to the bottom. The key word is parallel. A planer makes two faces parallel to each other. It does not make them flat.

This is why the jointer and planer work as a team. The jointer creates one flat reference face. Then you put that flat face down on the planer bed and the planer makes the opposite face parallel to it. Now you have a board that is flat, parallel, and a consistent thickness.

The Milling Sequence

When you start with rough lumber, the standard milling sequence goes like this:

Step 1: Joint one face flat on the jointer. Step 2: Run that flat face down through the planer to make the top face parallel and reach your target thickness. Step 3: Joint one edge straight and square to the faces. Step 4: Rip the opposite edge on the table saw, using the jointed edge against the fence.

After these four steps, you have a board that is flat, the right thickness, and has two parallel edges that are square to the faces. This is what "four-square" means in woodworking, and it is the foundation of every accurate project.

Which Should You Buy First?

This is where I will be honest with you: if you can only buy one machine, buy the planer. I know I just explained that a planer cannot flatten a board, and that is true. But you can flatten a face with hand planes or a router sled, and then use the thickness planer to make the opposite face parallel. Doing the jointer's job by hand is tedious but entirely possible.

Doing the planer's job by hand, making boards a consistent thickness across their entire surface, is far more difficult and time-consuming. A thickness planer does in 30 seconds what would take you 20 minutes with a hand plane and constant measuring.

What About Combo Machines?

Jointer/planer combos use a single cutterhead for both operations. You flip or reposition the tables to switch between jointing and planing mode. They save floor space, which matters a lot in a small shop. The trade-off is setup time, switching between modes takes a few minutes each time, which interrupts your workflow when you are milling a stack of boards.

For a one-car-garage shop, a combo machine is a reasonable compromise. For a dedicated shop with room for separate machines, individual units are more convenient.

Snipe: The Annoying Reality

Both jointers and planers produce snipe, a slightly deeper cut at the beginning or end of the board where the feed rollers change pressure. With a planer, you manage snipe by feeding boards end-to-end with no gap, supporting the board as it enters and exits, and leaving your boards an inch or two long so you can trim the sniped ends off.

With a jointer, proper technique (keeping downward pressure on the outfeed table, not the infeed table, as the board passes the cutterhead) minimizes snipe significantly.

When you are calculating rough lumber needs and accounting for milling waste, our Board Feet Calculator helps you buy the right amount. And for deciding on the joinery after your stock is milled, the Wood Joint Selector matches your project needs to the right joint type.