Next time, start off on the planer. Fix the block to a flat board, and shim up the high sides and keep it from moving at all.. Hot glue, etc on your shims... Run it through the planer and get one side flat, flip it over and let the planer get the second side flat. The reason it didn't work on the jointer was, you were pushing down the same on the board as it passed the blade... Basically, you create a planer sled to put the board on, and, whatever doesn't sit flat, you fix in that position, where it can't twist under the pressure of the planer. Then, it will get that one side flat.. When you put that side down, and the twist is still there on the other side(opposite now), it has a flat side down and can't twist any more and will flatten it out.. Then, back to the jointer to get the edge 90 degrees to the new flat surfaces... But, you had the right idea.. Can also focus just on the high spots and run cross grain on the high spots first to get them down, then move your sticks closer and further apart and when you get it close, then,, make the long passes down the board... If it gets hard to see the sticks when you get close, spray paint the close one a flat black color and the far one white and it will really stand out.. Nice Job!!
With a little love and attention, they cleaned up beautifully. Nice work! Quick question: if you had to do it all over again, would you stick with the Craftsman jointer? I'm looking at a few models, the Craftsman is attractive for a few reasons, but I'd rather hear it from someone who's used it for a while than follow some anonymous online review.
I think I would like to have a more robust jointer for sure. The Craftsman does a good job but it has its limitations and I believe all of them in this class have the same limitations. Since I'm just a hobbyist this one will work out fine for me, I just have to keep the blades Sharp. I used to have 220 in my garage before I set up my shop I was using it for a Bitcoin miner. Then I set up my shop and I ran 110 throughout the shop because there were only two outlets. I am so happy that I did this but I wish that I had kept the 220 line as well that way I would be able to go with more robust tools a step up from the hobby grade. Thanks
