Jointers come in many shapes, sizes, lengths, and heights, but the most common size you'll see is a 6” jointer. That means that the blades are 6” long and the widest material that the jointer can handle (for a face joint) is 6”.

How do you determine the size of a jointer?

Jointers are sized by the length of their knives, which determines the widest possible board the machine can surface. Without any auxiliary extensions, a jointer can comfortably handle lumber about twice as long as the bed, so bed length, along with blade size, dictates the size of material the tool can process.

How wide are jointers?

, but when choosing jointers, typically they come in 6" widths but variable bed lengths. A 6" jointer will allow you to edge a 6"x piece of wood which if you think about it is pretty huge, especially if the board is 12 or 13" wide.