FYI: Planer Sled for the jointer challenged

[William Hutchinson]

I picked up some spalted maple this weekend from a local sawmill. My 6" jointer was not going to easily get the cup and twist out of that board. So I spent most of the day building a simple planer sled from a plan in FWW. How it works is the uneven material is supported by the cross members, which are adjusted by the wedges. Once everything is secured and locked down with the screws, it is sent through the planer. When you reach a level state, then the wood taken off the sled and the other side is processed.

This is a six foot version and you can see for yourself the results. Now I can easily mill lumber as wide as my planer. This particular piece is for a box that will sit on a walnut stand.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y66/wlhutch/Shop%20Tools/PlanerSled.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y66/wlhutch/Shop%20Tools/PlanerSleddetailofwedge.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y66/wlhutch/Shop%20Tools/Sawmillspaltedmaple.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y66/wlhutch/Shop%20Tools/Milledspaltedmaple.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y66/wlhutch/Shop%20Tools/Milledspaltedmaplecloseup.jpg

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

Very nice! thanks for the post. I've been looking at making a sled, and the FWW design is one I am seriously considering. I found the video and John B. (fellow Creeker) send me a .pdf of the article. I am sans-jointer, and a planer sled would be perfect for me (I have a DW735, which I think is great).

One question - in your "end" shot, you show just how cupped the board is. That particular design supports the edges but not the inside portion of the board. Are you worried about (or did you notice) any distortion as the board gets pressed under the rollers on the planer?


BTW, that is a fantastic piece of maple!

[Ben Abate]

William,

Nice job on the sled. What are your plans for the Spalted Maple? It looks like a very nice piece, What's the price of the Spalted Maple, I've never purchased any, probable because I've never found it at the local lumber dealer.

Ben

[William Hutchinson]

John,
I have the same planer and no the rollers did not compress the cup. I doubt a bench top planer could distort an 5/4 hard maple timber. Anyway, you take shallow cuts when working the top to a flat plane, just like you would with a jointer. The before and after photo shows that this method works very well.

Ben,
This board is for a customer whom ordered a box on a stand. It is intended as an end table and storage for knitting paraphernalia. The stand will be walnut

I purchased this maple from a local sawyer for a $1.00 b/ft. It's one of those mills where you just have to know where it is. There is no advertising and the one sign is badly faded. I was allowed to pick through the stack that was freshly out of the kiln. Great people to buy from and needless to say I have a stash of this wood.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y66/wlhutch/IMG_0039.jpg

[glenn bradley]

Great looking material William. i ran a sled for a year and a half while I saved up for a large jointer. I used BB ply in a torsion box format for the base and years later, it is still flat. I still use it when I need to work wide stock. You'll find that was time well spent.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

William - is that MDF or Melamine on the bottom of the sled?

[William Hutchinson]

The bottom of the sled is a shelving board from Lowes. It's not MDF, but appears to be some kind of chip composition. The important part is that it's flat and shinned with Melamine or any material that can be easily pulled through a planer.

The top board is pine that I already had in the shop. If I were to make another one, I would use plywood.