A Lightweight 8 Foot Planer Sled

[Andrew Joiner]

I was about to make a sled like the one in this video.
http://www.finewoodworking.com/skillsandtechniques/skillsandtechniquesarticle.aspx?id=5245

Glenn made a similar one detailed here.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=58735

An 8 foot long sled would get very heavy if it's made like the Rust design in the links.


What if I made a dead flat infeed table 8' long to set-up the sled on? Then it should work to use a single piece of flat 1/2" or 3/4"plywood for the sled.

The infeed table forms the heavy flat surface of the Rust sled,but won't need to be lifted and knocked around.

I plan on using shims and a stop to support my rough stock. This works fine on my 4' sled. On a 1/2" thick sled I'd use more shims to make it solid.

What do you think?

[Chris Padilla]

I'm thinking that 1/2" or 3/4" plywood wouldn't stay flat over time...hence the need to build the sled in a torsion box style.

[Van Huskey]

I'm thinking that 1/2" or 3/4" plywood wouldn't stay flat over time...hence the need to build the sled in a torsion box style.


I tend to agree.

The Rust sled is about the coolest one I have seen, once built it looks very easy to set up, but you are right it would be heavy. If you have the room use a roller table beside the planer. I have a friend who planes a lot of thick and wide boards, he uses one set at the same height as the table and he never lifts them. Rust uses the one roller but a folding roller table is much better and it has a ton of uses in a shop.

[Brian Tymchak]

if the in feed is truly dead flat to the planer bed, a piece of mdf might work. My experience is that stuff stays pretty flat over time. I've got 2'x4' pieces I bought for bench tops 10 years ago and they are still as flat as the day I bought them.

Brian

[Chris Padilla]

If the MDF is properly stowed, it might stay flat for a long time. MDF does absorb moisture and can move...maybe if it was sealed with shellac it would help?

[Andrew Joiner]

Update:

I used one layer of 3/4"plywood 8'x 13" for the sled. I built a flat and level infeed area 8' long. I say "area" because it's 2- benches with a 1' gap between them. When the sled is on the infeed area it's flat, but the sled has a slight bow to it when it's on edge.

I use a stop on the infeed end of the sled like this image :
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh226/dnoftz/planersled1.jpg

I don't glue or tape the shims. They are rough sawn and stay in place OK.
You need to shim your stock and slide it right into the planer without lifting the sled. This is the key thing and works great!

If you can't get the stocks face totally flat on the first pass thru the planer,be sure your shims didn't move before a second pass.

This 8' sled works fine. It weighs a bit less than my 4' sled that's 2" thick and dead flat. Both produce a flat face.

I think a single layer of 1/2" MDF would work fine too,but it's about the same weight as 3/4" plywood.