Yet another planer sled proposal

[Michael Weber]

Been reading about planer sleds to flatten stock too wide for the jointer. Am I missing something or would'nt a couple of straight boards (plywood or...?) somewhat wider than the warped board is thick, tacked to the edges of the lumber to be flattened work? The straight lower edge of the boards would reference the planer base as they would be wide enough to clear the lumbers bottom. The board to be straightened is run until a flat reference is established then knock off the side boards and flip. Seems a lot simpler than most of the sleds I've seen and quick to make and use with no fiddling with levelers etc. Might even be able to use one set of side boards for multiple pieces of lumber depending. I haven't done this, and like I said, I may be missing something but seems reasonable.

[Victor Robinson]

Your proposal probably works for slightly unflat boards but I guess the idea behind the more complicated sleds is that you want to make sure a badly twisted/bowed board has proper support when doing through the planer. You don't want it rocking on its way through. Now I've never run an unstable board through a planer, so I don't know what exactly the consequences would be. But it doesn't sound like a good thing.

[Chris Padilla]

Victor got it: support is lacking for wide pieces with your idea, Michael, although it would work on more narrow pieces.

[Walt Stevens]

Woodsmith online has a simple one board sled with screws that can be set to hold the workpiece stable. Google "planar sled woodsmith" and it should come up.

[Adam Shapiro]

I think this idea was in FWW a few months ago. The guy just glued runners to both sides of the board, and then flipped the board over and ripped them off after the top surface was flat. It seems easier then a sled for the rare use, but it'd be a pain to waiting for the glue to dry on every piece if you had a bunch of boards to run through.

Adam

[glenn bradley]

Woodsmith online has a simple one board sled with screws that can be set to hold the workpiece stable. Google "planar sled woodsmith" and it should come up.

That's what I used before I built Kieth Rust's version out of FWW. Really though, once I had the materials gathered, I built Kieth's version in a matter of hours and have been using it for years. It is not as complex as you may think. The one thing that assures success is to have some flat surface (I used my tablesaw) to reference the base off of as you start the build.

[Rob Holcomb]

Kieth Rust's planer sled works fine for lunchbox planer's where the table is fixed and the cutters raise/lower but I have a 15" stationary Grizzly planer. The cutters are stationary and the table raises/lowers. It just didn't work well for me. Instead, I made a sled like the one shown here to use with my router. http://lumberjocks.com/topics/1992 I have to say that it works tremendously to get one face jointed and I usually do the whole side rather than using the runner strips. That way I don't have to worry about the strips coming out of the groves while in the planer. No lifting of the sled (Keith Rust's can get pretty heavy) but the downside is things get pretty messy. If I'm doing several boards, I stop and run the shopvac over the sled periodically to ensure the shavings don't cause any issues.

[Paul Ryan]

There is nothing not good about Peanut Butter

Michael you and I could not be in any more agreement. I could live on it. There is nothing that peanut butter does not make better. But is has to be the right peanut butter.

[Michael Weber]

Michael you and I could not be in any more agreement. I could live on it. There is nothing that peanut butter does not make better. But is has to be the right peanut butter.
Amen Brother, Amen!
I guess I don't see the problem with wide boards because the rollers of the lunch box planer are going to be pressing down on the side runners and not the board itself by the time you actually start getting a flat surface. So there would be no distortion of the board. I had never considered gluing the rails on and then ripping them off but that does seem unnecessary. Surely a few nails would hold. On the other hand your going to end up with nail holes in the side of the lumber. So that might be a problem in some instances. I admit I had a frustrating day at work so maybe I'm just not thinking well. Won't be the first time.

[jerry nazard]

Michael you and I could not be in any more agreement. I could live on it. There is nothing that peanut butter does not make better. But is has to be the right peanut butter.

Yep. Wife brought home some Kroger house brand stuff. YIKES!!! It did eventually end up in some BBQ sauce. But naked on bread.....

[Jim Dunn]

The only thing I use is a piece of 3/4" MDF with a board screwed down across one end. I place the warped board on the MDF cupped side up and place shims along the edges. I secure the shims with a little hot glue and plane flat. I then remove the shims with a scrapper and turn the board over. Couldn't be simpler! The only problem is the overall weight of the sled and board combo.

[Eiji Fuller]

Yes, I used to do it all the time before I got my Hammer A331. It works very well and is much easier to set up than a flat sled and shims. I used short screws to fasten the side boards to the piece. 1/2" baltic birch works well.

I wouldnt want to do this on stock less than 7/8" thick though.

[Myk Rian]

All you need to do is use the rabbeting feature of the jointer to flatten a wide board.

[Myk Rian]

All you need to do is use the rabbeting feature of the jointer to flatten a wide board.
You can joint an 8" board on a 6" jointer. Then you tape the rabbet to a flat board, run the un-jointed side through the planer.
Remove the board and joint the remaining face so the rabbet is gone.
It's been discussed many times here.

[jerry nazard]

Unless a board is twisted, in many cases a few minuets with a handplane and a couple of winding sticks will prepare the board for planing. Quicker than dragging out the sled.