Planer Sled FAIL

[Steve H Graham]

Give me some clues on breaking a 7" wide board up into thin pieces suitable for bookmatched guitar bodies.

I tried to do it today, and after a while, I realized how hard it is to operate a planer sled. I managed to make three reasonably useful boards, but another one ended up with snipe at both ends and a wide variation of thicknesses, and no matter what I do, I can't get the stupid thing to come out right.

What's the best strategy for the future? I'm thinking I should have jointed the entire board first, so I would have reference surfaces after I resawed it.

Or I could just pay someone to do the jointing.

I'm not worried about the edge jointing (yet). Just the sides.

[Chip Lindley]

What's the best strategy for the future? I'm thinking I should have jointed the entire board first, so I would have reference surfaces after I resawed it.

Or I could just pay someone to do the jointing.

I'm not worried about the edge jointing (yet). Just the sides.

Hi Steve! You must start with a flat, jointed board to hope to end up with a nice thinner one. You might as well also joint the edges while the board is "thick" to avoid tearout.

As to finishing thin stock, a planer is not the weapon of choice unless the stock is very even-grained. This is what a drum sander does best.

It would be worth paying someone to sand your thin stock if you do not have ready access to a drum sander. Surely there is a fellow woodworker somewhere close by who could help you out. Or, you can do it all with hand tools, the way it was done before power tools were invented. Good Luck!

[Greg Portland]

I'm not entirely sure if we're using the same terminology so I'll describe how I do bookmatching (assuming you're trying to split 1 board in half).

1) Take the rough board and face it on a joiner. You now have 1 face perfectly flat.
2) Flip the board over and send the other side through a planer. You now have both faces perfectly flat and parallel to each other.
3) Edge joint the board and use that surface as a saw guide to square up the board. Now all faces are flat and parallel with the opposite side.
4) Run the board through the bandsaw vertically using the fence. You now have two bookmatched pieces of similar thickness. Cut some more pieces of the same thickness using some junk wood (pine, poplar, etc.). Make sure that the junk piece is long enough to safely pass through a planer.
5) If the pieces are too thin to pass safely through the planer use a sled (3/4" MDF board, etc.). Use double sided tape to attach the junk pieces to the front and back of the sled and your workpieces to the middle. The junk pieces will get the snipe while the workpieces will be flat. Send the sled through the planer. If the pieces are thick (no sled) then feed the pieces back-to-back with no spacing between them (the rollers won't be able to drop down and cause snipe on the workpiece).

Hope this helps...

[Steve H Graham]

Here is what I did:

I resawed the 7" by 1.75" board into thinner pieces, and then I tried to joint the pieces with a planer sled.

I know the wood has to be jointed, and I have had success with the sled before, but I think I made things much harder by resawing it without jointing the original board.

[John Coloccia]

Yes, joint the entire board first if you have access to a jointer. The sled works but can be a little kludgy. Don't skip that step, though. The thinner your board is, the less successful the sled will be as the board will have more tendency to flex. My process is:

1) joint one face
2) joint one edge (using the jointed face against the fence)
3) plane the opposite face
4) rip the unjointed edge on a table saw
5) resaw

Now I have both "outer" faces flat, and a simple pass through the planer will get them flat. Make the blank bigger than the body and just cut away the snipe when you bandsaw the body (assuming you can't get the snipe to go away).

The whole goal here is to absolutely minimize the amount that needs to be removed from bookmatched surface after resawing. The less you take away, the better your bookmatch will be. Ideally, you will do exactly 0 planing after resawing, and just a little sanding will clean up the bandsaw marks. To get there, you have to have dead flat and square boards to begin with. This is all about preparation though I've caved to the temptation of hitting that bandsaw too early too. I'm never happy with the results.

[Steve H Graham]

I think I need to make a smaller sled, too. The one I have is 4 feet long and somewhat awkward for guitar-sized pieces.

[John Coloccia]

Since I gather you don't have a jointer, here's a nice way to really get a perfect glue line once you get it close:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=150595

[Steve H Graham]

Thanks, guys.

No jointer, John. I just don't have room for the 8" monster I would need to make guitar slabs. I don't know what shops charge for jointing, but I guess I'm headed that way.

[Steve H Graham]

I hate to talk crazy, but I COULD learn how to use a plane.

Some guy down here is selling a like-new Powermatic 8" jointer on Craigslist for $500. Man, I wish I had a bigger garage.

[Rod Sheridan]

Thanks, guys.

No jointer, John. I just don't have room for the 8" monster I would need to make guitar slabs. I don't know what shops charge for jointing, but I guess I'm headed that way.

Then buy a 12" jointer/planer such as the Hammer A3-31 and have the best of both worlds in a high quality compact machine.

Saves floor space, and zero snipe.

Regards, Rod.

[Steve H Graham]

I think before I blow 4 grand, I should look into hand planes.

[glenn bradley]

I made things much harder by resawing it without jointing the original board.

You got it. Lesson learned. To add to John's very good description, and realizing that this is now moot as you have already resawn your board . . . here's what I do when I want multiple book-matched boards out of one thick one:

1- Identify grain direction.
2- Joint one face, plane opposite face parallel.
3- Joint one edge.
4- With jointed edge down, resaw one thin board off.
5- Run thicker board back through planer to restore parallel faces.
6- Repeat steps 4 and 5 until you have all the thin boards you want.
7- Smooth rough sides of thin boards in an appropriate manner; hand plane, solid-bed planer sled, etc.
8- Rip to width, crosscut to length.

There's always variations but I don't make thin stock without at least one flat face and edge. It is too difficult to deal with for me. I also hate power planing thin stock; gives me the heebies.

[Steve H Graham]

I like it, Glenn. A to-do list is a lifesaver, and of course, I never bother to make them.

I came up with an idea for a jig--a couple of boards joined to act like a sled--that will hold small boards over the router so I can plane them. In the future I will face-joint my boards before cutting them up, but the jig should help me out with my current problems.

[David Hostetler]

Give me some clues on breaking a 7" wide board up into thin pieces suitable for bookmatched guitar bodies.

I tried to do it today, and after a while, I realized how hard it is to operate a planer sled. I managed to make three reasonably useful boards, but another one ended up with snipe at both ends and a wide variation of thicknesses, and no matter what I do, I can't get the stupid thing to come out right.

What's the best strategy for the future? I'm thinking I should have jointed the entire board first, so I would have reference surfaces after I resawed it.

Or I could just pay someone to do the jointing.

I'm not worried about the edge jointing (yet). Just the sides.

I am a bit confused as to what the issue is... You say your planer is giving you varying thickness across the board, or just sniping the ends?

I am assuming you are trying to set up a planer sled to face joint a board that is wider than your jointer, or face joint at all if you have no jointer... I would HIGHLY recommend you take a look at The Wood Whisperer's "The Jointers Jumpin" video to see how its done... Pay careful attention to grain direction, and feed direction, make certain your work piece is SECURELY attached to the sled, and shave material off in small passes, don't try hogging it all off at once...

One thing you need to realize is that for the most part, planers snipe. Not just cheap planers, although they tend to produce more snip, but almost all planers snipe. it's just the nature of the beast. Account for the amount of snipe you are going to get when you are trying to figure out your lumber needs, and chalk it up to waste... Or better yet, if you have a smoker, and are dealing with fruit or nut woods, use the cutoffs to smoke up that holiday turkey, ham or whatnot...

[Greg Portland]

One other thing to think about before jointing the 1st edge is to think about how the bookmatched panels will look. In other words, folding them along the existing wood edge may not be ideal artistically. You may need to make an angled cut on the panel to set the centerline and then joint that edge. Holding a mirror along the centerline is a good way to visualize the final product.

[Kent Chasson]

If you are talking about acoustic guitar sets (as opposed to thicker, drop-top sets for electrics), then I strongly agree with the person who suggested a drum sander for cleanup and thicknessing after resawwing. If you don't have one, you can usually find a cabinet shop with a wide belt sander that will do it for a reasonable fee.

The problem with planers is that, even with a sled, when you get down to 1/8" and under, any vibration will cause gouging or often a total blow up.

Given the price of tonewood, it's very tempting to resaw your own but after sawing hundreds of sets, I've learned why the stuff is so expensive! It's hard to do well and there is a long learning curve and a lot of waste involved.

Also, if you are looking for 7" (narrow) sets, many suppliers will offer a steep discount. There is a lot of good wood that doesn't quite reach the typical 8.5"-9" width for standard sets and there's less demand for it.

Good luck.

[Pat Barry]

Steve, I just watched the Rust video on the FWW website and I can only say that you are a brave soul to attempt using something like that. Holy cow is that a kludge job. I find it hard to believe they would even have something like that on their website.

I'd agree with the folks here that a hand plane would be your best bet. Work it diagonal to the grain pattern to start with, take just a little off with lots of strokes and you will be far ahead of the planer sled approach.

I think once you get the worst of it taken care of you could go back to the planer (without the sled). You will always get some snipe, so you need to allow for it. It typical this snipe willl occur at the same distance from the roller to the cutter head at each end of the board. You will get far less snipe if you use less pressure - this means taking several very light cuts to finish the board as opposed to using a few less but heavier cuts.

I think if you could post a picture of the boards you are starting with it might help with the input also.

[John Grossi]

Sorry Pat, couldn't disagree with you more on the Rust sled. I built a 6'er and it works like a charm. It is definitely cumbersome and requires some work. If built and set up properly, 4 or 5 passes and you have a flat side that can then be flipped and run normally. I finish it on a small drum sander and I am all set. It is very similar to other sleds I built. They can be large and heavy, but once built and used I cannot do without them. John

[Steve H Graham]

I don't want to knock Rust's invention. Consider the alternative for people who want to face-joint a 12" board: a giant machine that takes up half your garage and eats your paycheck. And I've used my sled successfully in the past. The big problem must be that I have forgotten how to do it correctly.

I see Jet now makes a really cheap and compact 10" combo jointer/planer that actually works, but apparently they screwed the design up so badly it's not worth buying until they redo it.

I appreciate the planing tips.

I could probably solve my problem by making a much smaller, lighter, shorter sled with a better leveling system. Anyway, I'm buying a reconditioned #6 plane.

[Pat Barry]

If you have had any luck with that sled then I give you and the others who have a lot of credit. With all the moving parts, bungee cord, screws and the trouble setting up it still seems dangerous to me. I did a google search for planer sled and was surprised to see several very similar designs. One idea that is seemingly a better match to the size work you are doing was on modernwoodshop.com. I think its a very simplified approach and much safer and more stable for shorter pieces like yours.

[Steve H Graham]

The Modern Woodshop link is interesting, because I thought the sled had to be super-rigid and super-flat. If an ordinary piece of melamine and particle board will work, I guess my 30-pound nightmare is obsolete.

Still, I should have built a shorter and lighter sled, even if I stuck with Rust's idea. There is no reason to use a 4-foot sled to joint a 20" board.

The tape on the shims (Modern Woodshop) is a fantastic idea. Funny how something that obvious didn't leap out at me.

I should also be using outfeed tables instead of just my hands and my shopmade roller deal. I am ordering tables now.