Planer Sled

[Jerry Bruette]

I don't have a planer sled but I'd like to make one. Would it help eliminate snipe.

Should I keep it simple and use wedges with hot glue or go nuts with some of the more complex sleds I see on youtube?

[lou Brava]

Well, I built a simple type and it worked great cant remember on the snipe. Glad I went simple because after using it and a straight line jig on the TS I got fed up and bought an 8" HH jointer. The work around jigs work perfectly fine but they just pissed me off & the work gets done so much faster now.

[glenn bradley]

I made the Keith Rust sled which has a moderate level of features that makes it still useful today.

515206

If I were making one today I would do the ShopNotes version.
515207

I have also sent you a PM.

[John Kananis]

I have a 15 inch wide piece of plywood for when I absolutely must joint something wider than 8 inches (not often) and that's really all that's needed. Set your stock on top, screw in stops and hot melt some wedges underneath (where appropriate) and you're ready to go.

[Tom Bender]

I have sleds in various sizes. Sometimes I secure the wedges with tape but usually just use them loose. The sleds have little dogs at the front edge.

Last week I used one to taper some legs. Easy peasy.

[Howard Rosenberg]

Colin Knecht removes all the overdesigned overkill - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK5CxqYmUSo

Works perfectly. Every time.

[Steve Engelschall]

Colin Knecht removes all the overdesigned overkill - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK5CxqYmUSo

Works perfectly. Every time.


In the video, he says he uses High Density Fiberboard for the sled. Not sure where to buy HDF - I've only ever seen MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) - will that suffice?

[Jerry Bruette]

In the video, he says he uses High Density Fiberboard for the sled. Not sure where to buy HDF - I've only ever seen MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) - will that suffice?

I plan on using MDF when I make my sled. More than likely 3/4 inch.

[Michael Burnside]

I bought a pack of these 24x46 for some shop jigs, shaper origin table, etc. and overall quite pleased with the results. I also made a simple sled with a cleat at the back so I could plane some small parts for my current build.

https://www.woodworkerssource.com/hardwood-ply-core-white-melamine-samples-8x12.html

[Justin Rapp]

I have two pieces of melamine that I use as a sled. One side I keep untouched, the other side I use to shim and hot glue down wood if it's something I don't want to rip and flatten on my jointer.

[Cameron Wood]

Colin Knecht removes all the overdesigned overkill - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK5CxqYmUSo

Works perfectly. Every time.


Shouldn't the cleat be on the front of the sled?

[Michael Burnside]

Shouldn't the cleat be on the front of the sled?

No, the placement of the cleat is correct.

[Jerry Bruette]

Shouldn't the cleat be on the front of the sled?
If you watch enough yutube videos you'll see the cleat on either end. Confusing to me.

[Michael Burnside]

If you watch enough yutube videos you'll see the cleat on either end. Confusing to me.

If you think about it, you have two forces. One is the feed roller(s) pulling the material through, the other is the cutter head. Generally speaking if you're taking even a light pass the cutter head will have more force than the feed rollers, ergo the piece, if it moves will drift towards the back. The cleat at the back prevents the material from getting pushed off. If you wanted, you CAN add one to the front, but in my experience it is not necessary. Some will put skateboard tape instead of a front cleat which is also pretty good.

[Cameron Wood]

If you think about it, you have two forces. One is the feed roller(s) pulling the material through, the other is the cutter head. Generally speaking if you're taking even a light pass the cutter head will have more force than the feed rollers, ergo the piece, if it moves will drift towards the back. The cleat at the back prevents the material from getting pushed off. If you wanted, you CAN add one to the front, but in my experience it is not necessary. Some will put skateboard tape instead of a front cleat which is also pretty good.



If that were so, why would the stock move forward at all? (No dog in the fight, as I don't have and haven't used a planer sled)

[Michael Burnside]

If that were so, why would the stock move forward at all? (No dog in the fight, as I don't have and haven't used a planer sled)

Sum of forces is not net 0 most times. The sum of forces is net backwards, so the cleat at the back is usually the best spot. Like I said, some use skateboard tape to prevent any shifting regardless of how light the pass or slippery the sled itself. I've just never had a problem with the one I built with a simple cleat and the material I linked.

[Marc Rochkind]

Colin Knecht removes all the overdesigned overkill - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK5CxqYmUSo

...

He puts in a single wedge, just enough to keep the board from rocking. This works because his board is about 2 inches thick, maybe more. For a thinner board, say, 1 inch, it would flex under the pressure of the planer's rollers. Wedges on the outside may not be enough. This is why some sleds are so much more complicated.

To say it another way, it's not enough to eliminate rocking. You also need to eliminate flexing, if it's possible for the board to flex.

[andrew whicker]

In confused. Once the cutter is cutting the outfeed roller has a hold on the piece.. like a normal planer operation.

The only time there is only one spinning thing acting on the wood is before the cut (infeed roller) and after the cut (outfeed roller)


I can see the infeed roller grabbing the piece and pulling thru regardless of what the sled was doing, but I can't see why the cutter would cause anything crazy to happen

Maybe I'm missing something

[Michael Burnside]

Andrew. It’s not the same thing as sending two pieces through that aren’t connected. I tried just a flat piece on my Powermatic and the piece moved back about 2” from when it went in to when it came out.

Cleat at the back. It came out exactly in the same spot :)

[andrew whicker]

Back means outfeed or infeed?

The cutter rotation is trying to spit the board towards the infeed

[Michael Burnside]

Yea back towards the infeed. It also canted a small amount so the cleat helps that too.

[John Kananis]

I've had the same results with similar experiment.

Regardless, I put a cleat both front and back on case the piece cuts cleaner going into the planer one way or the other. After setup, I'm not turning the piece and don't want to interrupt the flow of work so I take the extra 20 seconds and cleat both sides. Again, very rare to have to do this anyway.

I just don't understand the super complex sleds in magazines. These are simple things. Whether to flatten or taper, just keep it simple and spend the extra hours working on the project I feel.


Andrew. It’s not the same thing as sending two pieces through that aren’t connected. I tried just a flat piece on my Powermatic and the piece moved back about 2” from when it went in to when it came out.

Cleat at the back. It came out exactly in the same spot :)

[andrew whicker]

Cool. It's been so long since I've used one but I need to make one soon for my bigger planer so that I can do thin strips...

[Jonathan Jung]

it's too easy to overcomplicate a sled. I just use a piece of ply, a stop strip screwed to it, and business cards to shim the workpiece.

[andrew whicker]

Yeah, I was thinking a flat pc of mdf and some glued on sand paper for thin strips.

[Christian Hawkshaw]

I used melamine shelving with a stop strip.... I do use hot glue and wedges...wedges are cheap.