Planer sled - with screws?

[Matt Day]

I remember seeing a planer sled that used screws instead of shims recently, and can't seem to find it through the search function. Could someone point me in the right direction?

Thanks

[Matthew Voss]

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/workshop/workshopPDF.aspx?id=29828

[Matt Day]

That's it! Thanks Matt.

[Mike Heaney]

Matt,

I built a version of this over the last couple of weekends- and would add the following comments to the pdf from finewoodworking and the great post from Glen:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=58735

- I built a longer version of the sled and cut a corner or two in getting my reference surface flat. I came across some hollow closet doors at Lowes- sold as a pair for less than $20. Since each door was about 12" wide, I decided to try using one of these for my sled- hence the sled is about 6 1/2 feet long. The notes so far are as follows:
a. the door is really square and so far is providing a great reference surface. The plywood finish is also smooth enough that it is sliding through the planer easily.
b. The door is much lighter than the equivalent made per the plans and video- making it possible to singlehandedly move the sled and a piece of lumber, although the extra length makes it a little awkward

- cut some extra wedges, you are sure to drop one into a dark corner sooner or later- easier to do it now rather than later.

- Glenn's idea of adding sticky stair tread to the supports and wedges is really vital in my experience. I used something in grey from 3-M, works like a treat.

- When setting the board up on the sled, it is important to place a support very close to each end of the board- this stops the board getting tipped as it enters and exits the planer. Since the supports can be moved along the length of the sled, this is easy to do to match each board you are flattening.

- If you don't have the "arm" on the side of your planer stand for moving the sled back around, there is an alternative method that I find is pretty quick and easy. I have a Wixey gauge on my planer, so this helps accuracy in this method. I simply raise my planer head 3 full turns after I pass the sled through, this raises the head high enough so that I can simple pass the sled back through the planer backwards. When I am ready to feed through for another pass, I bring the planer head down 3 1/2 turns and off I go. Easy to do, and so far easy to remember! It also reduces the chance of you dropping the whole thing between passes!

best of luck on this project- I found the hardest thing was making the jig to cut the 15 degree slots in the supports on my router table.

The project has proven its worth already, as I have avoided hand planing or ripping down several wide boards. Big thumbs up from me!

best wishes

Mike