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Thread: Router Planer Sled

  1. #1
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    Router Planer Sled

    Some X, some Y and some Z. Hand planing those air dried cherry slabs that have been taking up too much room in the shop has been wearing me out. I figured a router planer sled would get the job done better, so I put together some 15 series extrusions from Faztek, some Rockler Multi Track, some angle and floor brackets, various t-nuts and some turned inline skate wheels to create my version. Finally finished it yesterday and gave it a test run. Useable area is 25" x 86" with about a three inch height adjustment range as it sits on the bench before I have to block up the frame. However, I just realized that I can cantilever this rig off the end of my bench, or sit it on sawhorses and use my hydraulic lift table as a platform to surface much thicker material like burls or log sections. I just need to come up with a way to clamp the piece being planed. Others have used various bench stop systems for that, so that's where I'm headed. The skate wheels worked out great and both X and Y movement is very smooth. Some minor ridges left after planing, but a cabinet scraper took care of them easily.
    RPS-2.jpgRPS-3.jpgRPS-5.jpgRPS-6.jpgRPS-7.jpgRPS-8.jpgRPS-9 (Medium).jpgRPS-10 (Medium).jpg

  2. #2
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    Wow, that's top of the line - well done.

    Dave Fritz

  3. #3
    Using that set up, how long does it take to mill a piece flat? Say one square foot and it if fairly flat already and you are taking of 1/8" at the most.

    It looks like something that can be built fairly cheaply if a person were to use wood or scrounged material for the rails. I own a sawmill and something like that could allow me to boost the value of the slabs I make.
    Universal M-300 (35 Watt CO2)
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    Electrox Cobra (40 watt YAG)


    Glass With Class, Cameron, Wisconsin

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Joe Hillmann View Post
    Using that set up, how long does it take to mill a piece flat? Say one square foot and it if fairly flat already and you are taking of 1/8" at the most.
    It looks like something that can be built fairly cheaply if a person were to use wood or scrounged material for the rails. I own a sawmill and something like that could allow me to boost the value of the slabs I make.
    Joe, I was surprised how fast I could go with this set up. At 1/8" +/- per pass it would go almost as fast as I could move my arm. I'd say a square foot in less than a minute, but if the wood is already flat and you are just interested in taking off the saw marks maybe another way would be better. I built this because my slabs were bigger than my jointer and had cupped and twisted beyond my willingness to hand plane them into submission. The deepest cut I tried was where the slab was twisted on one end and the cut went from 1/16" to a little less than 1/2" in the same run. The thicker the cut the slower you go. You have to be careful to advance the cuts along the slab using only half of the bit width at a pass or risk bit wandering. A sled can be built with anything you have on hand...wood works great....anything straight. I bought these extrusions and connectors thinking they could be transformed into a wide variety of jigs, tables and fixtures--kinda like the erector set I loved as a kid.

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Ted Calver View Post
    but if the wood is already flat and you are just interested in taking off the saw marks maybe another way would be better.

    Any suggestions on what those other ways could be?
    Universal M-300 (35 Watt CO2)
    Universal X-660 (50 Watt CO2)

    Hans (35 watt YAG)
    Electrox Cobra (40 watt YAG)


    Glass With Class, Cameron, Wisconsin

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Joe Hillmann View Post
    Any suggestions on what those other ways could be?
    Depends on the size of your slabs, what wood and how many. Lots of ways come to mind...hand plane/cabinet scraper, belt sander, might even try a floor sander if you can't move them around, but if you want to market several ready to finish slabs for table tops and have the means to move them, then maybe something like a double drum sander with roller in-feed and out-feed tables?
    http://woodmasterdrumsanders.com/5075x2.

  7. #7
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    Good to see new products and there uses. Good job...There are several on the market that can be made or purchased. Here is one..
    http://www.linssuv.com/router.htm#slider

  8. #8
    Ted, I am just seeing your Router Sled and it is so well thought out, and it is great looking.
    How has it been working since you have been using it for a few more months? Best cb

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Charles Bellingrath View Post
    Ted, I am just seeing your Router Sled and it is so well thought out, and it is great looking.
    How has it been working since you have been using it for a few more months? Best cb
    Charles, It's been working great. The extrusions are very versatile...right now the portion of the sled that holds the router has been temporarily converted to a finger joint jig which I'm still testing. It will do 20+ inches of finger joints, but I think it needs some tweeking to get there.

  10. #10
    I've long thought about building something similar on a much smaller scale to flatten thick veneer mosaics where the shop sawn veneers are not always the same thickness. Grinding them flat on a flatbed sander is my only method and is a poor method.

    Tell me, is your only means of vertical adjustment just the plunge router?

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by David Pascoe View Post
    ....Tell me, is your only means of vertical adjustment just the plunge router?
    David, For pieces that require more vertical adjustment than the plunge router provides I block/shim the entire frame up to where the available router adjustment will work. The workpiece gets positioned/leveled separately on a flat surface and then the frame straddles the piece and gets positioned/leveled at working height.

  12. #12
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    Wow! That is one impressive machine. It looks a lot like my CNC router. If you ever have the desire to get one of those, I think you should build it rather than buy it.

  13. #13
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    I'm contemplating doing just that, Art.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Joe Hillmann View Post
    Using that set up, how long does it take to mill a piece flat? Say one square foot and it if fairly flat already and you are taking of 1/8" at the most.

    It looks like something that can be built fairly cheaply if a person were to use wood or scrounged material for the rails. I own a sawmill and something like that could allow me to boost the value of the slabs I make.
    If you have a saw mill half the work is done. Mount the router plane right on the mill.

  15. #15
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    Nice looking set-up Ted

    Quote Originally Posted by Ted Calver View Post
    I put together some 15 series extrusions from Faztek, some Rockler Multi Track
    I've seen Rockler's Multi Track & the 80/20 line of extrusions before, But I hadn't heard of the Faztek line until now. Thanks for mentioning the Faztek!

    I'm currently working on a sliding X/Y table for a DIY mortiser & the Faztek line may give me some other options?

    Doug

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