Working with big slabs...

[Darcy Warner]

I am getting ready to set up a 36" facer for a customer, I will shoot some video of it feeding some 30"+ slabs through it when the time comes.

[Terry Hatfield]

I am getting ready to set up a 36" facer for a customer, I will shoot some video of it feeding some 30"+ slabs through it when the time comes.

Cool! I'm looking forward to seeing that.

[Julie Moriarty]

Thanks Julie! What bit are you using in the router?

I use an Amana 45505 mortising bit. It's 1-1/4" in diameter. One thing I noticed is the cuts were much better running parallel to the grain rather than perpendicular but with my setup it was harder to control the sled when running parallel. I knocked down the imperfections with a belt sander then finished with a 6" orbital.

A couple of months later I ran across a video where they used an Amana CNC spoilboard bit, something like a RC-2257. It has a 2-1/2" diameter. Amana does not recommend that bit for a router but this guy had a pretty good extrusion rail setup that gave him complete control of the router travel.

[Terry Hatfield]

I use an Amana 45505 mortising bit. It's 1-1/4" in diameter. One thing I noticed is the cuts were much better running parallel to the grain rather than perpendicular but with my setup it was harder to control the sled when running parallel. I knocked down the imperfections with a belt sander then finished with a 6" orbital.

A couple of months later I ran across a video where they used an Amana CNC spoilboard bit, something like a RC-2257. It has a 2-1/2" diameter. Amana does not recommend that bit for a router but this guy had a pretty good extrusion rail setup that gave him complete control of the router travel.

Interesting! Thanks for the info Julie.

[Kevin Beitz]

All I do with my mill now is slabs. I'm in the process of building a 12 foot X eight foot self powered router sled using a molding head. I made one for my saw mill but it will only do 30" wide. This machine will hang from the barn rafters and will be lowered down with cables right over slab tables. Here is a video of the one I made for my saw mill.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZMPOwQP1BU&t=34s&list=PLPmdHS4aWQkarJdxyJ X_pwpR0Rtv7vGV_&index=6