Planer sled

[Tom Ruflin]

I just acquired a 15 inch planer (gloat with pics comming soon) and have some rough tiger maple that I need to flatten. I've seen some plans in an article in either FWW or Woodwork magazines for a sled with wedges that can be used with a planer to flatten one side of a board, but I can't find the article. I would appreciate any help finding the article or pics of anyone who has made/used a sled. Thanks.

[Don Dean]

Here is the link: http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworki....aspx?id=24118

[Glen Blanchard]

I just acquired a 15 inch planer (gloat with pics comming soon) and have some rough tiger maple that I need to flatten. I've seen some plans in an article in either FWW or Woodwork magazines for a sled with wedges that can be used with a planer to flatten one side of a board, but I can't find the article. I would appreciate any help finding the article or pics of anyone who has made/used a sled. Thanks.

Tom - not much involved. I had not used the planer for jointing until 2 weeks ago. Had a board wider than my jointer.

I got a piece of 3/4" MDF longer and wider than the board in question. I determined which face produced the less wobble, and placed that face down. I used a hot glue gun and some wood wedges to shim the portions of the board that were not flat on the MDF sled. Made sure the board was stable and would not rock.

Super easy, quick, and worked like a charm.

[glenn bradley]

Here's one in use:

Support wobble and take a pass:

2 x 4 Pass One.jpg

And a couple more:

2 x 4 Pass Two.jpg

Put the sled away and machine like usual:

Swan.jpg

[Tom Ruflin]

Thanks to the replies to my original post I have built the sled pictured below. It works like a charm as Glen has demonstrated. I use it with a Yorkcraft 15" planer and have flattened and planed 14 inch wide boards with no problem. It's just a little heavy when making multiple passes with 12/4 stock that is 5 feet long and 12 inches wide .