I am thinking of building a sled to run through my planer to allow me to use the planer as a wide jointer. I have a 6″ jointer and need to be able to flatten larger boards. There are at least two articles in FWW that I know of showing how it can be done. Have any of you tried this and what results have you had? Tips and stories always welcome! Thanks. Tom
“Notice that at no time do my fingers leave my hand”
Replies
I built one that owas shown in the tips and tricks section and I think somone even won a Lie Nielson plane fo rit. Anyway, it was the one that used a "clamp n' guide" inserted into a dado so the board would be secured to a plywod platform. In areas where the board doesn't contact the platform I use little wedges to take up the space so board won't wobble. I have a 15 inch powermatic planer. This method has never worked great for me. Part of the problem is the weight of the sled, which is about 5 feet long. As the sled exits on the outfeed rollers I think it sags slightly producing snipe which I do not get when just planing a board alone, without the sled.
I usually end up hand planing one surface to joint flat, while checking with a straight edge, then planing the second surface.
I'm glad you mentioned this since I would actually like to trouble shoot mine so that it will work.
Ab=ny suggestions welcome.
The FWW article devoted to a planer sled design with little cams seemed too complicated.
Thanks.
Jay
Thanks for the reply. I remember two articles at least 10 years apart in FWW about the sleds. The more recent article by Keith Rust is actually less complicated than the other that I recall. That sled used several "rests" along its length to support the board, and you had to loosen or tighten each rest support until it supported the board across its width. Then you screwed through the sides of the sled into the board, and ran it through the planer. In the video for his sled, Rust just uses roller stands on each side, and does not have a dedicated infeed or outfeed table. I may give Rust's jig a go unless I come up with a better idea or someone points me in a better direction. Tom"Notice that at no time do my fingers leave my hand"
ctsjr,
I built the 6' Keith Model but I have not used it yet. I'm not confident with the design of the sled that I can set up the board so that the least amount of wood is being removed. In other words, I like to use my TS or workbench to determine level and shim the board with tenon cutoffs and a bit of spray glue. My planer is supported with infeed/outfeed. I use a piece of melamine under the shimed board and run it through the planer till flat. Knock off the shims, flip the board and finish up. It's really quite easy and seem to work well.
After my last experience with getting a 10" board flat enough to run through the planer, the Keith Rust sled looks appealing. However, I'm not fond of the bungie cord and cup hooks. 8>| I think I'd want them to slide with a key in a groove or something. Any ideas?
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Edited 7/7/2007 1:58 am by forestgirl
FGGiven the success others have had with sleds that just have boards supported with wedges, I wonder if you need the bungee at all. All the force is going to be down and towards the infeed, so the anti skid material is doing the holding, not the bungee. What do you think? Tom"Notice that at no time do my fingers leave my hand"
I suspect that if the wedges are directly under the stock (no intervening support), that might work. But because Rust has those slotted supports riding on the wedges, there's a slide-point there. The first thing I thought when I saw the design was "does it need to be this complicated?" Post #10 reflects the same question. The adjustability must be the advantage?forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
I'm going to play with it a bit and see. I'm ready to make the torsion box and the hardwood supports. I need to pick up some 1/4" MDF--wonder if you could use birch ply instead--don't really see why not. I've been unable to locate the older article, but that's ok. That sled was much more complicated and required you to screw through the sides of the jig into the board to hold it stable. Rust has a good design. I'll let you know what I wind up with. Tom"Notice that at no time do my fingers leave my hand"
ctsjr,
The key benefit of the bungee is to keep the stretchers and wedges in place while being stored,IMO. I guess it also helps to avoid shifting when flipping around. You could create a shallow dado/grove across the torsion box to hold stretchers in place....might cut down on some flexibility with regard to set up. I use strips of sandpaper on stretchers and wedges to avoid slippage.
BGGood point. I'm going to have to store this vertically on the wall of the garage--I'm completely out of horizontal space in the shop without doing a major shift. Tom"Notice that at no time do my fingers leave my hand"
Where did you guys find the article/plans for this Keith Rust sled?Jeff
JeffHere is the article:
http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/FWNPDF/011175058.pdf
Here is the video:
http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/subscription/Workshop/WorkshopArticle.aspx?id=5245
Tom"Notice that at no time do my fingers leave my hand"
Great, thanks.Jeff
I made a 4' version of Keith's sled. I don't have a jointer, just hand planes, so I use it the sled a lot. Works fine. Next up is a longer version - if I can figure out how to make a 7' or 8' sled perfectly flat without jumping though too many hoops...
Any problems you ran into on making/using the sled? Thanks. Tom"Notice that at no time do my fingers leave my hand"
I, too, built the sled from the article by Keith Rust and have been very happy with it. I had some leftover plastic laminate and put that on the bottom side. Since it's a torsion box, I haven't had problems with either weight or sag. I'm not a pro, so I don't use it every day or even every month, but it's done the job very nicely whenever I have used it. I'm sure it's simpler just to run something over a jointer, but at the frequency with which I need it, a little fussing buys me the ability to handle 12" boards and saves the one open spot in my basement shop for the bandsaw I'll buy someday.
-- John
JohnWhat did you use for the non-skid surfaces on the bottom of the wedges and the tops of the support pieces? I haven't yet begun the project, so I have not looked for the non skid material. Rust says he used peel and stick stair tread or the abrasive strips you put on the stairs to keep from slipping. Did you use the drywall screws for the holds on the wedges? Thanks. Tom"Notice that at no time do my fingers leave my hand"
Yes, I use the drywall screws. Rust is right -- work them a few times and you can turn them with just your fingers. I used the non-skid stair tread stuff, too. I've never had it slip.-- John
Edited 7/7/2007 1:25 am ET by jkl
Thanks. Tom"Notice that at no time do my fingers leave my hand"
I too use just a flat stable sled and prop up low/high spots with wedges, taped in place. I recently visited Frank Klausz's shop and he uses this method as well. Nothing fancy, just a handful of wedges and a helper to feed big boards.
So, nothing but the force of the planer holding the board on the sled? Tom"Notice that at no time do my fingers leave my hand"
So, nothing but the force of the planer holding the board on the sled?
Yep, and I've never had a problem with the board slipping. With little pieces of wood this might be a problem, but then you would be using a jointer, eh? For big wide boards, they ain't going nowhere.Recommending the use of "Hide Signatures" option under "My Preferences" since 2005
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled