Has anyone built the sled that was discussed in FWW #175 (http://www.taunton.com/store/pages/fw_toc_175.asp)? Any suggested design changes? Opinions of the article/sled?
I currently don’t own a jointer (limited money & space) but am continually haunted by the difficulties posed when the wood is not completely flat. Hence, I have been strongly considering building the planer sled mentioned. The sled would provide the increased capacity of being able to joint boards up to the width of the planer, which is a definite plus as I like to work with wide boards.
Thanks in advance!
“100 Years” — scribbled on the wall by a woodworker to remind him to do his best and as a warranty on his work — “If anything I make fails in the first hundred years, bring it back, and I’ll take care of it. After that, there will be a small charge. (Original purchaser only)”
Replies
Have access to 12" and 20" jointers so no problems here. Technically it's called facing. Jointing is on the edge.
Haven't used the sled, but logically it's a sound concept. A bit slow with all the adjustments. I think that could be improved upon with a better system.
Any suggestions for improvement? :)
"100 Years" -- scribbled on the wall by a woodworker to remind him to do his best and as a warranty on his work -- "If anything I make fails in the first hundred years, bring it back, and I'll take care of it. After that, there will be a small charge. (Original purchaser only)"
Has anyone tried shimming with expanding foam. That stuff is pretty rigid when it cures and would be easy to use for occasional use. Might be a little messy to clean up when you flip the board, but I don't think a littly residue would hurt the knives.
Interesting concept but the cleanup time does not lend itself to ease of use. I like the sled concept b/c it should require little time to set up multiple boards.Cool idea though :)
"100 Years" -- scribbled on the wall by a woodworker to remind him to do his best and as a warranty on his work -- "If anything I make fails in the first hundred years, bring it back, and I'll take care of it. After that, there will be a small charge. (Original purchaser only)"
Zombeerose,
I built it but have not used it yet(no wide stock). The trickiest part was matching the slope of the wedges to the slope of the slots in the cross pieces. I think I found an easy method by just cutting a wedge(blade at full height and 20-25 degree angle) and then using that slope to support the cross piece as it gets dadoed. Afterwards, you can take 1/2" thick slices off the larger wedge for the adjustable supports.
Please post once you do use it. I would really like to hear your feedback/opinions, especially what you would have done differently. Do you think the wedge design will be easy enough to utilize or would a different design be quicker to adjust? I am pondering using nuts/bolts to adjust the height instead of the wedges.Thanks!
"100 Years" -- scribbled on the wall by a woodworker to remind him to do his best and as a warranty on his work -- "If anything I make fails in the first hundred years, bring it back, and I'll take care of it. After that, there will be a small charge. (Original purchaser only)"
sombeerose,
All my facing in the past has been with planes so I'm a bit confused about how to setup the stock to begin the process. I'm assuming winding sticks, etc. will help but once in place there is nothing that holds the stock in place. Also, I do a lot with 4x4 and 4x6 (donnage) so I'm not sure how that will work on the 10" wide sled.
The one minor issue is using the screws that were illustrated in the video...can't really turn them with my big soft as silk clamie hands...need the phillips. I do not think nuts and bolts would be better though...
I haven't seen the article, but I have a 3/4" lauan sled I use. First run the plywood sled thru thru the planer removing a minimal amount, this will assure the top carrier surface is parallel to the blades. Mark the dirrection of feed on the board, and put a stop at the leading edge, like a 5/8 x 2 x width of sled. This keeps the top board in position on the sled. Lay the sled on a flat benchtop and the board to be milled on the sled. Use standard door or window shims (or I use thin cardboard strips) under the top board to stabilize it from rocking, use shims every 24"s. Carefully carry the sled to planer and run thru until top is flat. Then flip the board over, without any shims on the carrier and reduce to the thickness desired.
putter,
The article and video on the planer sled, that Zom is asking about, is a bit like your approach. You use 3/4 lauan the planer sled is a torsion box. You use shims to level the board, the planer sled has cross pieces that are adjustable(with wedges) up and down to support the board. There are a few more details but the basic difference is the sled has more reusable pieces...maybe.
Zombeerose,
I built the sled with using bolts and nuts as you suggested. I didn't like the idea of using wedges either. I used birch plywood as the base. Two long boards with 3 smaller onces sandwiched between them. Used bolts going through all the layers and two different size nuts one square for ease of turning, the other a regular nut. The two nuts are raised up or down and lock on each other for changing height. The bungee cord holds the leveling bar against the bolts. The bolts fit into a loose hole on the undersurface of the boards. I attached adhesive sandpaper to the top of the leveling boards for friction, and slick laminate for the bottom. It works quite well. I used it to joint 12 in oak boards recently. I have enclosed some pictures. Sorry for the quaility of pictures. I didn't want to get the whole gig out since my cars were already parked in the garage.
Hope this helps,
Dave
Thank you very much for the info, ideas, and pics Orif! That is very much what I had in mind for the nuts/bolts idea. Was the reason you used 2 long boards w/ 3 little ones sandwiched for stability? I have been slightly nervous about using plywood (or mdf) because I want to make sure it stays true. If I make a torsion box of sorts, it will probably hold.Have you had any problems with the boards sliping or is the ad. sandpaper satisfactory? How heavy do you think your sled weighs? Does your planer have any difficulties pulling it thru or do you have to be conscious and push it thru at an even pace? Where did you find the slick laminate? I was thinking I would have to buy melanine.Thanks again!
"100 Years" -- scribbled on the wall by a woodworker to remind him to do his best and as a warranty on his work -- "If anything I make fails in the first hundred years, bring it back, and I'll take care of it. After that, there will be a small charge. (Original purchaser only)"
Zombeerose,
I used the sandwich technique because I had to recess the head of the bolt below the bottom layer of plywood. This would have left very little support for the plywood. Also I figure it would be much more sturdy, less likely to worp, than a single layer and easier to construct than a torsion box. The only advantage to torsion box I could see is if you would use a lighter secondary wood to lessen the weight.
Also spacing the bolt and the top nut further apart would seem to give the bolt more side to side stability. I also didn't mention that the bottom nut is nylon coated to prevent it from slipping. And the top nut is rounded on the top so it fits into the leveling board.
It is quite sturdy, and I think a torsion box would probably be an overkill. I used what I already had in the garage for and built it for <$10 for the bungee cords and bolts and nuts. I can carry it without too much difficulty, but I does tend to get heavy when you add a 12 in wide 8 foot long board of oak on top of it. I use a single roller stand positioned next to the planner (similar to the video) to move the jig and board so lifting it is not an issue. I did have problems with the board sliding off the jig until I added the sandpaper. Haven't had problems since. I also forgot to mention that I waxed the planner bed to make it slick. The planner (Dewalt 735) doesn't seem to have problems pulling it through itself.
Dave
Hi Dave,
I successfully completed my sled using hardware for adjustment of the supports. I created mine from MDF (one piece laminated) because I have yet to find a piece of 1/2" plywood from HD that doesn't make the ocean jealous! Anyways, despite the extra weight, the planer pulled it thru w/o a hitch and works great!I just wanted to post my thanks again for your suggestions!
"100 Years" -- scribbled on the wall by a woodworker to remind him to do his best and as a warranty on his work -- "If anything I make fails in the first hundred years, bring it back, and I'll take care of it. After that, there will be a small charge. (Original purchaser only)"
I built a sled out of MDF to face some stock that was over 60" long and 9" wide and it worked well. Like you, I do not own a joiner so I needed to do something else. My sled is about 72" long and consists of a 10" wide piece of MDF with 2 piece of MDF attached on either side of the larger piece. This creates a shallow channel in the middle. I made an L shaped bracket to fit in the channel and project above the channel walls. This provides a means of attaching the piece you are facing to the sled and preventing it from moving. I use dry wall screws to attach the bracket to the sled and to the end grain of the piece being faced. For this to work best your planer needs to have an arrangement similiar to that in the the current FWW issue.
I guess this is a long way of saying that similiar arrangemnts work well for me, so the one referenced in your post should work well.
Hope this helps
Sounds like your sled is pretty long. Considering how much MDF weighs, do you have any problems with the planer pulling it thru? Or do you have to push it thru? Any chance of a quick picture/drawing? Besides the L-brackets, do you use wedges/etc to support the high/low spots under the face of the board?Thanks!
"100 Years" -- scribbled on the wall by a woodworker to remind him to do his best and as a warranty on his work -- "If anything I make fails in the first hundred years, bring it back, and I'll take care of it. After that, there will be a small charge. (Original purchaser only)"
Your are right , it is heavy, but I haven't had too much problem with it being pulled through the planer. I waxed the planer bed and the bottom of the sled to minimize friction. I did use wedges to support longer pieces that have twist. Will try for a picture later.
Tried and way too heavy...
I made exactly the same and used it but i found it very very heavy and i find that with the screws on the sides a bit dangerous too. So i dont really use it. You have to be extremely straight from inside to the outside of the planer or else everything goes wrong or could go wrong.. On small 13" Delta planer i found it too big. In bigger planers maybe much easier to handle it!
I'ts better to have a good hand planer and doing it by hand for the worst case scenarios and finish it off on the jointer.
Just my opinion.
William!
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