FWW hasn’t updated its favorite planer sled in a while and there is, in my opinion, a better option to what one finds on the site. The approach, described two years ago online, uses support wedges held in place with additional wedges in grooves across the sled. No hot glue or other fasteners are required.

In a YouTube video two years ago called “A New Planer Sled: Easy Setup when Flattening Boards with the Multiwedge,” Brian Ward offers a planer sled design for jointing a board face that makes a standard method easier to implement. With a pair of wedges in grooves across the sled, Brian supports the outside edges of a board placed convex-side down. By fixing the support wedges in place with another wedge in the groove, he avoids using hot glue or some other means to fix the support wedges. In addition, this approach makes it easy to have many support wedges.

Brian also points out that the sled need not be absolutely flat itself. This is because the planer references a relatively short section of the board. What is critical is placing the support wedges when the bottom of the sled is forced flat by clamping it to a flat surface. Of course, one should not take this to extremes. A relatively flat sled is best.

The overall result is a planer sled for jointing that is simple and effective.