Router "sled" for flattening bench top - low friction?

[Keith Carlson]

Hi, I've found plenty of info on this, but one thing I haven't seen is anything about how much friction there is sliding the router sled across the rails. All the jigs I've seen are wood on wood.

Anyone who's used one of these, is the force it takes to push or pull the router sled across the rails not really a problem?

Thanks

[mike]

Keith:

I wax the bottom of the sled with paste wax. helps to keep the unit sliding easily. works great....not much resistance at all.

good lock Build with Confidence Mike from American Sycamore

[George]

I'm _almost_ out of the extra pieces of Formica flooring I use for things that need to slide, but that's one place I've used it. Makes good fences, sleds, even made a couple of cutoff jigs for the TS based on it. Time to re-floor the dining room.

If you don't have something like that, get some of the thick (mil) package tape they sell at Wally world and use it for slick. Doubt you'll need to replace it for a small job like a bench top.

[Robatoy]

I use laminate as a slippery surface all the time. Face-to-face it slides really nice. You can find some in a cabinet shop's bin. Most guys do a lot of giving this time of year (maybe a 6-pack will help) and will rip a few strips off for you. The laminate flooring suggestion is really good too.

r

[Keith Carlson]

Thanks, Mike (and others). I could picture pushing too high on the router, or having it catch and tip and digging a nice divot out of the top (or worse - have it bite and go out of control).

Sounds like if I make the surfaces smooth and wax them, no problem.

[bent]

I too way gonna comment on the formica. I've senn it at HD, but its as much as a whole countertop. I only want a few square feet. Where could get I it; i.e. what about getting smallish pieces. Don't mind paying for it, but at HD you need to break a hun!

[Robatoy]

messagenews: [e-mail]...

pushing too high on the router,

If your base is of a bigger diameter than your bit, that cannot possibly happen. It can happen if you run your sled off the rails.

r

[resrfglc]

It "comes" in 4 x 8 and 5 x 10' sheets as a rule. You didn't indicate if color or finish were critical to your application (in the post I read) and if that is correct, wait. I've seen customer returns marked down significantly at HD & LOWES (customer ordered 005678 and got 015678 leaving the store with a full sheet they can't return) and often the corners get dinged waiting for a buyer.

Whatever it's price (should you find one of these), get the department manager and offer him 25% of the list price for an "in stock" sheet and you may well get the bargain you need.

They also let you take the pallet wood bits for free - make a sturdy frame for a router table in my case. Most are roughly two-y's (with a groove for the strapping) about four foot long. Some of the stuff is really dense hardwood, most seems to be pine.

They also have a scrap lumber cart with items "priced" by applying a spray of various colored paint. If you've got a suitable conveyance with you and see cart chock full of something(s) you can really use - consider getting the Lumber Dept Mgr and offering him $15 for the lot.

I wound up with tongue and grooved (special order) two by six P.T. lumber sufficient to serve as the entire floor for a neat little garden shed (looks like a small house, actually) for $15.

[J. Clarke]

I dunno what's going on there--HD used to have precut sheets for reasonable prices, now they don't stock _any_, at least not locally.