Good planer sled designs?

[Steve Turner]

I have about 180bf of Shagbark Hickory (ten 8/4 boards, 9 feet long by 12" wide) that I need to get surfaced, but I seem to have misplaced my 12" jointer, and this little 6" jobbie just ain't gonna be of much help. Normally when I'm faced with the initial face-jointing of boards wider than my jointer I break out the jack planes and the No. 8 Bailey and go to town, and usually have a good time doing it. But with a giant stack of harder-than-nails Hickory? I don't think so. I'd look like Popeye by the time I got done. I know that some of you fart smellers forgo the jointer altogether and use the planer instead, and since I have a nice big 15" Grizzly that eats Hickory for lunch I figure it's time for me to build a sled. Any favorite designs? I know I could just screw two straight and true tubafours to either side of the boards and run that through, but I rather not run screws into the wood if I can help it. Side rails on a plywood base with pointy setscrews locking the boards in place? What about adjustability? I'd rather not build a fancy sled if it can't be used on boards of varying widths. Any and all opinions welcome.

[Swingman]

I use the kiss principle:

fancy ... just scroll down to planer jig. .

In this case the unusually long leading and trailing "stops" were to insure there was no snipe on the already fabricated doors I was planing (and to hold the doors tightly to insure they stayed over the carefully placed shims, and not slip during the trip through the planer).

... just a stop on the trailing edge is all that is normally necessary, unless you want to incorporate it into an anti-snipe device on some planers.

Just make sure the sled is "flat". :)

[Leon]

Simpelest solution, do they need to be 9" long, cut them in half and then run them through the jointer.

If they are relatively flat you can probably get away with simply running them through the planer as is.

Or Fine Woodworking had a plan for a sled, sorta complicated and works great except it gets heavy considering you are literally running the equivalent of 3stacked boards through at the same time.

I would be happy to e-mail you the plans in pdf.

[Gerald Ross]

For this I usually just use the planer taking very light cuts to lessen downward pressure, and flipping the board over between cuts. Not sure what a sled would do differently, unless you had cupping and support for the cup built into the sled. A twist would be very hard to remove this way, though.

[Steve Turner]

Hickory ain't the most stable stuff in the world, and these boards have plenty of bow and twist. I've done a bit of what you suggest on the eleventh board, but I really need some way to keep the boards stable during the entire trip through the planer.

[Steve Turner]

Sure Leon, I'd be willing to look at any plans you might have. Just follow the instructions in my sig to get the correct email address (oh yeah, and remove the trailing ".invalid").

And yes, I do want to keep the boards full length if possible. And no, they can't really be considered "relatively flat". Pretty wild stuff, unfortunately.

[Leon]

Having trouble sending...... Maybe if you e-mail me,,,, replace dot with .

LOL

Ill reply

[Leon]

Nevermind, I think it flew this time

[Morgans]

"Steve Turner" wrote Hickory ain't the most stable stuff in the world, and these boards have plenty of bow and twist. I've done a bit of what you suggest on the eleventh board, but I really need some way to keep the boards stable during the entire trip through the planer.

************************************************ How about using a little double sided tape to fasten some shims to the board in a few key places?

Works for me.

-- Jim in NC

[Puckdropper]

Steve Turner wrote in news:jhr9go$n2m$ [e-mail]:

I saw a jig in an older issue of WOOD magazine that might help. What it was basically was a frame for the router to sit on and move forwards and backwards and left and right. The router would then be used for truing the board.

Construction was basically two parallel boards, that a cross piece could move forwards and backwards on, and that cross piece had a slot that the router and bushing/bearing moved in.

I imagine using this jig would take more time than using the planer, but it might be useful on a twisted or particular troublesome board.

Puckdropper

[dpb]

...

...

Instead of shims, adjustable-height screws into the sled base where needed at appropriate height(s) is my choice if it's a nonuniform twist instead of trying to cut shim stock to thickness...

--

[Steve Turner]

Yep, got it; Thanks!

[CW]

"Steve Turner" wrote in message news:jhr2ns$fnu$ [e-mail]...

I have about 180bf of Shagbark Hickory (ten 8/4 boards, 9 feet long by 12" wide) that I need to get surfaced, but I seem to have misplaced my 12" jointer, and this little 6" jobbie just ain't gonna be of much help. Normally when I'm faced with the initial face-jointing of boards wider than my jointer I break out the jack planes and the No. 8 Bailey and go to town, and usually have a good time doing it. But with a giant stack of harder-than-nails Hickory? I don't think so. I'd look like Popeye by the time I got done. I know that some of you fart smellers forgo the jointer altogether and use the planer instead, and since I have a nice big 15" Grizzly that eats Hickory for lunch I figure it's time for me to build a sled. Any favorite designs? I know I could just screw two straight and true tubafours to either side of the boards and run that through, but I rather not run screws into the wood if I can help it. Side rails on a plywood base with pointy setscrews locking the boards in place? What about adjustability? I'd rather not build a fancy sled if it can't be used on boards of varying widths. Any and all opinions welcome. ==================================================================== I'd just use the planer myself but everybody tells me that that is impossible so I will suggest you get a hand plane with a tail on it.

[Leon]

Have you actually done that, adjustable screws instead of shims? Seems every thing would need to be readjusted when you removed the twisted board at each screw location so that you could turn the screws.

[dpb]

On 2/20/2012 6:53 AM, Leon wrote: ...

Huh? It only takes a few (2-3) and a couple tries.

But, admittedly, I've only done it at all a half-dozen times or so in 40 years--generally can get by w/o the sled at all and run the material through w/o compressing it and let the planer take care of it on it's own.

So, the time spent adjusting hasn't been much of a loss, overall.. :)

--

[Swingman]

A package of wood "shims" from the BORG are the ideal solution, IME. They can be accurately put in place in seconds, infinitely adjustable with no measuring, turning, screwing, can be taped in place with blue tape if need be in less time than it takes to say "jack robinson", and if they should ever hit the planer knifes for some unlikely reason ... they're "wood".

[Gerald Ross]

Long ago and far away I saw a planer kick a board back with such force it went through a paneled door and out in the yard. We had been lectured not to be behind a board going through a planer or table saw, so there were no injuries. But there were a few white-faced kids and one white-faced shop teacher.

That was a heavy free-standing planer with a real motor and real knives, but accidents happen. I would not want something like that happen and be left with a board with screws in it rattling around inside MY planer.

[CW]

generally can get by w/o the sled at all and run the material through w/o compressing it and let the planer take care of it on it's own.

Haven't you been reading the group here? That's impossible. Just ask them, they'll tell you. :)

[Steve Turner]

Uh huh, and since these boards are 9 feet long and my planer tables are "only" about 4, that does nothing to get rid of any bow in the boards, or any twist either, since most twist is at its worst towards the ends of the boards. And did I also mention that out of these 8/4 (approximately 2" thick) boards I'd kinda LIKE to get something a little thicker than 1/2", which is what I'd probably end up with if I used your method to get rid of all bow and twist?

[CW]

Uh huh, and since these boards are 9 feet long and my planer tables are "only" about 4, that does nothing to get rid of any bow in the boards, or any twist either, since most twist is at its worst towards the ends of the boards. And did I also mention that out of these 8/4 (approximately 2" thick) boards I'd kinda LIKE to get something a little thicker than 1/2", which is what I'd probably end up with if I used your method to get rid of all bow and twist? ============================================================================ If you did it, it probably wouldn't work. On the other hand, I would have no problem with it.