Router Planer Sled

Ted Calver

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Yorktown, Virginia
Some X, some Y and some Z. Hand planing those air dried cherry slabs that have been taking up too much room in the shop has been wearing me out. I figured a router planer sled would get the job done better, so I put together some 8020 extrusions, some Rockler Multi Track, some angle and floor brackets, various t-nuts and some turned inline skate wheels to create my version. Finally finished it today and gave it a test run. Useable area is 25" x 86" with about a three inch height adjustment range before I have to block up the frame. I just need to come up with a way to clamp the piece being planed. Others have used various bench stop systems for that, so that's where I'm headed. The skate wheels worked out great and both X and Y movement is very smooth. Some minor ridges left after planing, but a cabinet scraper took care of them easily.
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A really nice sled/jig/rig Ted. Very well done. I'm green. Well thought out and well executed.
 
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OK. That's it. I have a list of shops I want to visit one day and yours just made the list. Gotta admire a brain that builds this. Good job, Ted.
 
Thanks all. I just realized that I could cantilever this rig off the end of the bench or set it on saw horses and use my hydraulic table as a platform for much thicker pieces like burl chunks or log cookies. The wife uses some large eastern red cedar logs as plant stands that I've never been able to get the tops straight on. I bet this will do the job:)
 
I really like this sled, Ted. :thumb: I need to build myself something to flatten a large slab. How did the cost of the aluminum extrusions and wheels compare to the cost of building something out of lumber and plywood?
 
I really like this sled, Ted. :thumb: I need to build myself something to flatten a large slab. How did the cost of the aluminum extrusions and wheels compare to the cost of building something out of lumber and plywood?

No contest, Vaughn. Lumber and plywood are way, way cheaper for a one time project.

I purchased the extrusions on the 80/20 Ebay site several years ago and they were a bit cheaper then, but not much. Today, I would look at Tnutz for everything (cheaper and better service). Eight foot long series 15 (1.5"x3") smooth extrusions: 2@$75; 36" long end pieces: 2@$27; gusseted corner brackets 4@$5; Misc skate board wheels and bearings ?? Then you need a carriage for the router. The extrusions for mine came from Rockler (I'd use some from Tnutz). Four more corner brackets @$3.25. I cut a custom router base from aluminum plate (Amazon) and used 4 series 15 floor brackets@$5.25 to suspend the plate below the carriage. Add a bunch of specialized extrusion nuts and bolts @$25. Throw in another $50 or so for shipping. Adding the trailer jacks this year was 4@$27 from HF with a coupon.

All that gives me a tough durable erector set that so far, makes an adjustable router planer sled, a chainsaw mill, and an adjustable, variable size finger joint jig for large material... and I'm not done messing with it yet.
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