Planer sled

[firemanperry]

I recently purchased a good amount of cherry lumber that was rough cut. Most of the boards are at least 6 inches wide, some being 10 or more. My jointer is only 6 inches. I watched the planer sled (with router on tracks) to mill wider slabs and was wondering if I can use that same I'd a for my wife boards that are currently 4/4 thick instead of cutting them down to fit on jointer. My planer is good for 13". I'll still cut boards down to join them up I just figured it would be less waste. Any help is appreciated!

 

Thanks!

[wdwerker]

I built a planer sled and shimmed a wide rough sawn board with a twist in it using stacks of playing cards. I taped the card stacks in place and glued some stop blocks that were thinner than the board to keep it in place.  I was running it through my drum sander and set up a infeed and out feed table to handle the weight, both were shimmed to provide one continuous surface. I just kept running the whole contraption through taking very light cuts on each pass until I had a smooth face.

I have seen people joint the first 6" of a board with the guard removed and double face tape a board to the flat and run that through the planer to flatten the top, flip and pull the taped on board then finish the partially jointed face.

[firemanperry]

Thanks for the idea! I was thinking of the planer sled on tracks where the router has a bit in it that runs across the face of the board off of tracks and removed the material that way. But this is also a good idea where I can use my planer to max.

 

[Coop]

53 minutes ago, firemanperry said:

 I'll still cut boards down to join them up I just figured it would be less waste. Any help is appreciated!

I find that more often than not that I have less waste by ripping the wider boards down first at the high/low part of the board, then jointing the narrow boards. You then have less of an arc and thus less wood to have to remove. Then run the opposite side thru the planer.

[treeslayer]

i made a planer sled out of some MDF 12" wide and 6' long, used shims hot glued to the sled and boards and sent the whole thing thru my 13" planed, light cuts. use it to flatten out twisted boards on one face, google planer sled and see whats there

[Chet]

45 minutes ago, wdwerker said:

I built a planer sled and shimmed a wide rough sawn board with a twist in it using stacks of playing cards.

I have done the same thing as Steve.  I did it with some 8/4 12" wide stock it was a bit of a work out but went real well.

[gee-dub]

It always behooves you to breakdown material to smaller parts prior to milling up until they become too small to mill safely.  If you know the approximate width and length you will want, make those cuts first on the bandsaw or with a jigsaw.  If you still have pieces that are over the width of your jointer, a planer sled is my favored method.

I built Keith Rust's version from Fine Woodworking but, the version in Shop Notes #137 is more refined and had those plans been available at the time I would have made that one.  A versatile planer sled is always handy for those of us who use material wider than our jointer.  they will store easily in the lumber rack and wait patiently for their next appearance.

 

 

[Pwk5017]

Sounds like you need a 12" jointer.

 

Kidding aside, take the guard off, use push blocks, dont be a dumby, and take a hand plane to the ridge you are left with. Personally, I preferred to flip flop the board taking 1/32" passes to get the face pretty flat. I forget the %, but you obviously cant do 12" wide boards on a 6" jointer and expect them to be 100% flat. You might end up with two independently flat faces on one side. 8-9" wide on a 6" jointer should give you good results, atleast it did for me. This is coming from a guy that loathes jigs, so the planer sled never interested me.

[firemanperry]

http://www.amazon.com/Woodhaven-3004-51-Planing-Sled/dp/B002UZ8ZGE

This is along the lines of what I was thinking. I saw the wood whisperer used one for a tabletop but want sure if it would be good for smaller boards or if it is overboard.

Thanks for all of the good ideas! Keep them coning?#

[Tpt life]

3 hours ago, gee-dub said:

It always behooves you to breakdown material to smaller parts prior to milling up until they become too small to mill safely.  

Very dramatically overstated. Always needs to change to often or even sometimes. If a wide board is desired, there is a point of diminishing return with regard to gluing the pieces back together and the milling required after this point. There are a host of other factors that might lead one to mill in this fashion. Enough so that it is not a simple foregone conclusion. 

[gee-dub]

35 minutes ago, C Shaffer said:

Very dramatically overstated. Always needs to change to often or even sometimes. If a wide board is desired, there is a point of diminishing return with regard to gluing the pieces back together and the milling required after this point. There are a host of other factors that might lead one to mill in this fashion. Enough so that it is not a simple foregone conclusion. 

Ah, I have not been clear.  If you have a board 48" long and 11" wide and you need a board 32" long and 7" wide I would never waste time milling the larger piece only to cut a smaller piece out of it.  Reducing the length and width of an irregular piece of material reduces the impact of that irregularity and therefor requires less material to be removed to obtain a true surface,

I am not recommending that you make a bunch of smaller boards only to glue them back together to make a larger board.  I am simply stating that the effect of a bow in a 48" board will be reduced if that board is only 32" long.  Similarly, if I need a series of 6" boards I will cut a blank of a size that will present a minimum of irregularities, remain long and / or wide enough to machine safely and will yield a given number of my 6" pieces once it is milled and broken down further.

[Tpt life]

42 minutes ago, gee-dub said:

Ah, I have not been clear.  If you have a board 48" long and 11" wide and you need a board 32" long and 7" wide I would never waste time milling the larger piece only to cut a smaller piece out of it.  Reducing the length and width of an irregular piece of material reduces the impact of that irregularity and therefor requires less material to be removed to obtain a true surface,

I am not recommending that you make a bunch of smaller boards only to glue them back together to make a larger board.  I am simply stating that the effect of a bow in a 48" board will be reduced if that board is only 32" long.  Similarly, if I need a series of 6" boards I will cut a blank of a size that will present a minimum of irregularities, remain long and / or wide enough to machine safely and will yield a given number of my 6" pieces once it is milled and broken down further.

Thank you. Clarification noted and appreciated.