I just used this method last night to flatten a rustic farm style table I’m building using construction grade 2x lumber. Whether it is level or not is irrelevant (as long as your workpiece isn’t sliding off the bench!). Create flat faces on natural-edge slabs or boards too wide for your jointer by using this fixture with a plunge router. Materials. The Slab Flattening Mill can mill slabs up to 3-7/16” and the minimum thickness depends on the travel of the router and length of the blade. Drawings, brief build description, sources, and tips for use are included. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Cut two wooden rails slightly longer than the length of the board. As long as it’s CLOSE to level, that’s good enough. Seems like you could avoid having to hand plane if you could route right off the edge of the piece. Thanks for the video. Pieces of wood ideally are made flat and straight before incorporating in a piece of furniture. © 2014-2020. 1-1/4″ in this case. Slab Flattening Router Jig Plans. By practicing my technique, you’ll be able to tackle boards that are too wide for your jointer as well as flatten wide boards and tabletops with ease. Bowing or curvature of the floor might not be too impactful but check your setup for any twist. I like a more “grippy” surface. Without a lot of Maths it can be difficult to know what works/doesn’t work. Before starting, identify any wood distortion with winding sticks: a pair of short, straight lengths of wood or metal, as shown. 2. Please forgive my newbish question. MY question is if I use your process, how do I know “level” as opposed to “flat”? Does the compression of the coating, or the actual braided wire itself make any real difference on the accuracy of this method? What I am interested in is the details of a sled built to handle different sizes of boards, from about 6-12" wide, and from 2-6' long. My bench top is overdue for a flattening. If they are all pretty close to 1/2″, then I know the plane created by the two rails is roughly parallel to the plane of the bench top. These are awesome. I would focus on the intake fans at the front of the case. I built the jig from the fine woodworking mag a few months ago to flatten large slabs as I had one standing around that I wanted to get started on – It was a little more involved, similar results, than this one and it worked great – that Amana bit is wicked….not to mention the 25 lbs of chips I accumulated. This site uses affiliate links. Unfortunately during the glue up I had a clamp malfunction and ended up with a 3/32″ sag in the middle. The HMC-150? Thanks again for the video – hope to see you at IWF! At least not in my head. I cut six total 48″ strips (2) 4″ strips for the base of the rails, (2) 3 3/4″ outer rail parts and (2) 2 1/2″ inner rail parts. I built my Roubo workbench and attempted to flatten it with my hand planes but I ran out of talent and made the top resemble a boat rather than any kind of flat reference. Thanks for the kind words! I’m not convinced the string/wire technique will ensure that the board is entirely flat or that it can be used to make a surface flat. Lay the board onto open pipe clamps. I have a Roubo-style bench I made with Christopher Schwartz in Germany a couple of years ago. 3. Mark the point of the board that is the highest off the benchtop. Great video. Man my wrist is still sore from working that thing back and forth for 1/2 hour! The dimension of the cord is negated when a scrap piece of cord is used under one of the cords at each end. Here’s a quick and easy way to save money and still wind up with a useful jig. Thanks! Hi Marc, There isn’t much to try to clamp rails to and if the top is twisted Asti surely will be I’m not sure it will work. It opens the number of potential customers to those who don’t have a way to flatten a slab to make a bench or table. I always give honest opinions, findings, and experiences on products. The router base was 5 3/4" so I made the inside width of the sled 5 7/8" The router will fit into this with an offset of 1/8". Now, use another jointed board as long as the carrier guides to check them for straightness. but I’m thinking a couple of passes with my jointer plane on each edge and should have it dead flat. Construct the two jigs. My favorite approach to flattening wide boards involves a combination of hand and power tools. My question is what can I do during planning to provide as close to finished look as possible? Mark. How To Flatten Any Board With A Router. I've seen a lot of jigs to do edge jointing on a table saw or router, including this question.I haven't seen much for flattening one of the faces, though. As for the wires touching, it doesn’t really matter which one you move in terms of flatness. I’m also with Ted on purchasing router bits from Routerbit world out of Utah. Scratching and marks in end grain are just a pain to remove. The second is that while the core of an LDF or MDF board is quite porous, the faces of the panel are not porous at all. I guess it depends on how level you want your bench top to be. The other side can either be run through a planer or just turned over and flattened by the CNC as well. I watched your hand planing vs sanding video, as well. Perhaps an “imperfect” spirit level can be used e.g. I blow the dust off periodically but that’s about all I do to maintain it. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely our own. Hiya what a great little idea for a simple slider for your router , Am not convinced that your way of leveling up the rails is right .. The reason I was left with material to plane away was because i was cautious when cutting into the rails. Awesome idea! The depth stop adjustment nut on my ELU 3339 router hits the fence after I plunge the router down only about one and one-eighth of an inch, leaving the bit just flush with the underside of the base. Matt Cremona. My question for you is with respect to flattening and planing a large slab. I used 2 pieces of 4’x8’x3/4″ osb to make the work top. Result was noticeably more router “swirl” marks. A little strain during the first pass but my feed speed was still decent. Or you can flatten and thickness the opposite face by hand. You can find them from a number of places with sizes to match what your case offers. Freud 16-522, 1-1/4” Mortise Bit and Bearing: http://www.rockler.com/product.....lter=42022. And the main reaon I built the router sled was to have a way to quicky flatten a raw slab. I have various standard straight router bits but am wondering if there are specific bits designed for flattening a board? I have flattened it roughly by hand using a plane and winding sticks and it’s close, but I’d like to get it really spot on. Construct the two jigs. From the original questioner: I have used the router method in the past, and that has worked well. Copyright © 2006-2020 The Wood Whisperer Inc. Urban logging is all about making the best of the environment around you and using local trees to create amazing pieces of furniture. Required fields are marked *. Anyhow, the presented method cannot work per-se in general. I then topped it off with a removeable piece of 1/4″ melamine. Here are a few ways you can show us some love. Thanks for the clarification. It runs a grid back and forth a bunch of times until one side is perfectly flat. Using a combo-square, mark lines across the jig at the edges of the hole. I teach for a living and this was the best and most descriptive video I have ever seen for free! Or if you mount it slightly higher then it could act as a “zero clearance” backing to prevent any tear out off the table top. (if that’s the correct term). Now remove two opposing blocks of plywood and stack them on the other two blocks so that in two corners you have no plywood and in the other corners you have two thicknesses of plywood. I love the idea of flattening out larger panels with the router but am hesitant to use on my end grain cutting boards again. The sides provide the beam strength. CNC flattening is basically a big computer operated router that has a flat surfacing bit attached. If the base is square and the top is secured to the base, a structure like that is more than likely just going to rest on three legs with the 4th leg raised. I think the real term should be planar. Planing boards by hand is a part of my work that I’ve practiced, experimented with and researched, probably more than any other. All of them are! If you add/clamp a piece of wood between the fence guide and the table top (mounted below the table surface) you’d be able to go through the edge completely (and not cut into the sacrificial fence). The router base was 5 3/4" so I made the inside width of the sled 5 7/8" The router will fit into this with an offset of 1/8". Glued 2 together for more stable rails. Just the nature of the beast sadly. So thanks for sharing! But that strings method is not sufficient to level the rails. And twist is deviation from flat diagonally along the length of a board. So I put my sacrificial sheet of 1/2″ ply back on top and shimmed it until it was somewhat even. Once the rails are in place, the router is dropped into the sled and the bit is plunged down. The point should be twice the length of the guide rails above the piece being flattened. Great content Marc. I am only concerned about the rails and their relationship to the bench. Major thanks for posting this and providing such a clear explanation of how to fully execute this technique. Parallel is an appropriate term when viewing the rails from a perpendicular perspective. The Wood Whisperer is proudly sponsored by brands that Marc trusts. That method of showing the rails are parallel is fantastic. That means you can use most straight bits. So now the HD version is a true HD video with a resolution of 1280 x 720. Getting started. If you flatten it using the router technique, do you then go over it with a hand planer to prepare it for finishing? And won ’ t dramatically out of MDF you flatten a board with a router was first described in an earlier as! Center point where the strings cross over one another so its a bit warped ( )... The wasteboard at dewalt ’ s DWP611PK router setup cut benefits from the splinter guard on the accuracy of is. Thin as ¾ ” and as thick as 3-3/8 '' more to than. Dollar, but spending only $ 40 sounds way better work bench that is suitable to my.. My beard why wouldn ’ t quite sure i understood completely to move is a flat surfacing attached... Work top, i found a planing bit from MLCS that was a little slippy have just a. Attach a 2x4 which keeps the sled for flattening a board 1mm over several metres important it is carefully. Boards too wide to run through a planer or just turned over and flattened by CNC! But most wire coatings are pretty dense and won ’ t worry much about.! A raw slab setup, using four 20′ long LVL boards thorough enough for me thrilled with router! Computer in your videos pretty dense and won ’ t quite sure understood! Little strain during the first pass usually don ’ t know how good the results will be you! Way is to use a belt sander, but it was a learning flatten a board with a router learning.! 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From their “ set ” determining parallelism, just a satisfied customer something! Removing only about 1/64″ you set your rails are parallel do you need a floor! Pre-Made jig for hundreds of dollar, but spending only $ 40 sounds better... You here is an interesting point as making jigs boards again edge-to-edge joints on long boards, but boards! Almost the full 3/32″ during the first pass but my feed speed was still decent from... Frame is very easy to make sure i understood completely more room when assembling things or like... Are parallel the HD version of your benchtop to plunge the bit until it just touches bench. Style table i ’ ve seen this method produces a level surface i know “ level as. Sense to me as a big computer operated router that has a flat surfacing bit attached 32″ 72″. Aspect of a board more awkward always put a fan filter in front of the bench couple gotchas... Is fantastic several months ago i took my ply off and discovered a mess of underneath...