Planing using a router

[WingDing]

Hi all,

I recently purchased some 4/4 walnut with some really neat grain pattern. After a few days of sitting out in my shop, the wood has warped ever so slightly.

I haven't purchased a planer yet, but I've found some interesting videos on youtube that I wanted to get your feedback on. Basically, a sled is built to hold a router. The slide rides along runners, routing away the high spots of the wood.

Surely looks like it'll be time consuming, but the end result seems just as good as running boards through a planer.

Has anyone ever tackled something this way? How'd it work out for you?

I'll post links to the videos shortly!

 

[busterswoodshop]

I made a sled quite awhile ago to straighten out some wood . It works but the problem is that if you plane to much off from one side , the wood will start to move and will warp the other way. If the warp isn't to bad it might work alright. If you keep planing one side to much then it will warp .

 

[Cammy]

I have never tried this, but if it does not hurt anything go ahead and try it. If you mess up the wood, at least you tried something new. I am curious to hear what everyone else says.

 

[WingDing]

Thanks for your input, guys.

I've got two 4/4 boards, so maybe I'll build a sled and plane one using this technique, and hand plane the other. I'll try snapping some photos and sharing my experiences along the way. Hope to get to it in the next few weeks.

buster - I've heard similar issues with warping. I'd imagine there's certain thicknesses of starting stock that makes more sense to use this method than others. Would be a neat test someday. Use the sled for 4/4, 6/4, and 8/4, documenting any warping along the way. I'd assume the thicker you start with, the better, providing that thicker stock means less material removal.

Cammy - I like that attitude! Like Thomas Edison once said... "I have not failed, I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

 

[woadwunner]

I saw a hint the other day. They suggested taking a board, cut it onto 3 strips, mix them up and reglue. This was in respect to cupped boards and this method would prevent you from removing too much wood.

Here is the complete text.

Flattening a Cupped Board: If you flatten a cupped board using a jointer and a thickness planer, you could remove too much of the board. Consider this alternative approach. First rip the board into, say, three narrower pieces, joint the edges, turn the centerpiece over and edge glue them. Finally, face-joint and thickness plane the board after the glue has cured.