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Heard about using a router sled for flattening slabs, thought it was a gimmick.
A guy at a lumber yard in Tacoma said he flattened a 10 foot walnut slab in under two hours with one. I built a simple one with some MDF and aluminum extrusions last spring. Used a 2 1/4 inch flattening bit. It worked way better than my old hand plane method. Saved me a full day of work on a big live edge table job. Anyone else switch to a router sled and have tips for keeping the track dead straight?
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clairepark25d ago
That's a huge time save. When you built your sled with MDF and aluminum, how did you attach the rails to keep them from flexing or bowing over that length? I've seen some setups where the track sags in the middle on a long slab.
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alex80925d ago
Actually, I think a little flex in the rails can be a good thing. It lets the whole system settle under its own weight and find a natural flat plane on your bench. Trying to lock it down perfectly rigid over that distance is where you get into trouble with binding. I just used standard L brackets every 16 inches and let it float a bit.
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