Router Jig For Planeing

Nice setup!!

I thought about making something like this using drawer slides but there was too much “play” in the extension mechanism.

Nicely done. This actually can do a better job on your end grain cutting boards than a planer does, as the planer wants to tear out the trailing edge of the cutting boards. You will use this for more than just your cutting boards!

-- Rich in Richmond

Hey no fair! Yours looks much sturdier than mine! Looks like it worked well for you!

-- Respect your shop tools and they will respect you - Ric

Thanks fellas, It did work nicely. The only thing I am going to add to it before the next time is a board to close up the left side. This is where all the chips get thrown and without a barrier chips are everywhere. I just leaned a board against the end for now and that helped keep about 90% of the chips inside the jig…much easier for cleanup.

-- If, in your life, you attain the means to help; you incur the responsibility to act.

Oh…I forgot to mention. $30 and it was done. You could do it cheaper if you cut your own components. I cheated and bought the wood already (and conveniently…) jointed and sized. Just a couple of cuts with the chop saw and boom.

-- If, in your life, you attain the means to help; you incur the responsibility to act.

That’s cheap enough. I’m thinking I’ll make some black walnut that I have laying around, but then it won’t be an on the cheap project! hahaha

-- Respect your shop tools and they will respect you - Ric

thank you for sharing the great idea : ) How thick of material could you plane with this ?

-- You know you're getting old when you know the difference between you're (you are) and your (belongs to you) AND how to use them in a sentence .

Dusty…for reference the cutting board sitting in the jig was planed from 1.125” to a finished 1” as it is in the picture. The vertical walls are 3.75” tall…if I remember correctly, and are sitting on top of the base. So you could go almost up to that thickness of a workpiece. The base is a 24” x 48” “handi panel” from the local home improvement store. So capacity on this jig would be around 20” x 40” x 3.5”. That is leaving some room in all directions.

-- If, in your life, you attain the means to help; you incur the responsibility to act.

This is really cool.

It looks like you “clamp” the workpiece by screwing a frame around it, is that right ? I wonder if there’s a way to clamp it that doesn’t put holes in the bottom.

Thanks for sharing !

Sawdust, that is right. It works actually really well. You can see 3 small pieces of scrap screwed into the base on 3 sides. The near side has a block pinched between the workpiece and the near wall…not screwed. I found it easier to remove, flip and reinsert the workpiece if one side was removable. Not sure how you would do it if you couldn’t screw into the base…since you need unobstructed access to the top of the workpiece. I probably have 50 or 60 small holes in the base from where I’ve screwed in a holder and it doesn’t have any ill effect. I suspect at some point in the future I’ll have enough holes where the integrity of the base is compromised but I have to imagine that will be way in the future.

-- If, in your life, you attain the means to help; you incur the responsibility to act.

The beauty of this is that IF you do get more holes than you want, it’s easy to replace the bottom board/plywood or whatever you use. The thinnest I’ve gone (unintentionally, but it worked fine in the end) was 5/8” from just over an inch. It really depends on how you set your router and your bit for depth.

It’s possible that you could screw pieces in from the side, though I haven’t tried this and since it’s based on scraps as your holders, it may not be possible at all times to do it that way.

Glad you’re having fun with this one, and hope you’re making money from it, Ghazard.

-- Respect your shop tools and they will respect you - Ric

Ghazard,
I think you are applying the most appropriate clamping technique for small and thin workpiece where using commercial clamps would be an obstruction. In this case, the scraps that act as clamps shall be thinner than the workpiece to be planed as to avoid cutting them too or worse than that cutting the screws.

Good job Ghazard, thanks for sharing.

-- Regards, Woodworm - KL, MY.

My router is about maxed out in depth of cut to get the cutter down to a 1” workpiece thickness. If/when I need to plane thinner than that, I’ll make a new “sled” with an offset that drops the rails down in between the top of the walls. Or, I just replace the walls with shorter stock…drop the height by about an inch. Then I can get down really thin and still accommodate atleast 2.75”. Come to think of it…I should have done that in the first place! Oh well. Live and learn, right!

Oldskool…no money…just Christmas presents, for now! :)

-- If, in your life, you attain the means to help; you incur the responsibility to act.

Another grat jig to add to my collection that I want or need to build when I gat a chance. thanks for posting.

-- Pyromedic602, free wood is always good wood

Nice jig. What type of router bit do you use with this?

-- Praki, Aspiring Woodworker

favorited. this is a great but simple design. once we get resettled i’m going to be building something like this. thanks for posting.

~isaac

-- "Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there" -- Will Rogers

I used to flattern small size boards using this jig. I use 1-1/2”D bottom cleaning router bit.
Hate to my 3-1/2” power planer because its unbearable irritating sound.

-- Regards, Woodworm - KL, MY.

Praki, I use just a straight bit because I do not have a very big bit inventory. Here is a word of warning to anyone using this jig. I’m a little embarrassed but worth mentioning…

Be diligent in keeping the jig completely clear of any and all items other than the workpiece and holders. As you can see from my pics this jig takes up most of my benchtop space. I got lazy and set a hammer I had used within the workspace of the jig. When I was done with the cut I turned off the router and slid it off to the side…right over the head of the hammer, before it had come to a stop! The hammer won! I was doublely lucky in that none of the chucks of router bit and hammer head hit me and there wasn’t enough engagement to move the hammer much. Screwed the bit and taught me a lesson.

Be safe, all!

-- If, in your life, you attain the means to help; you incur the responsibility to act.

thinking more about it since yesterday, (Keep in mind that I’m very amateur and typically don’t know what I’m talking about, hence the interest in the design decisions and considerations). I apologize ahead of time if my ramblings don’t make sense :)

Could perhaps put in a 1/4” hardboard bottom, and just replace that part when it gets too perforated (Instead of rebuilding the whole jig). Although that may double the cost of the jig, heh :)

For depth of cut, what about creating a couple simple subbases that lift the piece closer to the router. For example, a 8”x10” 1/2 plywood with a 8”x 8” 3/4” centered on the 8×10. Then screw the overhang into the jig base, then anchor the workpiece to the sub base just as you do with the jig base. You can raise the workpiece up to the router by using different thicknesses.

On clamping, I saw a video of a guy using wedges for anchoring picture frames and boxes. I wonder if that would work here. Have a couple different subbase widths or even bench-dog like holes that anchor the first part of the wedge, then put in the workpiece and tap in the wedge. I imagine one could even get away with only wedging on one side (and the opposite side buts against the jig side). Although, I wonder if the vibrations would shake the wedge loose ? Or maybe the tapping would bow the board ?

Thanks for the brainstorm !

I built my flattening jig based on a plan found in one of ww magazines. It uses clamps to secure the workpiece against the rails that the jig rides on. View my workshop pic.

-- Regards, Woodworm - KL, MY.

The 1/4” bottom would work if you didn’t screw past that. The holders don’t have to be all that solid so 1/4 of thread engagement would be enough I’d guess…just size your screws right.

I love the subbase idea for thin workpieces. Perfect! Problem solved.

I’m having trouble visualizing the “wedge” clamps…are the pics of this anywhere. I’m curious.

-- If, in your life, you attain the means to help; you incur the responsibility to act.

Here’s a rough sketchup of it:

The idea is that the A wedges are screwed to the base, put the workpiece in, then tap wedges B into place. The wedge will hold the workpiece against the stop on the other side.

The intention is to make it easier to swap pieces in and out, and do less damage to the jig over time.

But I could think of a couple reasons not to use it: I’m not convinced it wouldn’t shake loose and let your workpiece bounce up into the router, and I’m not convinced it’s any more convenient than just screwing in the hold downs. You’d also have to move the A wedges around anyway in order to facilitate different width boards.

Anyway, just brainstorming.

ah…I see. Ya, I kind of agree with your reasons not to use it. The holders screwed in is just too quick and convenient. I like the idea though….another method to keep in mind for the future.

-- If, in your life, you attain the means to help; you incur the responsibility to act.