# Using a planer sled in place of a jointer?



## WoodNSawdust (Mar 7, 2015)

I only have a 6 inch jointer. Although I would like to upgrade it to a 10 inch or larger it just is not going to happen in the near future.

For the occasional need to join the first surface of a board wider than 6" I have been investigating the use of a planer sled. I understand how they can take twist out of a board. How does it work taking cup out of the board?

Let's define cup as un-flatness across the width of the board.

Thanks in advance


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## firefighterontheside (Apr 26, 2013)

It works the same for both instances. You keep planing until what's left is flat on the top, then remove from the sled and flip over. Now run thru the planer til it is flat on this side.


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

If your lumber is stiff enough, you can plane the cup out without using a sled. As long as your feed rollers aren't pressing the board flat. Plane it with the cup down until that side is flat, then flip it over and plane the other side. I do this with a lot of big hardwood slabs and it works for me.


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## WoodNSawdust (Mar 7, 2015)

> It works the same for both instances. You keep planing until what s left is flat on the top, then remove from the sled and flip over. Now run thru the planer til it is flat on this side.
> 
> - firefighterontheside


So if we need the sled to keep the feed rollers from taking the twist out of a piece of wood why do the same rollers not take cup out of the wood?


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## firefighterontheside (Apr 26, 2013)

A twisted piece will go thru the planer and just follow the twist since it is essentially flat from side to side. As gfadvm said, a cupped piece can be flattened without a sled as long as it is stiff enough that the rollers don't press it flat as it's going thru. The thinner your lumber is, the more likely the rollers will compress it as it goes thru. As it comes out the other side, the cup comes back.


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## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

There are specialty planer sleds to use in place of a jointer. They use shims to level and are a pain. Since you have a jointer, you won't have to mess with that.

Just remove the blade guard and joint 6" of one face. Then make a very simple planer sled… just a 6-8" wide strip of plywood, at least as long as your workpiece. Tack a cleat on the leading edge of the plywood. Place the workpiece with the flat reference surface on the sled. The workpiece will overhang the side of the sled. Run the whole works through the planer. Now you have one side completely surfaced. Set the sled aside, flip your workpiece over, and plane the other side.

This works for boards that are about 1/3 wider than your jointer. In other words you can mill 8" wide boards using a 6" jointer. A 10-12" board won't work very well.

Good luck with it.


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## jdh122 (Sep 8, 2010)

Even simpler than pintodeluxe's method: I remove the guard on my jointer and then just run the piece through flipping it end for end each time. It leaves a slight "step" on the board but there is enough flat bearing surface that you can then run it through the planer. Got the idea from Mathias Wandel:


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## geekwoodworker (May 27, 2014)

If you have a planer why not try something like this. http://lumberjocks.com/projects/143266


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## BobAnderton (Oct 5, 2010)

-Edit, after posting I realized that this is the same as what Willie (Pintodeluxe) was describing above. I kept what I'd typed below anyway because I think the video linked to explains it well-

Jeremy's (Mathias') method is good. I would even more recommend what is described in the 2nd half of this Wood Whisper tip. Pass the material over the jointer, keeping the orientation fixed so that you get a step of unjointed material on the bottom where it overhangs the jointer bed. Then with that face down place a piece of sheetgood under the jointed portion of the board so that unjointed ledge overhangs the sheetgood and pass through the thickness planer and it will plane the other surface parallel to the jointed surface. Then flip the board over and pass thought the thickness planer again to remove the ledge on unjointed material. I just keep an appropriate piece of good plywood around for this purpose.


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## Gene01 (Jan 5, 2009)

The pictured sled below, once built, is a great tool for flattening cupped or twisted lumber. 









Here's a link to a video building and using the sled.


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## WoodNSawdust (Mar 7, 2015)

> If you have a planer why not try something like this. http://lumberjocks.com/projects/143266
> 
> - geekwoodworker


Yes this is the Shopsmith (issue 137) jig I was planning on using.

Planner sleds are a new area for me and I just wanted to make sure that they will do what I want before I make one.


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## Gene01 (Jan 5, 2009)

That looks a lot easier to adjust than the one I posted. 
I'll be modifying min for sure.
Thanks Geekwoodworker!



> If you have a planer why not try something like this. http://lumberjocks.com/projects/143266
> 
> - geekwoodworker
> 
> ...


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## WoodNSawdust (Mar 7, 2015)

So, if one had a 15-16 inch planer and a easily setup sled does one need a jointer? Could I not "clamp" the wood into the sled and run it through the planer till flat, then remove the sled and plane the other side. I admit that the weight of the sled could be a factor.

As for the edge, I could double side tape a board onto the wood and use for a straight line rip.

What do you think?


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## HokieKen (Apr 14, 2015)

> If you have a planer why not try something like this. http://lumberjocks.com/projects/143266
> 
> - geekwoodworker
> 
> ...


I made the same sled as geekwoodworker and it works great. I use it exclusively to flatten rough lumber since I don't have a jointer. It does indeed eliminate the NEED for a jointer BUT it's not nearly as convenient. It can take a significant amount of setup time. If you're running more than 1 or 2 boards it can get downright exhausting. Don't get me wrong, it's one of the most used jigs I have but it's a $ saver and a space saver, not a time saver.



> As for the edge, I could double side tape a board onto the wood and use for a straight line rip.
> 
> What do you think?
> 
> - WoodNSawdust


I use my Table Saw taper sled to get the SLR after I've planed the thickness. It's just a 10" wide piece of 3/4" ply with a couple slots for hold downs. Again, it does the job and gets me by without a jointer but if you've got more than a few boards to do, you'll be wishin' for a jointer.


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## WoodNSawdust (Mar 7, 2015)

> It does indeed eliminate the NEED for a jointer BUT it s not nearly as convenient. It can take a significant amount of setup time. If you re running more than 1 or 2 boards it can get downright exhausting. Don t get me wrong, it s one of the most used jigs I have but it s a $ saver and a space saver, not a time saver.
> - HokieKen


How much time to setup?

Using the Shopsmith shed all you would have to do is to slide the supports onto the base, lock it down and adjust the knob till the support is against the wood. And then move onto the next support. I must be missing something because it seems like it would take a couple of minutes to setup a four foot board.


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## HokieKen (Apr 14, 2015)

> How much time to setup?
> 
> Using the Shopsmith shed all you would have to do is to slide the supports onto the base, lock it down and adjust the knob till the support is against the wood. And then move onto the next support. I must be missing something because it seems like it would take a couple of minutes to setup a four foot board.
> 
> - WoodNSawdust


That sounds about right… a couple of minutes per board. Which isn't noticable if you're doing a board or 2. But if you're doing 10-15 boards, you get a little tired of threading the knobs in/out. Like I said, it works extremely well, there are just times I'd really like to walk over to a jointer and take a couple swipes instead.


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