# Router sled for planing?



## Brokenanew (Dec 12, 2018)

I need to plan down this red oak table top to bare wood. I saw a plan using met as l rails and plastic from cutting board for sled. Left really bad lines. Made a more rigid one with MDF. Was better but still left lines that will likely take elme an hr to sand. You can see where I have already sand and where I haven't.

My question is, is there setup that leaves virtually no lines?
I had planned on using This as my planer since I don't have s table top planer and a jointer if possible. Thoughts? Ideas?
Thanks for your expertise.


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## BFamous (Jan 26, 2018)

Are you going back and forth, so that the cuts are made going alternating directions? Or is you router bit not 100% parallel to your slides (e.g. is one side of the "line" slightly higher than the other)?

It's difficult to tell by the pictures (looking from my cell phone), so I can't tell what the line actually is…


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## ArtMann (Mar 1, 2016)

There is only so much you can do with a router and sled. It isn't a perfect replacement for a planer. I am having a hard time judging just how bad the unsanded portion of the surface is. From the picture, it looks to me like a good random orbital sander would make quick work of that finish. Just start with 80 or 120 and work your way through the grits. There are some people who could rapidly make that surface glass smooth with a hand plane but not me.


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## rad457 (Jun 15, 2013)

I used a Dish carving bit when I flattened my Workbench, cannot remember any lines being left?


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## Andybb (Sep 30, 2016)

For a router sled to work well it needs to have zero flex in any of the components. If you're gonna use wood it needs to be hard wood thick enough to not flex.

However, it looks flat. As ArtMann said I think a ROS working up through the grits will do just fine but a sled is not a replacement for a planer. The sled is for hogging and general flattening. Unfortunately most of us don't have planers large enough to put something that large through it. After doing 2 or 3 tables using a sled I opted to spend the $80 to have the local mill plane and sand my slabs. Just got to be too time consuming and made a huge mess.


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## Brokenanew (Dec 12, 2018)

It sanded out fine but took as couple of hours it seems. I used belt sander with 120 grit. I used a magnate 7206 planning bit? It is 2" wide. With the metal sled it was not perfectly perpendicular. The MDF sled did a lot better, at least close enough that sanding finishes it off. 
I can't tell why they he lines still show up. This whole planing deal is a mess and very time consuming. I may try a bowl but next time to see what happens. Thanks for the input.


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## Brokenanew (Dec 12, 2018)

It sanded out fine but took as couple of hours it seems. I used belt sander with 120 grit. I used a magnate 7206 planning bit? It is 2" wide. With the metal sled it was not perfectly perpendicular. The MDF sled did a lot better, at least close enough that sanding finishes it off. 
I can't tell why they he lines still show up. This whole planing deal is a mess and very time consuming. I may try a bowl but next time to see what happens. Thanks for the input.


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## Brokenanew (Dec 12, 2018)

And I was only moving one 1 axis not 2 meaning I d in didn't plane perpendicularly


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## LesB (Dec 21, 2008)

I think the lines you are still seeing after sanding is wood fibers that has been compressed by the router bit as it cut. It has to push down some during the cutting and that causes some compression of the cut wood fibers. Only more sanding will remove that. Possibly you should have made shallower passes with the bit and as mentioned above used a cross hatched pattern.

If what you were trying to accomplish was to remove the old finish you might have gotten better results by using a chemical stripper and a cabinet scraper, then sanding.


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