# Surfacing rough lumber without a 16" jointer



## GaryK

If you don't mine a little extra work, you can save money on lumber by buying it rough.

This will sometimes get you a little extra wood. For example 8/4 surfaced lumber is 1 3/4" 
thick because it has been smoothed on both sides. Rough lumber would be an actual
2". Now if the board is really flat you may be able to get a 1 7/8 thick board out of it.

Anyway the problem is that most people don't have a wide enough jointer to smooth
one surface flat so that you can run it through your planer. This is how I do it.

I finally had my workbench clear of other projects so I thought I would share with you how I surface
rough lumber without the jointer. Now this method can work with almost any width lumber. I have a 13" 
planer so I use that as my limit even though you can do wider boards as I will explain.

First you need a jig. I made mine 10' so that I could do up to 9' boards.
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It's basically a long narrow piece of plywood with a couple of guides attached upright along the length.
I added a stop block at each end to keep from over shooting with the router. Laying across are a couple
of sticks I use when I don't want to route the entire surface.

Here is a closeup of the hook added to the end.
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Then I made a sled on wheels to mount the router on.
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The slots allow me to move the router to any position from the middle all the way to the right.
Then just rotate the sled 180 degrees you get to the other side.
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I use a 1 1/2' bottoming bit
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Now it time to start with your lumber. I use small wedges to keep if from rocking.
I use a level as a straight edge to try to get both ends as level as I can.
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Then I use pairs of wedges to keep the piece in place while routing.
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Then I set the router depth to the lowest point on the lumber. If it's really bad I take
two passes. Then I route the entire length of the board keeping about 1" from the edge.
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Then flip the router around and make a second pass along the other edge.
At this point if you board is narrow you can just surface the entire surface and you are ready for the planer. 
And if you didn't have a planer wide enough you could flip the board over and do the other side.
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If you have a really wide board as I do here and you don't want to make a ton of chips you can use
those two strips of wood I showed you earlier and use them as spacers in the two grooves you
just milled. The blue tape is to keep them in place as I move it around.
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I use them like you would use a planer sled. 
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After you are done you have one side perfectly jointed. Then just flip it over and take it to thickness
as you normally would.
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Here you can also see the Wixey planer gauge upgrade on the right side of the planer.
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## boboswin

Excellent Gary. It's been on the back burner forever here. I'm glad you prodded me again.
Very nice cradle. Just the right size for my shop too.

Bob


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## Tangle

Really great instructions, Gary. Thanks for the tips.


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## Max

This is great, thanks Gary.


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## Karson

Great tips Gary. Nice job on the design and implementation.


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## North40

Very good idea! I've done something similar, but without the wheels and carrier strips. You've definately taken this idea to the next level.


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## mot

That's perfect Gary. I've read about this, but didn't know anyone that had tried it. cool.


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## Rymann

This is brilliant. Very cool.


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## Dorje

What a great strategy!


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## rikkor

That's a heads up method for jointing and planing without multi-thousand dollar tools. Good blog.


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## Russel

Ingenuity is a good quality to have. This is a very well explained method of getting that first surface right. Thanks for the post.


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## croessler

Best version of this jig I have ever seen… Thanks!


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## gene

Thanks Gary, The step by step was great.
God bless


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## bbrooks

Great tutorial Gary, along with a nice method of "jointing" a flat surface on a board. It looks like a great idea for those of use with a smaller jointer.


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## Samyer

Good work , Gary. Nice pictures, too!


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## jcees

That's a keeper. I'm going to borrow that one real soon. I usually crosscut near-to-size then work one side dead flat with hand planes then feed the rough side to the planer on a sled. Your jig handles long boards and can easily be adapted for shorter stock. Sweet! This one will be a major labor saver on the days I don't have the time to push a plane. Nice job.

always,
J.C.


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## Grumpy

Great way to recieve a good result Gary. Thanks for sharing.


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## Zuki

Geeze . . . good work there G-man. Excellent pictures and text. Explained it very well indeed.


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## JJackson

Gary,
You spent a lot of time designing this and building it and I think you have done a great job. Nice work!


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## Mike309

Thanks Gary, you have solved one of my problems. Excellent.


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## Phishead

Nice. I'll trade you for my RAS. That's a sweet jig. I'm definately building one of those. I like the idea of the runners in the grooves.


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## jockmike2

I wish I'd known about this sooner, I ripped 4 or 5 12 ft bds that were just too wide for my planer. The only other thing like this I've seen is one Mark DeCou used to flatten some wide boards. He had the same basic set up but just went back and forth to flatten his board. This is cool, no it's way cool. mike


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## Gofor

Not having a power jointer (I have been using hand planes), I will definitely use this tip. Thank You for posting it!!


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## SPalm

Good Job.
I be it would work well for surfacing cutting boards too.


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## GaryK

SPalm - It should work great for cutting boards. I hadn't thought of that.

You could do many at the same time also.

Easier to sharpen a router bit than planer blades after cutting endgrain.


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## woodnut99

Wow, outta my league for now any way" That;s sweet I had a hazy dream once about a shop like yours!!!!! I'm still hearing it from the little lady about saw dust everywhere. . Some day O' one of these days… All work now is still on site. Two thumbs up on this project it's the thing us rookies drool over…...


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## GaryK

Another note. If you buy rough lumber, see if you could find someplace local to mill it for you.

I have a place about 30 miles from me that will surface both sides for 7 1/2 cents a BF. That's $7.50
per 100 BF. ( Why board foot and not linear foot I don't know?)

So adding $.10 a BF for surfacing would still make it worth it to buy your lumber rough.


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## codafile5

This must be the top project yet, now that makes 14 projects to do, and I havent got all my equipment together yet. as I,m new to the lumberjocks. Expertly provided !


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## JoeLyddon

That's a cool shortcut! 

Very informative…

Thank you.


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## dalec

Gary,

After your recommendation that I consider a planer over a jointer due to the typical budget and space limitations in my garage/workshop, I finally ordered/received my planer. I looked hard at the Delta and Dewalt 13" planers. Finally decided to go with the Dewalt because of the chip blower and three blades.

I am about to begin flattening some boards, so I did a LJ search of came across your tutorial on this topic.

Have to say LJ is a great resource for beginners. Sure helps with the learning curve.

Thanks,

Dalec


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## Narayan

Nice. I've seen other versions of this jig which use angle iron for the rails, but I suspect your version yields a superior result.

This is only my third post on this site; hopefully it doesn't ostracize me. I'm not a militant handtool user.

You could also do this with a handplane or two, which store very nicely . I only have a 6" jointer (hoping to fix that "problem" soon), so I regularly surface wide boards with a jack and a jointer plane. Takes some skill, yes, but a skill that is very easily learned and pays off for a lifetime.


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## GaryK

Narayan - I don't use handtools unless it's the best tool for the job. Seem too much like work 

I only have a 6" jointer. That's why I came up with this method, so I didn't have to use my jointer at all.


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## coolbreeze

Great idea. I usually rip em all down to 6" so I can joint & plane. Thanks for the tip.


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## boboswin

I have a piece of 6/4 cherry that's a candidate for this jig.
Seems all I do is make jigs.<g>

Thanks Gary

Cheers
Bob


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## brunob

Another winner Gary!


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## GaryK

This method should show up in ShopNotes sometime soon.

They have already sent me a check for it.


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## CharlieM1958

Great idea and very clear instructions, Gary. But I have to say, I like the idea of paying a guy $7.50 per 100 bf to surface it for me even better!


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## jm82435

Congratulations. This is a good technique and great explanation. Thanks for sharing. We can always say we saw it here first…


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## GaryK

Charlie - I found out later that that's with a $50 minimum. So you better have a lot of wood.


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## CharlieM1958

You are right….that would be a lot of wood. If my math is right, though, $50 would get you 667 bf of surfacing. That seems like quite a bargain *if* you had that much wood.

(Yes, Gary, I'm obsessed with avoiding any work I don't find fun.)


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## teenagewoodworker

wow great instruction. maybe when in have some time this summer I'll try buying some rough lumber. thanks for the post.


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## Tikka

Nice idea Gary. But as you have a planer, why do you just not use the sledge method to flatten one side of the board, then turn it over and thicken it in the normal way.

This is the method I use for my 15" wide, 8/4 thick and 10' long oak boards I used to make my table tops. Here is a link http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/FWNPDF/011175058.pdf, [Fine Woodworking #175] but I think you have to be a member

I did use your described method once (without the wheels) to flatten a work bench - it worked a dream.

I only ever buy rough lumber - it is a lot cheaper and you can get to use the full thickness especially useful when making curved parts for a project I.e. Chair legs, seat back rails. that 1/4" can make all the difference!


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## DocK16

Another wiinner GK. I only have a 6 inch jointer (long bed Powermatic) but for boards over 6" it just can't plane them flat and who can afftord an 8 or 10 inch jointer. (I always wondered why the price for a 8 is almost twice that of a 6 incher. I digress, this is a great idea for getting a truly flat milled wide board and I just might have that bottom cleaning bit hangin around by my Legacy Mill. Thanks for the great post.


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## ChicoWoodnut

Gary,

I couldn't help but notice. Is that a microfiche reader in your shop?


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## GaryK

ChicoWoodnut - Very observant. I had just bought a new lens for it and I took it down from the attic.
I do genealogy also and have a lot of reference material on fiche.


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## DocK16

Ah Yes Chico I see it now, Microfiche reader? You must collect 8-track tapes too. I think I've been chasing you two around this site all night.


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## Chipncut

Thanks for the great pictorial, a very handy setup.


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## HallTree

Great idea Gary! That idea will allow us, with limited income, to expand our woodworking skills. Thanks.


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## HokieMojo

Gary,
It looks like I am going to need to try this out. Do you by any chance know if the bit you mentioned (1 1/2" bottoming bit) goes by any other names? I've tried looking some up online to get an idea for prices, but I'm not finding much. Thanks again for this great post. It will really help me get the most out of the lumber.

Also, I do not have a jointer at all, so I think that in this case, the shorter the board you can use when you start, the less material will be wasted so cutting the lumber to the rough sizes first would probably be a good idea. Do you agree with this?
Thanks


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## GaryK

HokieMojo - you can frid the bit here:

http://magnate.net/index.cfm?event=showProductGroup&theID=136

They have then all the way up to 2 3/4"

It you use this method you don't need a jointer. The length of the board doesn't really matter unless it's
warped a lot. Then cutting it into smaller pieces will save you some wood.


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## bayspt

Very good idea. I was going to make one with just runners but I like the wheeled sled. I will also be borrowing this in the near future.


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## RusticElements

I've had trouble with this before and didn't know what to do about it. Now I do. THANX!!!


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## Sawdust2

After I read Tony's entry I went and checked the link. I remember reading that at the time and thought that it was a lot of bother.

Your jig is so much simpler.

I just happen to have 4 wheels left over from when I took my old saw table apart.

Lee


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## sIKE

I love it, it has been added to the todo list


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## DCG

Very nice. This may be a solution I can use. Thanks, Justin


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## ShipWreck

Gary…..... ahhh ummm errr …...... Your good! Thanks for taking the time to post those pics.


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## SteveKorz

Thanks Gary, another great idea!


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## DavidFisher

very cool. I've seen that done other ways before, but not with routing the strips on one side. That seems to be the best melding of the techniques. I'm going to have to give it a try.


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## JohnGray

Thanks Gary I favourited it.


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## Chipncut

I made a similar set up to flatten out a 30" diameter by 12" thick Pine log for a display at a local museum.

so they could show the growth rings.


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## RedShirt013

Very cool jig Gary. Better than a sled, I can see how that this will take out slight cup in your lumber too with a planer only and very little work otherwise. Great idea


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## damianpenney

This post is a keeper, thanks Gary.


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## Sac

Thanks for the ideas here!


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## Beeguy

This one is great. I love pictures and don't like reading directions. I have done something smaller but I never thought about the wheels on the sled. What a great idea. Thanks Gary!!

I started using all rough cut lumber for my projects. I am lucky enough to have a sawmill (with kilns) just 8 miles away, and if I preplan a little they will surface it for a very reasonable price. But most times I just run up for a few pieces on the spot and have to do surface it myself. It is still better quality and cheaper than what I can buy elsewhere and it is local lumber.


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## GaryK

I'm curious if anyone has tried this yet?


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## Grumpy

Gary, plans Now have a members download this Month on tablesaw jointing. May be of interest to you.
www.plansnow.com


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## Sac

Great post Gary as 0% of my lumber is bought rough.


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## dsb1829

Interesting take on the router sled. Any issue with the runout in the caster wheels?


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## depictureboy

Nice gary, It certainly has some advantages over a full sled jig. thanks for sharing…this definatly goes in my shop project folder.


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## sIKE

Gary,

Did this ever make it in to ShopNotes? If so what issue?

I am thinking about making one this weekend. I have some 6-10 wide 5/4 cherry that needs to be milled down to the proper size and don't have a Jointer that will handle the wider stock.


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## GaryK

sIKE - It hasn't been in there yet. Maybe they are saving it for something special.


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## Mikeshea

THIS IS INDEED A VERRY INOVATIVE IDEA. I MEAN JOINTING WITH THE ROUTER I HAVE HEARD OF BEFORE BUT THE WAY YOU MADE YOUR JIG IS BRILLIANT. JUST AS I WAS THINKING MAN THAT WOULD TAKE A THOUSAND PASSES TO JOINT THE WHOLE BOARD YOU SHOW HOW YOU ONLY JOINTED TWO SLOTS FOR PLANNER SLED BARS TO FIT INTO. BRILLIANT MAN. I WILL DEFINETLY USE THIS TIP SOON


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## archie18

Thanks for posting. I have some 3×14 oak I couldn't figure out how to work with.


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## sIKE

Gary,

I know that your super duper clamp made it in did this one make it in? Headed out to the shop to dig though my back issues. Wish they had an online index like Wood magazine. I never got to it 83 days ago, gonna make another pass at getting this done.


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## Julian

Gary, I just made one of these jigs last week and it works perfect! Thanks for the idea. I was wondering how I was going to joint my wide stock of elm which should be ready in a few months.


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## GaryK

Julian - Glad it's working for you.

sIKE - They paid for it but haven't printed it yet.


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## TREEBOY

Thanks for taking the time to explain this so well, and with pics. I love learning things like this before bed. I will fall asleep thinking about this and wake up with a better understanding of other things too. You are gifted.


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## laflaone

Gary, Good job! I recently finished a workbench and made a router flattening jig similar to yours. I have attached some photos to show what I did. One variation that I did was take an old shopvac floor attachment and fix it to the sled, then added some scrap strips around the sled to add to the vacuming effectiveness. I use a Clear Vue Mini cyclone and a shop vac. Everything worked great.


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## Karson

Gary I missed this when it was first posted. I done something like yours to flatten the entire board / Workbench. But I hadn't thought about the two grooves and then running it through the planer. That is a great tip.


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## GaryK

laflaone - That's the method I used to flatten my workbench also.

In fact if you look at the picture of my workbench you can see the jig leaning up against the wall.

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/1773


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## GaryC

The value of the information gained on this site is beyond anyone's imagination. Thanks for the info Gary. Some day we'll have to meet. Can't be too far away. How far are you from Texarkana?
gary


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## GaryK

Gary - It looks like you are about 100 miles away. You are welcome to stop by any time. Just send me a PM.


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## Knuckles

This is a great tip. This looks like it should be a heck of a lot easier and more reliable than the wedging the rough luimber on a sled. Thanks a bunch!


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## TopamaxSurvivor

Thanks Gary, I put it on watch so i don't forget it ;-)


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## coloradoclimber

An excellent jig Gary. When I first saw it I thought it was going to be another route the whole surface and try to get it perfect but this looks much better. Focus on getting just what is required flat and parallel, two strips, and then let the planer do it's job. Thanks for the idea, I've tucked this one away.


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## DavidFisher

Nice. I saved this thread for later. Someday I'll build one for myself.


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## HarleySoftailDeuce

Thanks so much for this build! It will certainly help me in my wood working.


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## adroga

This is a very creative jig to use in the shop.

I am just starting out myself and couldnt find surfaced lumber near me… just wondering when building this how do we guarantee that the material used are straight? This may sound stupid but how do we guarantee the plywood and the guides are straight to begin with?

Thanks!


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## GaryK

adroga - Well, good quality (read not Chinese) plywood is about the flattest thing you can buy. It basically comes down to what you lay them on.

The two strips going down the length were cut from the long edges of the sheet of plywood. You can't get a much straighter edge than a factory edge from a piece of plywood. The I fastened them with that factory edge to the sheet. This will get them pretty flat.

I use the top of my workbench to lay the fixture on, which I machined to be flat.

If you don't have a flat workbench then you will have lay your fixture on whatever you have. Then you will have to shim your fixture flat. A nice 4 or 6 foot level will help you with this.

Flat is what you are looking for not straight.

It's basically up to you to make sure that it's flat.

BTW this was my post number 9500.


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## adroga

Thanks for the reply, just what I needed to know. Everyone is really friendly and helpful here.

And congrats on #9500… : )


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## 8iowa

It's alwaus interesting to see the many methods to accomplish a task in woodworking.

I cut rough sawn boards slightly longer than my project dimensions, then clamp the board on my workbench. With winding sticks and hand planes I then knock off high spots and remove twist. I don't need to plane the whole surface before running the board thru the planer.

I guess I'm just old fashioned.


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## GaryK

I got a question recently about how I would surface thinner stock like 5/4 since the router bit won't extend far enough to reach it.

A bit extension would work, but I wouldn't recommend it due to the side load it would put on the router.

What I do is to screw a piece of 3/4 plywood on the inside. Then I can set my 5/4 stock on it to raise the height.
It basically just acts as a spacer underneath the wood you're working on.

To work on even thicker wood like 12/4 I would put spacers along the outside edges under the wheels.


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## GMman

Great tip Gary Thanks


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## Dusty56

I see you posted this LONG before I was a member , Gary….the whole set-up is fantastic and I believe that you just saved me from purchasing an 8" jointer : ) Favorited and must build , thank you and Happy Holidays !!


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## VillageBoy

THIS THING MAY BE A LIFE SAVER FOR ME…..!!!

GaryK,

LJ- ghazard sent me a link to this page because I have a bunch of rough Gabon Ebony, dimensions 3-4" x 12-19" x 73", that am trying to figure out how to surface with either a planer or vert. bandsaw.

The boards were milled/cut with a chainsaw so the depth changes throughout the length of the board. I can't get a flat enough surface to get it through my planer without jamming at some point along the length of the board.

Forgive me, I am definitely a woodworking rookie at best……

That said, how does this thing work?

Is it that the router passes that allow for the jig/sled rails, and the jig/sled rails act as a "prosthetic" that creates one level side of the board, so that when it passes through the planer you get a level cut on the opposite side of the board?

-- VillageBoy


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## GaryK

Damn! You give one board and I'll mill the rest for you!

It works just Like it says. Use the jig to mill two grooves on one surface, flip it over and using two square rails run it through your planer to get one nice flat surface. Then you can run the side with the grooves through the planer to get a nice parallel piece of stock.


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## VillageBoy

Hey!! GaryK THANKS ALOT BROTHER!! Imagine i have been methodically using a hand planer to "sorta level" out the faces and then trying to run it through the thickness planer 15-30 times w/minor adjustments to arrive at a level board!

I am starting to see why my carpenter friends have been so surprised(entertained and amused) by my methods….

Now I'll show them whats whats!!!!

Post pics of my results soon.

Wow. Thanks Man.

-- VillageBoy


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## Dusty56

*20thousand7hundredeighty8 views as of right now , Gary…got to be some kind of record here : **)*


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## GaryK

Dusty56 - Maybe for a forum topic, but I somehow doubt it.

I do have 170,073 views as of right now for my Box of Drawers project though.


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## Dusty56

Gary , your box of drawers was one of the very first projects that I saw and was overwhelmed by on this site : )
I haven't seen a project that can compete with that yet !! : )


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## 489tad

Pretty slick. 
That is a keeper. Thanks!!!


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## dustyal

I see where you posted this 1,412 days ago. It is still effective. I was thinking of doing something similar, but a bit wider and shorter. Its easily adaptable. Thanks for the detail.


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## Karson

Al: I can plane your board on my planer. I can handle 20"


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## pintodeluxe

Also consider the technique of removing the guard on your 6" jointer, and then send through your planer fixed to a sled. This is described elsewhere on LJ's.
Thanks for this method.


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## dustyal

Thanks Carson… it is that big slab in my garage. Iroka? Haven't decided what the project will be. Now with cast, on arm, I'm told to stay away from tools until removed. Thanks GaryK for use of your space!!


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## GregInMaryland

Bump


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## Mahdeew

Very, very, VERY cool. Thank you. I have a few thousand board feet to try this on…. Thank you, THANK YOU.


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## HorizontalMike

Thanks for bumping this thread Greg. Gary was and is till missed. He shared much with LJs and it still is a pleasure to see his past contributions continue to inspire those of us who continue in this life.


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## bigblockyeti

So glad this was bumped, love the idea of only making two passes for runners vs. plowing out tons of chips onto the shop floor! This technique will work great for some nearly dry stuff I'll have to figure out how to flatten in a couple months.


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## DrDirt

Nice set-up usually I see the router sled for flattening live edge slabs to make table tops from wild wood, that woudl never go through a planer or jointer.

Nicely done. I haven't had to flatten something that wide. I use a sled with my 13 inch planer on a regular basis though.


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## GregInMaryland

Hey Mike,

I was looking for a planner sled and ran across Gary's post. It was too good just to fade into obscurity.

In looking at his profile, I was really saddened to see that he had a 5-7yr old daughter when he passed. It is very sad.

I think that will explore his profile and projects more. There is just a wealth of information there.

Greg


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## woodsmithshop

sorry to hear of his passing, this is the first I have heard of it, when did this happen?


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## GregInMaryland

Smitty, Just about a year ago. Link

Greg


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## blackcherry

GaryK was one of the most talented and sharing Jock on this site. If your new and really need some inspiration check out his blogs, over the top insiteful. We lost him way to young a LJ Classic, rest in pease my friend in woodworking….Blkcherry


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## CL810

I hope he knew how much he was valued.


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## woodsmithshop

Sorry, I missed it somehow. there are a few that I have not seen posts lately, makes one wonder what happened to them.


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## Dusty56

Wow, this is sad news for me as well. Gary was the best !!
R.I.P. Gary, and thank you for all that you have given to us : )


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## JimRochester

Nice setup Gary. Great for longer boards. I also have a small bench-top jointer so wider boards always present a problem. Although it takes longer than a jointer or planer, I can rough cut boards to length with the chop saw, then run them through the drum sander to smooth one side. After that I can joint the edge and plane to thickness. Although making the jig required some time, it looks like it goes pretty quickly and smoothly.


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## GKC

Thanks Gary! Wonderful jig…great explanation…Can't wait to use it…


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## hawkeye100

Thanks Gary, this is good stuff that I can use.

Don

PS- Very well done.


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## BurlyBob

I'm definitely saving this one for future use. The use of casters is a great idea. Thanks.


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## maxhall

That is amazing!


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## clin

At first I thought, why not just use a planer sled, since this jig is every bit as large and more complex than a planer sled. But after reading it completely, I see the trick to this is to route just two flat slots and then insert flat stock in those to act as rails to be the base for planing. Still not sure if there is an advantage over just using a planer sled. Maybe the stock is supported better when planed than using a sled?

Interesting idea that I never would have thought of.


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## mgpalma

Fantastic idea! Thank you for sharing


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## JuanR

Great plans but why can't I see the images? They're blurred and have a "photobucket" watermark on them.


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## pottz

> Great plans but why can't I see the images? They're blurred and have a "photobucket" watermark on them.
> 
> - JuanR


thats why no one uses photo bucket here anymore.the op has passed away this thread is 11 years old.


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