I'm wondering what router cutters every one is using to to mill down the slab flat.iv been looking at replacement blade cutters but not to sure what ones is good and bad.iv got alot of Scottish oak to flatten.cheers for any help.
live edge slab help
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MattRoberts
Established Member
I've also got the wealden surface trim, it's ace
adidat
I will not buy anymore tools...
Do you need some advice on which saw blade to use to cut the crappy edges off?? :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
adidat
adidat
Jacob
New Luddism. Wake up and resist.
Belt sander with 40 grit to start with. Or hand-held power plane except I haven't got one. Had one - used it about once every two years so sold it. Should have kept it, keep finding a use for it!
PS how would you do it with a router? Seems the worst possible tool of all, unless you are desperate and just doing a small bit.
PS how would you do it with a router? Seems the worst possible tool of all, unless you are desperate and just doing a small bit.
I assume not have a planer \ thicknesser big enoughJacob":34gweygl said:
so a router sled is the tool of choice
pack until does not rock
flatten one side with router sled (5 minutes)
flip and repeat ...10 minutes job done
can only cut about 1mm but does not take much effort
Steve
woodbrains
Established Member
Hello,
I'm with Jacob. Belt sander, power planer and handplanes are all better options. It could all be done with hand planes, especially if you have a scrub. But power planer will take the hard work out, initially. I would still get to the final finish with planes. Router sleds seem like a good idea, but need to be rock solid to work. Any flex whatsoever, you will end up with a hollow and track marks where the cutter overlaps the previous passes, and it takes ages. I think I'm right in saying that Custard does this work pretty much completely with hand planes and scrapers.
Mike.
I'm with Jacob. Belt sander, power planer and handplanes are all better options. It could all be done with hand planes, especially if you have a scrub. But power planer will take the hard work out, initially. I would still get to the final finish with planes. Router sleds seem like a good idea, but need to be rock solid to work. Any flex whatsoever, you will end up with a hollow and track marks where the cutter overlaps the previous passes, and it takes ages. I think I'm right in saying that Custard does this work pretty much completely with hand planes and scrapers.
Mike.
Sgian Dubh
Established Member
People that use routers to achieve this make up a stiff rig with a router mounted in holder of some sort that has the ability to move in an X/Y motion. The rig is placed over the reasonably well levelled slab set up on a bench or other flat surface, and the router is incrementally lowered to take off high spots using the X/Y movement capability. I suppose it's rather similar to the set up often used in chainsaw mills for converting sawlogs.Jacob":skmkjllo said:
I've never used such a device myself, but I've heard/read of several people report success, albeit they usually admit the job's relatively slow and bit tedious. Similar to you, in the past when I've been faced with flattening a large slab that won't fit a surface planer or thicknesser, and 'must' remain large I've usually got at it with some sort of power tool to start, usually a power planer to hack off the worst, followed by hand planing with whatever tool seems appropriate: no 7, no 5, no 4 sort of converted to a scrub plane, whatever, plus sanders of one sort or another, such as belt and/or random orbital sanders. Slainte.
i made my sled from 6mm ali plate
the support "rails" are ali profile
work surface is 54mm mdf
i see about .25 difference accross a large board checked with a cheap vernier
and I dont break a sweat ....which at my age is a good thing
I think i spend about a minute to sand out the marks
Steve
the support "rails" are ali profile
work surface is 54mm mdf
i see about .25 difference accross a large board checked with a cheap vernier
and I dont break a sweat ....which at my age is a good thing
I think i spend about a minute to sand out the marks
Steve
With the total experience of watching a bunch of vids, and planning to flatten a slab for the past 12 months but building a shed instead..... the one thing I took away from them was use as large a diameter bit as your router will handle and cut shallower if needed. Rather than a narrow bit with deeper cuts. This seems to be the combination that gives easiest control, quickest job and best results.
F.
F.
MikeG.
Established Member
Router? For this? Blimey......
If you don't have access to a big planer, then I would take an electric hand-held plane to it to start with, then a belt sander across the grain with 40 grit paper. Then go with the grain to sand the scratches off you've just made. By going both ways, you will flatten the board somewhat. Once you have finished this process, you can at least see what you are dealing with, and can then adjust as necessary (hand-planing, sighting, belt sanding) until you have a flat face.
Obviously this is just your working face, not any sort of finish to the board preparation. You might then go down through the grits, and finish off with a scraper. As the American like to say, your mileage may vary.
If you don't have access to a big planer, then I would take an electric hand-held plane to it to start with, then a belt sander across the grain with 40 grit paper. Then go with the grain to sand the scratches off you've just made. By going both ways, you will flatten the board somewhat. Once you have finished this process, you can at least see what you are dealing with, and can then adjust as necessary (hand-planing, sighting, belt sanding) until you have a flat face.
Obviously this is just your working face, not any sort of finish to the board preparation. You might then go down through the grits, and finish off with a scraper. As the American like to say, your mileage may vary.
MikeG.
Established Member
Seriously? Routers? It sounds as though we're talking about multiple large boards. Would you guys tackle a stack of 12 foot by 16 inch waney edge oak boards with a router and sled? Really?
could not think of an easier better way to get a finish ready for sandingMikeG.":hyvfb14h said:
I have hand planes, power planes & belt sander
router is the way to go
with a 2" bit and 6 wings it makes a cracking job of levelling and almost perfect finish
each to their own i agree (a bit like sharpening threads) but i use my sled in preference to a thicknesser
Steve
MikeG.
Established Member
Well, interesting is all I can say.
I don't think anyone has suggested using a thicknesser. Without a reference face, they're useless.
SteveF":1hepf9wr said:
I don't think anyone has suggested using a thicknesser. Without a reference face, they're useless.
custard
Established Member
I'll do at least half a dozen table or desk sized slabs a year, some of them in super hard African timbers like Mutondo or Leadwood. I flatten them with a bench plane. Each one takes about half a day, it's bracing exercise but it's entirely do-able. I used to work at a workshop that did a nice line in very large Hayrake style Oak tables, they used boards that were way too large for the available machinery and so flattened them entirely by hand. Again, hard graft, but once you got stuck in it was done in a morning.
I've thought about router flattening, but always rejected it for two reasons. Firstly I don't want another whopping great jig to store, and secondly I assumed the jig would flex and so I'd be a lot more accurate with a hand plane. However, I might be wrong on this second assumption. I just took a stab at using The Sagulator (which I've always found to be pretty accurate) to calculate a likely router flattening cross beam, and the resulting sag in the centre of that beam.
http://www.woodbin.com/calcs/sagulator/
I assumed the router plus some downward pressure would total 30 pounds. The beam would be 1200mm across and consist of a 200mm platform of 18mm ply (or more likely two 100mm platforms), it would have two "lippings" of 25 x 25mm Oak. Load all that into the "Sagulator" and the maximum deflection or sag in the centre of the beam would only be about 1mm. The key thing is not to apply too much downward pressure on the router, increase from 30lb to 50lb and the total sag doubles to 2mm.
I know I can do better than that with a hand plane, probably better than 0.5mm maximum deviation from flat across an entire table top. But beefing up the lippings would probably get a router based flattening system into the same ball park area of accuracy. That surprised me. It might even make me think again about slab flattening with a router.
Returning to the OP's question, a Wealdon bottom cutting bit (like the one previously linked to, or possibly a slightly smaller variant if your router is a bit underpowered) is most certainly your best tooling option.
I've thought about router flattening, but always rejected it for two reasons. Firstly I don't want another whopping great jig to store, and secondly I assumed the jig would flex and so I'd be a lot more accurate with a hand plane. However, I might be wrong on this second assumption. I just took a stab at using The Sagulator (which I've always found to be pretty accurate) to calculate a likely router flattening cross beam, and the resulting sag in the centre of that beam.
http://www.woodbin.com/calcs/sagulator/
I assumed the router plus some downward pressure would total 30 pounds. The beam would be 1200mm across and consist of a 200mm platform of 18mm ply (or more likely two 100mm platforms), it would have two "lippings" of 25 x 25mm Oak. Load all that into the "Sagulator" and the maximum deflection or sag in the centre of the beam would only be about 1mm. The key thing is not to apply too much downward pressure on the router, increase from 30lb to 50lb and the total sag doubles to 2mm.
I know I can do better than that with a hand plane, probably better than 0.5mm maximum deviation from flat across an entire table top. But beefing up the lippings would probably get a router based flattening system into the same ball park area of accuracy. That surprised me. It might even make me think again about slab flattening with a router.
Returning to the OP's question, a Wealdon bottom cutting bit (like the one previously linked to, or possibly a slightly smaller variant if your router is a bit underpowered) is most certainly your best tooling option.
Oh exciting, sled vs hand plane could be up there with hand vs guide sharpening for polarising the community 
Most of the sleds I've seen in vids have been constructed with three pretty equal sides, so the lips are as tall as the sled is deep, overall the sled looks like a very long shoe box, typically made from 18mm MFD.
F.
Most of the sleds I've seen in vids have been constructed with three pretty equal sides, so the lips are as tall as the sled is deep, overall the sled looks like a very long shoe box, typically made from 18mm MFD.
F.
Cant say I have ever done a wide board either way but dont get all the negatives about using a sled. Got a 5' wide board of ash in the shed that will one day become a table and I will be taking the sled rout for sure. I have one of these that will do the job http://www.cmtutensili.com/show_items.a ... 01~2~2~3OK but that Wealdon surface trim cutter looks great.
custard
Established Member
By the way, for anyone thinking that flattening a table sized slab with a hand plane is an Herculean endeavour, well it's just not!
Once you start planing across the grain you're hogging away large amounts of waste very quickly. Use a traditional wooden bodied jack that's nice and light with a super slick sole, plus an aggressive camber to the iron, and yes it's physical work all right, but not impossibly so.
Once you start planing across the grain you're hogging away large amounts of waste very quickly. Use a traditional wooden bodied jack that's nice and light with a super slick sole, plus an aggressive camber to the iron, and yes it's physical work all right, but not impossibly so.
