CMS-OF table more useful than meets the eye

[Rob-GB]

Those that know me know that I am prone to finding solutions in odd ways or adapting age old ideas that I have read about.
Today, however, I turned my router table upside down  [eek] ;D

I have a limited amount of Elm in odd lengths and sizes to make the rest of the vanity cabinet, some is pretty warped. So I needed to get a face on each board flat, on site with just my Festools and some offcuts of ply and B.C. pine from other projects in the house....the obvious solution was to make a sled.............

I looked about for a sturdy carriage and found it already attached to my OF2200

I re-used the holding system that I made the other week for some hand planing tasks on the MFT

Used 50mm dia tenoning cutter

and some small plastic wedges to stop any wobble.

I slowed the router speed down (2) and set the cutter to the lowest point I could see on the board, on the worst one I had a 4mm deep cut in the middle of the board but I had no kick back at all and - one of the best likes I have about this router, it was not screaming from being used. Using big diameter cutters freehand in a router is usually frowned upon but this combination was a breeze to work with...after all, it was still mounted in a table  ;D ;D
The dust extraction was only partial, which is always the issue with a cutter that far slung below the sled, but having it running did help and made quick work of dust clearance before the next board was installed thus maintaining the ply base datum.
Tomorrow I plan to face up the opposite face and thickness them so I can start making the curved/faceted vanity front and door the same way.
Rob.

 

[bkharman]

I love it!  I had thought about doing this before... but never got around to it.  I had a board or two to get a wobble out of but didnt have much play in the thickness so I ended up not doing it.  I had the same mental thought...as I was flipping my insert over to take my 1400 out of it, I realized I had a kick butt sled right in front of me!  I was going to use some UHMW tape or strips to make it slide nice but again, never really had to do the effort.

Thanks for the pics (and the memory jog)... I am certain I will be using this in the future.

Cheers.  Bryan.

 

[Stone Message]

That is a great idea Rob and I bet it was pretty accurate as well.

For those people without a CMS-OF plate I show a similar technique in my second video about the construction of a Gothic bench. I needed to create a flat area for a joint on some uneven oak.

Take a look at this from the 5 minute 30 second point:



Peter

 

[Rob-GB]

[member=21412]bkharman[/member]  It slides just fine on the BC Pine but yeah UHMW tape would reduce wear on the soft wood for a permanent use shop jig, this one is just down and dirty, get the job done type affair. ;D
Faced the opposite side and squared up the edges with the TS55 using a guide rail and the CMS table this morning......now I have square stock to work from. [smile]
[member=11196]Peter Parfitt[/member] , accurate to within 0.10mm which is nothing as I have to sand it up before and after glue up(concave side before and convex after). Made a version of the sled you used to flatten my eucalyptus burr coffee table, that was a dusty job- no extraction and a second hand Elu 177e and a 20mm bit. It's about 1100mm wide

I like that bench design and the trefoil detail explanation in the vid too  [thumbs up].

Rob.

P.S. For a variant of the sled approach their is this thread HERE

 

[Stone Message]

Hi Rob

I have just been to that thread - lovely work.

You need to make some videos !

Peter