Woodpeckers slab flattening jig

I hear ya.  My cobbled together jig does just fine so far, but I am in the design stage of something better, akin to what many are suggesting via some lengths of 8020 and linear rails & bearings.  I'd venture to say I can do it for probably 1/3 the cost of the WP jig and I feel will be a superior design.

 
Richard/RMW said:
When I first saw the Wilkerson video I was impressed by how smooth and effortlessly it moved
The key is to have a sliding carriage with router attached to it rather than router itself sliding on its base along the bridge.
In the past I used t-slot extrusion for flattening, but it has always been something thrown together in the last minute, not a well thought jig.

A plate that accepts a hand planner or a belt sander instead of a router would be interesting too. Some of those, such as Festool models, have mounting holes and/or brackets.
 
Svar said:
Richard/RMW said:
When I first saw the Wilkerson video I was impressed by how smooth and effortlessly it moved
The key is to have a sliding carriage with router attached to it rather than router itself sliding on its base along the bridge.

Makes sense, I hadn't really thought about it. My jig is the typical router-sliding-on-plywood setup. Thanks.

RMW
 
Richard/RMW said:
Svar said:
Richard/RMW said:
When I first saw the Wilkerson video I was impressed by how smooth and effortlessly it moved
The key is to have a sliding carriage with router attached to it rather than router itself sliding on its base along the bridge.

Makes sense, I hadn't really thought about it. My jig is the typical router-sliding-on-plywood setup. Thanks.

RMW

I used phenolic-covered plywood to make my sled to all but eliminate friction between router and sled. 
 
Sparktrician said:
Richard/RMW said:
Svar said:
Richard/RMW said:
When I first saw the Wilkerson video I was impressed by how smooth and effortlessly it moved
The key is to have a sliding carriage with router attached to it rather than router itself sliding on its base along the bridge.

Makes sense, I hadn't really thought about it. My jig is the typical router-sliding-on-plywood setup. Thanks.

RMW

I used phenolic-covered plywood to make my sled to all but eliminate friction between router and sled.

I'm still @ the scrap plywood stage. My MO is to get along with half measures until I reach my breaking point and then over-engineer to ridiculous proportions...  [doh]

RMW
 
Richard the Woodpecker offering seems attractive. But the use of only UHMW tape on the sliding surfaces is a less than elegant solution to the friction problems. It works but I I have never been impressed with the longevity of the tape.

In addition the set size of the extrusions make the set not particularly adjustable. If you notice in the Malecki video, he's got the rails sitting on strips of what appears to be MDF to get the height he needs. For a thinner piece you'd need to put a riser under the workpiece. The closer to the bottom of the carriage you can get makes it easier to cut without over extending the bit.

I like the 80/20 linear bearings for the slides, but they are pricey and you'd need eight, four for the router carriage and four for the cross beam carriage.

Ron
 
rvieceli said:
Richard the Woodpecker offering seems attractive. But the use of only UHMW tape on the sliding surfaces is a less than elegant solution to the friction problems. It works but I I have never been impressed with the longevity of the tape.

In addition the set size of the extrusions make the set not particularly adjustable. If you notice in the Malecki video, he's got the rails sitting on strips of what appears to be MDF to get the height he needs. For a thinner piece you'd need to put a riser under the workpiece. The closer to the bottom of the carriage you can get makes it easier to cut without over extending the bit.

I like the 80/20 linear bearings for the slides, but they are pricey and you'd need eight, four for the router carriage and four for the cross beam carriage.

Ron

Agree it's a great looking setup, and for a frequent user/pro probably worth the cost versus DIY. Its modularity is great. If I needed it often the cost wouldn't be the main driver.

I wasn't thinking of using the 80/20 linear bearings though, they are costly and would be clunky in a circumstance where you need to break it down for storage.

I'm on my 4th slab in the past couple of years and have 3-4 more waiting for inspiration to strike. The most recent one was about 30" by 65" w/ >1/2" to remove and it really exposed the shortcomings to my jig. That may be sufficient to get me to come up with a better DIY system using extrusions I already have.

RMW
 
rvieceli said:
I like the 80/20 linear bearings for the slides, but they are pricey and you'd need eight...
Agree, but they are very easy to make. Get aluminum angle, block of UHMW plastic and have at it. For this application no need to wrap them around the extrusion from 3 sides like 80/20 bearings.
 
There was an article in Fine Woodworking by Nick Offerman about flattening slabs. He built a really nice setup to do it with a router.
 
I really liked the look of the whole setup until I saw the price.  I could almost pay for a 6' extension for my CNC and let it do all the work to flatten and then have it for a lot of other stuff.
 
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