You can’t throw a stick without hitting someone that has posted a youtube video about making a router sled and using a router to plane a slab of wood flat. They have become very common. I have covered making a router planing sled and what router bits to use for planing. Usually router sleds are used to handle materials that are too wide or too thick to feed into a planer. A router sled excels at planing gigantic slabs so it makes sense that people would feature them that way. However, a router sled plane can also do something that I have not seen anyone address, create surfaces that are not parallel.
For visual appeal on a coffee table that I am building, I wanted the slab legs to taper from wide at that bottom, to narrower at the top. This was pretty easy to achieve with a router sled, and rails that could be set so that one rail was lower than the other side.
In this setup you can see that the rail on the left is an inch lower than the rail on the right. Notice the piece of scrap wood on the right to keep the slabs fixed in location.
I started planing on the left, which is to be the thinnest portion of the slab, moving toward the thickest section on the right. Keep lowering the bit and repeating passes until the surface has been fully removed all the way across. Then the taper will be complete.
This simple change in method results in tapered slabs, which give a little bit more visual flair to slabs. It gives them unexpected angles that can sharpen a piece, or soften it. Not everything has to be co-planar. Experiment. Have fun.
Previously
- Router Planing Bit Options
I built a router sled back a while ago to use in flattening some slabs. Over the course of flattening multiple slabs, I have had the chance to try a few bit options. Keep in mind that when planing with a router, you want to only have half the bit working at removing wood. So […]
- Curvy Bow Ties – Fun with Woodworking Keys
I have seen a few variations on keys. The wood bow ties that are mortised in cross-grain to prevent further splitting of a crack in a slab of wood (aka dutchman). I’ve seen dark wood keys in light wood, light keys places in dark wood. I have seen fancy carved keys in the shape […]
- Coping Saw – Blade Direction – You lead, blade follows
Almost every coping saw being sold today is set-up wrong. They are backwards. This is not a discussion of the push versus pull in terms of does it cut on the push stroke or the pull stroke. Most of them are set up to cut on the pull stroke, and I am fine with that. […]
- Latex Paint Tacky on Furniture: FIX IT
Though I much prefer the look of real wood, there are some pieces of furniture in my house that are painted. I’ve painted a few with latex paint. The problem is the tackiness. No matter how long I let the paint dry, even years later, it still feels tacky to the touch. Set something […]
- Natural Oak End Table
A neighbor was cutting down an oak tree back in April 2016. I stopped to help, and some pieces followed me home. Then they started talking to me. The log on the left said, “I want to be live edge slabs.” The one standing up on the right said, “I want to be and end […]
- Alcohol Based Tea Stain
As I started planning my next projects using the Oak that I had slabbed, I knew I would want a bit of color. I wanted to accent the grain of the wood and not hide it, so I was leaning toward using a dye rather than a stain. My only problem was that I have […]
- Slabbing Some Oak by Hand
In April of 2016, a neighbor around the block was cutting off parts of an Oak tree in his yard. I offered to help him. While I was helping him move some of it, the wood started speaking to me, and several large pieces ended up following me home. The log on the left saidi […]
- Easy Router Sled
A while back, a neighbor was cutting down an oak tree that was either a Southern Live Oak or a Swamp Laurel Oak. I tried to ID it using this oak tree guide but I no longer have access to leaves or acorns from that tree. They are pretty common, seem to grow fast and […]
- Simple Tool Oiler
I took a simple suggestion from Paul Sellers to make an oiler can by winding up a strip of cloth and putting it in a little can. I made three small ones using some caps from spraypaint cans. I squirted in several soakings of 3-in-1 oil and have found it to be very easy […]
- Clever Table Leaf Extension
I really like this table leaf extension mechanism from Dustin Glasscoe. It is simple to operate and simple to include in almost any table design. I am adding this to my “I am going to use this someday list”.
- Intriguing Mortise and Tenon Foxed Dovetail Joint
This joint from Loyd Arve Nornes is an interesting one that has been rattling around my brain since I saw these videos. It is a locking Mortise and Tenon Foxed Dovetail joint or some variation on those terms. The slots in the piece of wood that makes up the tenon seem to be ripe for a […]
- Adirondack Chairs – without metal
I decided it would be nice to make a pair of Adirondack chairs for my front porch. Most designs have a back that leans back pretty far and a pair of back legs that stick out pretty far too. I didn’t think I had that kind of space on my front porch, So I wanted […]
- Starter Woodworking Kit
My son and I were recently talking about what tools I would replace immediately if my shop got wiped out by hurricane or sink hole. I have a lot of old tools. Many of them are not essential, but I keep them because the have family history (my Dad’s, my Grandfather’s, my Great uncle’s). […]
- Bench Bull Meets Moxon Vise = Bulloxon
My son and I have a game we play in the car (when I am not driving) called “I Draw, You Draw.” I started it to get him to focus on details. On one half of the paper, I draw something that only has a few steps. (maybe a circle with a line) then I […]
- Carver’s Mallets – Father Son Project
At our previous house we had a huge mango tree in our back yard. It made the best mangoes each year, but also made a mess of the yard and attracted a few zillion fruit flies. About 6 years ago I cut off a larger branch and stored away two sections of it for a […]
- The Resting Heart – The hardest project I ever built.
When my first son, Sawyer, passed away during delivery and they later handed me his ashes, I knew I had to be the one to build his urn. Not because I could do it better. I just wanted his remains to be in something I created with my hands and my heart. That was in July […]
- DeWalt Pride back in America
I am a fan of American made. I seek it out whenever I can. I will pay more for it if I have to. It is not that I dislike other countries or other races. The world is a cool place and I am happy to have everyone in it. I just like when my […]
- Craftsman Miter Station Model 88136301
I was at a Habitat for Humanity ReStore a few weeks back with my son. In a pile of saws I saw a 24″ long backsaw peaking out with a $5.00 price tag on it. I looked it over. Not a Disston, Warranted Superior. I explained to my son that we had a longer better […]
- Workshop Memories
In putting together some photos for my next post, I discovered some photos of some funnier times in the workshop with my son. These are in chronological order. They make me smile and laugh. Hopefully they’ll bring some joy to you too. Okay. I promise to quit kidding around and get to some actual woodworking […]