How To Make A Router Sled To Flatten LARGE Slabs!

[@Bill-bz2hx]

Wes, thanks for the info. I used your plan and made a jig to flatten a 10.5 ft by 22", 2" thick live edge walnut top for a sofa table. All of the parts came from left over pieces of plywood and melamine. Since I am much older than you at 83, I put the jig up on three 18" tall wooden saw horses that I bought from Home Depot many years ago. As you suggested, the entire jig was carefully shimmed and leveled. This gave me a higher platform to more easily flatten the piece and not so hard on the back. Flattening was a bit of challenge in that the piece had a pretty good twist in it. Shimming and looking at it from many angles. After partial flattening on both sides, I had to raise the piece and used one then two 1/4" by 1 1/4" tempered hardwood pieces about 20" long lying on top of the 4'x8" pieces. This worked very well and kept the system in tact and level. I did wax the sliding rails with Johnsons paste wax and this made the sled slide easily. I am very pleased by the way this worked out and the walnut top looks great!. Thank you. Bill

[@hardisong]

Thanks!

[@1975oldschool]

Al’s mom would be proud! Nicr build man!

[@brandonnugent1887]

This is EXACTLY what I didn’t know I needed to see. Thank-you!

[@WesHamstra]

@@brandonnugent1887 your welcome!

[@sart3537]

That fly really likes you! Great video

[@crzxm]

Flattening with the grain helps reduce streaks of the router and makes sanding a lot easier.

[@samfleming2962]

Nice one spent all day checking different ways to make this. you defo have the most practical one there you can make with minimal tools

[@joebrown1382]

Very nice Wes. Using the plywood for rails insured perfectly straight rails something you could have never had with 2X4 or 2X6 boards.

[@WesHamstra]

That was my thinking. It should stay straight for years.

[@ta1ntv1lle39]

As soon you said that about Al's mom i kid you not I said "I don't think so Tim" 🤣😆🤣😆 miss that show

[@WesHamstra]

Me too!

[@SomeDudeOnline]

Fantastic solution to a problem I’ve been pondering. I’m going to be getting a large burly oak cookie at some point and want to make a table out of it but hadn’t figured out a good way to flatten it as my workshop is half of a two car garage. This will do this trick. Since you have that crane thing though, you should definitely use it to suspend yourself while flattening your slabs because I’m guessing doing the flattening on the ground like that is going to wreck your back.

[@dwarden3]

Nice, but I used an old bed frame I found by the dumpster. Plywood is too crazy exspensive for that. It also has screw adjustible feet and collapses into 6"x 6" rack I made for my router like yours. Hope this helps someone reading this for their project. I've used mine to make dining table tops from old pallet wood for several customers.

[@pastorjosh44]

Great idea.

[@Carternc8]

This is gold. Thank you

[@SomeDudeOnline]

Wow! I thought his idea here in the video was a good one but this is even better (for my purposes).

[@ottoschwandt6527]

Wow, thinking outside of the box....I just happen to have our old queen size bed frame, oak plywood. Fingers crossed!

[@Wordsnwood]

Management Supervision at @9:56... Good Job, Wes. Neat having pretty much the whole thing out of one piece of plywood. Curious to see what you do for table legs.

[@WesHamstra]

Yeah. Wife came into to say goodnight lol. It’s getting steel legs that my buddy is supplying (it’s his table)

[@Wordsnwood]

@@WesHamstra Didn't think you could fit a 10 footer in your house...

[@WesHamstra]

It would fit but not be very practical. Lol

[@zackmack4712]

Thanks for the inspiration. I've built an outdoor table out of oak and it's got a bow in the table top after I squeezed it too tight in the glue up and without enough horizontal supports. Anyway, I'm gonna give this method a go but I figured I'd attach my sled rails to the table legs since it is already assembled. Hopefully that method works well

[@rayg436]

Good luck You might want to put in some c channel to prevent cupping

[@dennisdye2330]

Thx for low rpm big bit tip.

[@johnss7754]

Nice. Thanks. Some more ideas.

[@vanessahigdon8194]

It would be so helpful if I could see the project in detail before starting the build. Each step would make more sense to me. Just my learning style. You did a great job on the video.

[@backdraft808]

Great design and an excellent tutorial!

[@Mogalize]

Thanks, followed your design to make a one time use for myself. My benchtop turned out great. Cheers!

[@sumosprojects]

Big effort for a bigger result mate, great jig 🍻👍

[@jeffreyjbyron]

Great video! Do you happen to have a video on the clamping/caul/sticker/drying process? I just bought a slab and it's only 1.25" and I'm worried it's going to warp as it dries unless I'm really careful.

[@stephencole958]

Nice job on the jig. I've seen a few different ideas out there. I like this one best. I've got a maple slab, 30" x 4" x 8' to level out.

[@JimDockrellWatertone]

Similar to how I did my workbench slabs. Still a lot of work. Nice video Wes.

[@WesHamstra]

Thanks!

[@rayg436]

I'm about to make a 12 foot x 40 inch table top I like your jig idea but have chosen to raise the hole thing up on saw horses. And my sled is 2 pcs of angle iron. I also slotted holes in the side rails to adjust for different thickness of slabs.

[@jeffforbes3772]

Rock on Wes! I've seen a few of these on KZbin and yours seems to be the most practical and easy to build. Curious as to how well that bit you got on Amazon handled the job? Thanks or posting.

[@WesHamstra]

Thanks. I did one side already and the didn’t 1/3 of the other side and still cuts like new. I might invest in a better quality one. I like this method of flattening tops

[@Knotmaul]

@@WesHamstra it might pay off to invest in a 2" slabber with interchangeable carbide inserts. When a side gets dull years from now, you can rotate them all to a new side and have 2 new sides left over. *the machinist in me*

[@sapelesteve]

Nicely built jig Wes! Obviously, using the correct dimensional plywood was key. If I were you I would put a few coats of clear stain on it to make it last. 👍👍😉😉

[@WesHamstra]

That’s a good idea! I am going to be spraying this top. While I have the spray gun out I my as well spray it too.

[@HappyDoesYoutube]

Did you build that miter saw station? I love it

[@scottboyle7547]

I enjoyed this video simply because most router sled videos only talk about the router sled, not making the flat reference surface to hold the slab. What's making my head hurt though, is that you level the cross pieces and call it good, when you really need to know if the cross pieces are all in the same plane as each other and that the rails are the same height above them and are orthogonal to the cross pieces. If one of your rails is slightly lower than the other, then your flattened slab would have a slight wedge shape to it, right? I guess if you flip it the right way and flatten the other side, that problem would be taken care of but the sides would be slightly angled.

[@rocketsauce5067]

lvl's or psb lumber works as well.

[@washnon]

i have lots and lots of Alaskan projects ,i also have green slabs available. Great channel

[@jasminewoodrum1659]

What wood is the strongest?

[@nicolewahlgren4851]

Awesome video! What size screws and plywood board did you use?

[@MrDoink131]

A ? what is a nice router that takes a1/2 shaft bit I own mostly dewalt and going to mill hardwood large 30by 5to12 ft tks for any help

[@ymratobor]

Thanks for this video!. I did build one exactly per your instructions, however, you actually run out of plywood after you complete the rails. The three base supports take up half a sheet of plywood and the six 3" x 8' rail parts take up the other half. There's nothing left to make those funky Y-shaped dilly bobbers. Are you sure you didn't use lumber that you had laying around?

[@englandyow]

Good morning. I am looking at making this same jig and noticed that the rails are cut at 2 1/2" not 3". Perhaps that is why you ran out. My program that lay out plywood cuts has enough plywood on 1 sheet to do the jig. The router sled is cut from different materials (melamine and baltic birch ply).

[@canoelew2288]

Nice Jig! Would have liked to see the finished product though.

[@WesHamstra]

There is a video on that table

[@canoelew2288]

@@WesHamstra Which video?

[@anatoliyefimov4984]

Do you have plans for the jig?

[@stephanepribble7965]

I built this exact sled based off everything you said and the only problem I ran into was after I placed my slab on it and placed the sled across it, it’s touching the bottom of the sled the entire length. So I think my slab is thicker than yours and that’s the problem. Do you have an idea on what I could do to raise my sled up? My only idea is cut a piece of 3/4” plywood 1 1/2” wide the entire length of my rails. That would raise the sled 3/4” taller. What do you think?

[@pgfollett]

Perhaps crossed strings would make leveling a bit easier. I like the excellent use of one sheet of plywood.

[@WesHamstra]

That’s a good idea. It only took about 5 min to get it level the way I did.

[@ahmedalgendy0091]

Awesome video thanks for the tips for building this jig just a question why we reduce the router speed while using bigger bit ?

[@rayg436]

Safety If it catches and kicks up it would be easier to control

[@a.j.simmonds6324]

The perimeter of a large bit will spin faster than a smaller diameter, it has more orbit on the outside of the bit than in the center. Has to go the same RPM but way more distance to fully spin

[@briandoyle8289]

Very informative tips but what about the underside of the slab - do you turn it over and repeat the process?

[@WesHamstra]

Yes, that’s exactly what you do

[@shaynetcrocker]

Why do you not worry about making sure the jig is level length wise?

[@adrianperalta7192]

Excelente 👍

[@WesHamstra]

Thanks!

[@jinjin2172]

Hey Wes, where are you located? I've a large slab and wondered if you'd be interested in finishing it for a countertop (paid of course)

[@bullfrogpondshop3179]

Getting ready to flatten a couple tree cookies. I inserted the router bit (Whiteside 6220) all the way into the router collet. When the router is plunged all the way down, the bit only protrudes about 3/8" below my sled. This is with a very thin base plate (~1/16") and a sled made from angle iron (~1/8"). How are all these guys getting any bit depth with sleds built from 3/4 ply? My bit wouldn't even clear 3/4 ply. Is it ok to insert the router bit NOT all the way into the collet? I'm concerned it may wander upward or downward while cutting.

[@evskii.]

Youre not supposed to insert the bit all the way in. You just want more shank in the router than poking out. Good rule of thumb

[@nathanj6620]

What is the max width of a slab you can use? I'm looking at using your design but the slab I'm going to build it for is 47" at its widest. Thanks for the great video, one of the best I have seen for a sled design.

[@contessa.adella]

In theory..as wide as you like, but remember the wider the router carriage, the stiffer it must be to ensure it does not bow under the weight of the machine on it. Also, there is a practical maximum you can reach across and you might need to devise some clever (and safe) way to slide the router if you can’t reach it!

[@dang860]

What are the chances you have plans for this?

[@dang860]

I have a 3 inch slab that I'm taking down to 1.5 inches plus accounting for warp the bit doesn't extend long enough due to the thickness of the sled. Any tips. Thanks

[@WesHamstra]

Raise the rails

[@matthewjason5330]

How do you keep it even? I built a table and everything is level but wood is thicker on one side than the other.i have to flip rotate it and mess with for a very long time. To get each corner even. So one corner will be 1.12 , the other 1.14 the other 1.17 the other 1.15 ( just an example) what am I doing wrong?

[@WesHamstra]

That sounds like you don’t have the rails at the same height on both ends. Pretty sure that’s the problem

[@matthewjason5330]

@@WesHamstra thanks I'll check that tomorrow.

[@nathanzlomke8498]

Can you tell me why you are only interested in leveling the jig on one axis? If there was a slight slope on the other axis wouldn't this notch up your piece or give it a pitch?

[@WesHamstra]

Nope. You just want want your jig flat and the rails to be level. On the width.

[@andrewhaley9592]

@@WesHamstra your rails ensure it is flat in the other axis, correct?

[@brewsterly2927]

Don't want to come of as saftey Sam Wes, but please look after your knees. Great video, thumbs up.

[@WesHamstra]

Haha. Thanks. Knees are already shot. I have been a flooring installer for 15yrs. There is nothing I can do to prevent the inevitable.

[@mwa1252]

How did that inexpensive bit hold up? I'm looking at a Whiteside bit for It's $67.62 U.S. The one you used is currently $12.99 U.S.

[@WesHamstra]

It did good for this slab. I ordered a second one because I was to lazy to sharpen the old one. I would go for the whiteside if you have the bidget for it.

[@jamespaulsell9385]

Any thoughts on making legs or a stand for this? The best Idea I have come up with so far would be 3 sawhorses with long enough 2 X 4s on top to run across under each of the 3 base assemblies on this jig. Those should bring it up to a more comfortable height while being easy to disassemble for storage. Suggestions are requested and welcome.

[@MultiTom1956]

Like it 👌👌

[@WesHamstra]

Thanks!

[@AD-vw8xu]

Al's mom....you killed me

[@WesHamstra]

Finally someone caught it

[@contessa.adella]

Wait..so, you assembled the rails on a floor you said was uneven! and waited until it was finished before checking for a flat reference across the rails! I would use a water leveller tube, taking one end of a rail as the reference and level all points along both rails to that.

[@WesHamstra]

It only matters if it is level side to side. Length wise it can be out. It doesn’t matter. You make it sound like you want to reinvent the wheel.

[@a.j.simmonds6324]

It really doesnt have to be level at all just flat, flat is easier to find level but no sense stressing a level floor. If the slab is at 45 and the sled is 45 its the same as 180 180

[@kathleenhodapp4243]

Is taking 11/16 off one side of a 2" slab to much. Never did this before I have a level work bench, a level router sled and my slab is wedged level

[@WesHamstra]

Way to much. Do shallow cuts. No more then 1/8” at a time. This isn’t a quick process. Takes time

[@DsHardWoodCreations]

Massive slab.

[@WesHamstra]

Yeah man. Heavy too!

[@2sumu]

10:30

[@sagarlakhwani8356]

The floor has to be even as well😂

[@WesHamstra]

I think you missed that part of the video. Or you don’t understand how this works

[@johnbhumphrey]

It'll be only flat as your garage floor.

[@WesHamstra]

Not true. Your raise or lower the corners with shims

[@Monuments_to_Good_Intentions]

Nice build, but if your concrete slab is not flat, then this will not work.

[@WesHamstra]

I explained that in this video. You have to shim your jig so that it’s flat. There is no such thing as a flat concrete floor.

[@anyone5263]

Please put a proper audio gate on your videos. everytime you turn a machine on it is louder than everything else.