Woodpecker Slab Flattener

[gobbypunk]

A CNC planing jig for big slabs now that would be cool set it to go and come back later and your slab is done ! I have a big workshop with mig ,tig ,plasma cutter not very good with the welders but let’s a few of us get together and make some for ourselves 

[trigger_andy]

10 hours ago, Woodworks said:

Looks a nicely made piece of kit but would it not be worth devising a way to mount a hand held planer in it? I have used a home made router sled and it's fine for a few bits and bobs but if I was investing proper money in a jig not sure I would be happy with speed a router will offer. Mind you it may not be easy to mount a planer in a jig and devising a rise and fall mechanism 

 

Im a bit of a noob when it comes to Routers but Im lead to believe there is a massive range and power variants. Potentially you've been using the same range of routers Ive been most of my adult life, which is piss poor.  There is some monsters it seems and they look like they have very little trouble with what is being asked here. The Woodpecker site has a range of compatible Routers. 

[ucoulddoit]

7 hours ago, trigger_andy said:

 

Im a bit of a noob when it comes to Routers but Im lead to believe there is a massive range and power variants. Potentially you've been using the same range of routers Ive been most of my adult life, which is piss poor.  There is some monsters it seems and they look like they have very little trouble with what is being asked here. The Woodpecker site has a range of compatible Routers. 

A router system more or less avoids tear out on burrs, etc. compared to planing, which is a real bonus despite being slow, so I guess there isn't a single solution fit for all timbers? I'd be really interested to see where you go with this, either off the shelf or made locally as I'm also looking to move on from homemade jigs.

 

Andrew

[Paul in the woods]

19 hours ago, Woodworks said:

Looks a nicely made piece of kit but would it not be worth devising a way to mount a hand held planer in it?

I'm currently trying to sort a planer sled, using a small Bosch planer. It's not easy as there's no simple way of securing the planer and it will only plane a couple of mm depth. With a router you can simple bolt the base to something and the router bit can be adjusted down a few cms.

 

I've currently removed the back base of the planer and mounted it on a piece of ply the same thickness as the base. It almost works but there's still too much movement for a seamless finish on a slab. A piece of aluminium as a sled would be better.

 

If anyone wants to try a planer take a good look at the planer and see how you'll mount it and keep it fixed in place.

[Macpherson]

16 hours ago, ucoulddoit said:

The following video shows a jig for a hand held planer

Great video, thanks.

 

By coincidence I also used melamine on my router sleds to make them fairly frictionless.

 

I also think that the key to doing either of these processes, planing or routing, is a large flat surface.... after you've got that to screw/ clamp onto the rest is simple and it would be hard to go wrong, I use a 5 x 2m deck that's about 2 feet off the ground....a couple of rails fixed to this and then any sled you like to make, I've got a few different widths, very easy to make and cost nothing.....I can see a large handheld plane on my shopping list, cheers.

 

 

[54gka]

This is what i had a local chap make for me. It's sat on an 8x4 bench and can fit around a 6ft x 34'' slab on it. Works very well. Have a 2'' planning bit fitted can be a bit slow but adds more value to the board showing off the grain and character more. If the board hasn't to much twist it takes no time at tall. Finish is so  good that just needs a belt sander run over it. This was the first one that he had made and has made a few changes since. Slab is Beech 1670 and 26 at widest point. Just under an hour to flatten and sand. I find by doing this it helps to sell the larger slabs as most hobbyists don't have the equipment to do this. 

 

Edited October 12, 2019 by 54gka
add video

[Martin du Preez]

Seen some good
Stuff here, makes it look like a doddle

[trigger_andy]

33 minutes ago, Martin du Preez said:

 

 

Seen some good
Stuff here, makes it look like a doddle

 

Interesting bit of kit. Half the price of the Woodpecker but about half the parts and seems much more rough around the edges as well. Dont see the advantage here? 

[agrimog]

to be sucsessfull your looking at routers of at least 2 1/2 hp upwards,  and carbide bits, lots of, and, this bit for gobbypunk, most of the ally framing is designed to be bolted into framework, ther are all sorts of brackets for this purpose, good luck if you decide to go for it, its surprising what can be built.....and automated

[agrimog]

looking at that TotT video, I would hazard a gues that its a lot better put together than the woodpecker version, its running the same type of slider mechanismns that are used in the diy cnc builds, and looking at the speed and freedom ov movement, the builder has gotten them pretty well dialed in