Slab Flattening Jig
I love milling my own lumber using an Alaskan chainsaw mill. Unfortunately, when I went to cut this oak log I just couldn’t get it down off the pile of logs. It was wedged in there pretty good. What I ended up doing was cutting the first few slabs off the top of the log. That lightened it up enough to finally pry it loose and get it onto the ground. What complicated it even more was that I hit metal…a lot of metal…while milling. All of this combined for some really wonky slabs. What I decided to do is build a slab flattening jig that allows me to flatten and stack the slabs so they will eventually be ready for use.
This jig is made with construction lumber, MDF, and plywood. The walls of the sled were made from 10ft long 2x8 boards that I cut to approximately 7” wide. I connected the sides using 2x4s that I cut to 3” wide. Cutting the edges off the boards gave me good, smooth edges for aligning the boards when constructing the jig. Once the lumber was screwed together, I laid a piece of MDF on top so that I had a smooth surface for loading and unloading slabs.
The jig that holds the router is made from 3/4" plywood. Essentially, it’s a trough that holds the router so that it has enough room to slide back and forth with no friction, but not loose enough to wiggle around. There is about a 2” gap in the center of the jig for the router bit to fit through. Lastly, I added a dust port so that I can hook up my shop vac.
Here is your public service announcement for this project: please wear your protective equipment. No matter what dust collection you are using, dust gets everywhere. You don’t want that in your lungs. Also, eye protection is a must as shavings and chips can go flying.
I put the slab on the sled and stabilized it with a few wedges. Then it was back and forth with the router, inching (literally) closer to the end. Once I felt the slab was flat enough, I flipped it over and did the other side. When I use these slabs for their final project, I’ll do this once more, making a lot of passes to ensure a smooth surface.
Slabs have to have some place to go. I made some steel levelers that allow me to create a flat surface for them to lay upon. They are made from 1/4" square tube and bolts. The bolts allow me to adjust the height of the levelers.
I hope that this video helped you to get an idea for how you can make your own router sled.
Here are some tools & materials that I used:
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