Slab Flattening Jig- Build or Buy

[ajkoontz]

Thoughts on buying the jig below. I know, Vevor, right? How bad can it be? OK, maybe I don't want to know the answer to that. I know others make good ones for $600-ish. I also know there are dozens/ hundreds of build your own videos out there. I know myself well enough that I will never spend more than $200 to buy one so those are out. I also know it's unlikely that I'll ever get enough round-to-its saved up to build my own in the foreseeable future. Primary use would be to flatten my workbench top and get rid of some battle scars. 20+ years old and it's due. Secondary, I'd like to have a dedicated jig to flatten the occasional live edge/ wide slab I come across. I'm getting into sawmilling so I see having some nice slabs to flatten down the road. If this thing isn't a total piece of junk I think it's got everything I need (for now) and nothing I don't and the price is worth it to me if it makes the job easier. Thoughts?

And I briefly considered hand planing my bench, but it's laminated beech with zero thoughts given to grain direction when I glued it up. So it's pretty gnarly. I think I would make it worse flattening by hand. I also have some pretty deep dings (~3/16") that I'd like to take out while I'm at it.

I think I'd spend at least this making my own out of 80/20 or similar and like I alluded above, my shop time is limited these days so I'm really leaning heavily toward a pre-made jig.

[attachment=53751]

[MGoBlue1984]

Fine Woodworking had a design a few years back in an article by Nick Offerman. I built it to flatten oak slabs; it worked well. I spent about as much for a good router bit as the wood for The jig.

[jteneyck]

The rollers on that jig that ride on the table are going to be riding over wood chips in short order, and that's going to give you an irregular surface.  Building a router sled is a pretty simple and low-cost affair, no 80/20 or fancy stuff needed.  I probably spent less than $20 and a couple of hours to build this one.  




Use the edges of your bench for the sled to ride on.  As long as it's flat, you're golden.  If it's not, then screw rails to the side of the bench and get them coplaner, then ride the sled on them.  

You need serious dust collection unless you do this outdoors.  Even then, some of the chips are going to go flying.  



John

[firefighter]

Wood whisperer did a very nice video on flattening a bench top. Some joi Ted 2x stock and a router jig. Worth a watch. It worked well.

[ajkoontz]

OK, you talked me out of the fancy gizmo that caught my eye. Sometimes I forget I'm a WW dang it and building jigs is part of the fun.

Now about that carbide insert router bit.... Any particular brand I should buy?

[jteneyck]

OK, you talked me out of the fancy gizmo that caught my eye. Sometimes I forget I'm a WW dang it and building jigs is part of the fun.

Now about that carbide insert router bit.... Any particular brand I should buy?

The one in my photo is not an insert bit; it's a cheap bit I bought on Amazon.  Yoniko probably.  I flattened about 6 slabs with it and it's still looks OK.  If I planned to do a lot of this, I'd buy an insert bit like I have to flatten the spoilboard on my CNC.  For that I again use a low-cost bit, paid maybe $30 for it.  Being able to rotate/replace the inserts means you don't have to spend a lot, IMO.  Most carbide is pretty durable.  

John

[ajkoontz]

The one in my photo is not an insert bit; it's a cheap bit I bought on Amazon.  Yoniko probably.  I flattened about 6 slabs with it and it's still looks OK.  If I planned to do a lot of this, I'd buy an insert bit like I have to flatten the spoilboard on my CNC.  For that I again use a low-cost bit, paid maybe $30 for it.  Being able to rotate/replace the inserts means you don't have to spend a lot, IMO.  Most carbide is pretty durable.  

John

I already bought a $20 non-insert bit in anticipation of this project. I thought you had one of the indexing ones from the photo. Assuming this goes well, I'll probably upgrade to that when this bit gets dull.

Love your set-up by the way. Thanks for taking time to answer my questions and post photos. Not a lot of that going on in this forum these days so wanted to publicly thank you to encourage others.

[Brian in sunny FL]

Shameless plug but I'm overstocked on the Whiteside 6220 spoilboard/slab flattening bits if anyone is interested.  While I can't post prices discount will be substantial and send a message if interested.

[FrankAtl]

I already bought a $20 non-insert bit in anticipation of this project. I thought you had one of the indexing ones from the photo. Assuming this goes well, I'll probably upgrade to that when this bit gets dull.

Love your set-up by the way. Thanks for taking time to answer my questions and post photos. Not a lot of that going on in this forum these days so wanted to publicly thank you to encourage others.

John's a great contributor! Takes time to answer a lot of questions and includes great photographs. I'd like to thank him too!

[iclark]

If your long rails are not straight, parallel, level, and provide support for your router for the full length of your bench top; then your bench top will be prone to being "flattened" with humps and dips down the length.

The one in the picture looks like you would get short sections of the bench top routed to being in the same plane but no guarantee that the plane for one section would be parallel with (or at the same height as) any other section of the top.