# Router sled



## neville (Oct 20, 2014)

I made a sled for my bigger router to use it for planing.

Decided to may a clear router base to improve visability.

It works fabulously. 









The plexiglass base.









The sled with heavy angle iron sanded flat and coated with wax.









The first product.
Some cotton wood.
Had lots of other finishing and wax.
But the two boards are the same thickness.

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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Wow , you did a great job on the plexi base , not to mention the sled system


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Neville.

nice job on the sled, it should serve you well 

what got my attention is that cotton wood....what finish schedule did you use??? 
what is the reflection of? Clouds?


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## schnewj (Nov 18, 2013)

Nice job, Neville. Welcome to the forum.

How thick is your base plate?

Bill


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

@neville...
you are talented and by far a craftsman....


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

Great job, Neville.

Love the router...


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

Always nice to see new ideas Neville, good job on this. Dollar stores sell packages of Velcro wraps that are great for managing power cords.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Great stuff, Neville! I _really_ like your simplified sled.
(I've mentioned before that the mattress shops basically give angle iron from old bed frames away...they sell new ones but what are they going to do with the old ones; they can't resell them)


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## neville (Oct 20, 2014)

Thanks for feedback. 
I enjoy minimalist cheap solutions that create great results. 
It was very easy to make.
Required no special skills or experience. 
A drill press and an accurate saw.

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## Lappa (Feb 5, 2015)

What thickness is the plexiglass?
Thanks


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## neville (Oct 20, 2014)

Finishing cotton wood:
Sanding works best.
Grits of 120 / 180 / 220 / 320.
Then polishing pads of 400 / 600 / 1000 / 2000.
Then carnuba wax

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## joefyffe (Apr 1, 2014)

Looks GOOD Neville!!!


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## neville (Oct 20, 2014)

Lappa said:


> What thickness is the plexiglass?
> Thanks


Plexiglass is 8mm

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## neville (Oct 20, 2014)

Also made an extended plexiglass base for my palm router.
Gives significantly greater control since these usually have tiny bases and are top heavy.
With this base it's amazing.





























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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

neville said:


> Plexiglass is 8mm
> 
> Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk


I didn't even know they made 8mm as all the plexi I seen here was 6mm and 12, so I was assumimg you used 12mm. 
Looks really sturdy with the 8mm though


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## Web Shepherd (Feb 8, 2012)

Neville ~ Just what I was looking for to plane some over sized planks for a rustic bench. Please share with us some more information about the bed of your sled. Are the holes for adjusting the clamps? I'm thinking that there is a name for this type of set up. What router bit did you use? Great job.

Bob


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## neville (Oct 20, 2014)

RainMan1 said:


> I didn't even know they made 8mm as all the plexi I seen here was 6mm and 12, so I was assumimg you used 12mm.
> Looks really sturdy with the 8mm though


The router is quite heavy at 7kg.
However, the sled is narrow enough that the edge of the router base rests over the sled itself.
The router's weight is therefore borne by the angle iron; not the plexiglass base.
The bases' main role is therefore positioning within the sled.










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## neville (Oct 20, 2014)

Here is greater detail on how it works and how to make one.

The sled rests, unattached, on the table.
The piece to be planed is clamped from its sides.
I use the holes in the table for clamps.

After making the base I took a piece of mdf on each side and glued small pieces to create a channel for the angle iron of the correct width.










I then cut a piece of mdf to go into the channel to hold the angle iron apart.
I secured this with a t-threaded insert.

















And obviously repeated on each side.

For height adjustment I have simply taken other pieces of mdf which can be clipped below. I drilled 6mm holes and used dowels to hold in place.
Height precision is obviously key.

Ideal router bits are bottom surfacing bits.
Here is the one I'm using.


















Hope this helps. 

I think 6mm plexiglass would be fine if the router base overlapped materially over the angle iron.

In an earlier version I just used mdf.
I only used plexiglass for increased visibility but it's a minor added extra. 
Certainly not essential. 
Plexiglass is fairly expensive here.
Mdf is cheap.

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## Cabbie41 (Nov 28, 2010)

Neville-
What bit do you use for flattening boards? Will this set-up handle a slab with a "cup" of approx. 1/4" across 24" width (material is cedar)??
Thanks for your help, and the ideas for the simplified sled design.
Cabbie


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## BIG OLD TIM (May 13, 2014)

Hi guys, I just wanted to let you know I have some experience with the "Bed rail frame angle iron" which is being used and just wanted to warn you of how hard and apparently heat treated this material is. Only use HSS drill bits on it and use a torch to cut it as it will wear you and the hacksaw blade down Quickly! Then use a grinder to clean up the ends. IT"S TOUGH STUFF! Much stronger and thinner than normal angle iron of equal size. Perfect for a sled like the one used here by Neville. 
And great sled and router base Neville. Thanks for sharing!
TIM


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## Gerry Kiernan (Jul 19, 2007)

That is a nice, clean, simple and effective looking sled.


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## neville (Oct 20, 2014)

I typed up a long story which seems to have got lost.
I think 6mm will be fine. The router base rests over the angle iron.
The base can also be made from mdf.
Or the router can rest directly on the rails.

Some more pics to help:


































































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## ksidwy (Jul 13, 2013)

Nicely done Neville! Congrats!
Sid.


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## neville (Oct 20, 2014)

Bit embarrassing that the "lost" post came back.
Technology is odd.

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## BIG OLD TIM (May 13, 2014)

That's awesome Neville! After seeing your second post, I realized that you apparently used full sized angle iron on that jig. Is it 6mm or 1/4"? Looks maybe even heavier? What thickness was it?
TIM


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## neville (Oct 20, 2014)

BIG OLD TIM said:


> That's awesome Neville! After seeing your second post, I realized that you apparently used full sized angle iron on that jig. Is it 6mm or 1/4"? Looks maybe even heavier? What thickness was it?
> TIM


Angle iron is 5mm.
This is a 7kg router.

I used much thinner iron on a previous sled with a lighter router.

The trick is that it must just not deflect downwards with the weight. 
I've probably gone much thicker than required

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## JudgeMike (Feb 27, 2012)

Nice work Neville. Thanks for all the photos and explanations.


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## tomp913 (Mar 7, 2014)

neville said:


> Angle iron is 5mm.
> This is a 7kg router.
> 
> I used much thinner iron on a previous sled with a lighter router.
> ...


That's a nice sturdy design. If there was a concern about measureable deflection of the angles, you could always put blocks of the same MDF used for the ends at locations along the length.


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## Roy Drake (Feb 10, 2014)

Thanks, Neville. I ca see what you have done, and I can build one. Really appreciate the tutorial.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

*Ol' Sparky*



BIG OLD TIM said:


> Hi guys, I just wanted to let you know I have some experience with the "Bed rail frame angle iron" which is being used and just wanted to warn you of how hard and apparently heat treated this material is. Only use HSS drill bits on it and use a torch to cut it as it will wear you and the hacksaw blade down Quickly! Then use a grinder to clean up the ends. IT"S TOUGH STUFF! Much stronger and thinner than normal angle iron of equal size. Perfect for a sled like the one used here by Neville.
> And great sled and router base Neville. Thanks for sharing!
> TIM


Hey, Tim; I just use my angle grinder with those thin kerf cut-off discs for cutting it. They're so cheap now that I don't care if I burn through a couple on a project! 
https://www.kmstools.com/neiko-4-1-2-cut-off-wheel-4057


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## neville (Oct 20, 2014)

A different version for a lighter router. Thin angle iron. No separate base for the router. Router rides directly on rails.
Works well too.



















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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

@neville....

are all tose holes for clamps/bench dogs or is that a down draft table...


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## neville (Oct 20, 2014)

Just for clamping / dogs

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## papasombre (Sep 22, 2011)

Hi, Neville.

Your sled looks familiar to me. I am working in something similar using linear motion bearings, not a CNC.


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## neville (Oct 20, 2014)

papasombre said:


> Hi, Neville.
> 
> Your sled looks familiar to me. I am working in something similar using linear motion bearings, not a CNC.


I'm keen to see what you do.
I'd love to upgrade to linear bearings.
Ideally in two axes so that i can "freehand" in the xy plane

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## Cabbie41 (Nov 28, 2010)

I like your sled design so much that I built my own from scrap bin stuff and a couple of sheets of 3/4" MDF. I have several slabs of knotty deodar cedar to flatten for some table projects, and after rejecting the thought of trying to feed 2" thick 75lb-100lb. slabs thru my planer (and dealing wiith the gross tearout from the straight knives acting on the wild grain around the knots), I decided that routing was the way to go. Mine's built a bit differently, but uses your basic concept, and I find that as I use it I'm adding improvements as I go. If I ever build another it'll be even better. Most importantly---the results are incredible. The router handles with ease areas of wood structure that just can't be done any other way. 
I'm also using it to flatten mesquite rounds that we're turning into cutting boards. It just flies thru end grain stuff with no tearout or edge break-away
This rig has saved me untold hours of belt sanding and cursing---thanks!


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## Barry747 (Jun 16, 2011)

Cabbie41 said:


> I like your sled design so much that I built my own from scrap bin stuff and a couple of sheets of 3/4" MDF. I have several slabs of knotty deodar cedar to flatten for some table projects, and after rejecting the thought of trying to feed 2" thick 75lb-100lb. slabs thru my planer (and dealing wiith the gross tearout from the straight knives acting on the wild grain around the knots), I decided that routing was the way to go. Mine's built a bit differently, but uses your basic concept, and I find that as I use it I'm adding improvements as I go. If I ever build another it'll be even better. Most importantly---the results are incredible. The router handles with ease areas of wood structure that just can't be done any other way.
> I'm also using it to flatten mesquite rounds that we're turning into cutting boards. It just flies thru end grain stuff with no tearout or edge break-away
> This rig has saved me untold hours of belt sanding and cursing---thanks!


Jim - what modifications did you make? Can you post some pictures?


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

This is an old thread, but a darn good one. Thanks Neville for sharing your sled construction details. I am considering building one myself. And it just dawned on me that I have the rails from my dad's old Craftsman table saw that should work just fine. That is, if I can find them. :surprise:


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