# Advice on using table-mounted router to flatten/thickness a board



## Harvey Dunn (Oct 18, 2013)

I've seen a few videos of people using routers and shop-made sleds to flatten/thickness very large workpieces, like bench and table tops. I'm working on a much smaller scale - my biggest board ever was 8" x 36". I don't have a jointer or a planer and am amazed at what it would cost to acquired the traditional sequence of hand planes (fore, jointer and smoother).

So: can I flatten my boards on my benchtop router table...or at least get them to the point where I can more easily finish the job with a random orbit sander?

I know how to offset the fence to joint one edge.

My table surface is 14" x 24".

My specific questions:
1) What's the best bit for this - a "bottom cleaner"? a "bowl and tray"?
2) If I have a board longer than my table, I assume I can put something on the outfeed side of the table that is roughly table height to catch it, and if I concentrate on even feeding on the input side I'll be OK. Does this sound right?
3) If my board is wider than 6", I'll have to remove the fence in order to accomplish the last couple of passes. Can I clamp a straightedge on the opposite side and use it as my "fence"?


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

You can't use the router table. As you rout wood off the bottom the wood becomes unstable. You need to work on the top side with a sled or a router on skis. You can do that on your work bench.


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## Harvey Dunn (Oct 18, 2013)

Cherryville Chuck said:


> You can't use the router table. As you rout wood off the bottom the wood becomes unstable. You need to work on the top side with a sled or a router on skis. You can do that on your work bench.


Ah yes, I see - unless I was leaving big, untouched margins on the sides, the board will be sloping.

If I do it from the top side, which direction do I go - with the grain, or across it?

And which bit is best?


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Correct. With the grain would be a little better especially at the end where you could catch some grain and rip it. A straight bit might leave groove marks where a bowl bit with radius edges won't.


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## MAFoElffen (Jun 8, 2012)

Cherryville Chuck said:


> You can't use the router table. As you rout wood off the bottom the wood becomes unstable. You need to work on the top side with a sled or a router on skis. You can do that on your work bench.


Actually, you can plane on a router table... with a jig.

The jig is mainly just a board with 4 "feet". One foot on each corner. The feet raise the board over the router table. The stock is clamped to the bottom of the jig. The jig is passed over the router bit. The fence can be used to help support the jig, but it really not needed.

Is the same as using a router ski jig, but from a different perspective. The work is passing (supported) over the router bit in a controlled manner.

Think outside the box. Think 3D.


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## Harvey Dunn (Oct 18, 2013)

How to clamp the stock? Are you assuming there will be a sacrificial margin that goes untouched?

I'm interested in thin boards - could I attach them to the jig with double sided tape and still have them held securely?


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

I had considered suggesting screwing the backside of the board to a sled that would keep it level at or just above the table but the sled or skis above the board would be more versatile, and he mentioned a router table about 12" shorter than his longest workpiece. But it is worth mentioning the alternate possibility to show that there are often many ways to get the job done. You just have to think about the conditions that need to be satisfied and go from there.


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## MAFoElffen (Jun 8, 2012)

Harvey Dunn said:


> How to clamp the stock? Are you assuming there will be a sacrificial margin that goes untouched?
> 
> I'm interested in thin boards - could I attach them to the jig with double sided tape and still have them held securely?


Yes... But you said small and thin... Then in another post you said longer than your table...
*** What are the dimensions you are planning to play with?

If small, you could make a router ski, held with all-thread rods between the sled ski's sides... But instead of putting the rods through a router, use 2 blocks with holes drilled for the all-thread rods... using nuts outside those blocks to use the blocks as material clamps. Use a piece of thinner mdf as a gauge to set the jig "level."

If thin stock, you could use 3/4" mdf with 3/4 mdf rails (or however high you want to suspend it) on the sides. Double-sided tape to tape the stock underneath it, between the rails.

But if long stock... I'd use a router sled or a planing jig (like in my uploads). Easier to work with long stock if you have the router suspended above the stock, instead of doing it on a router table. That way to continue, you loosen your clamp and slide the work into position, tighten and continue. For clamping stock in my planing jig, I use blocks (usually thinner than I plan to plane) along the sides of the stock and use tapered wedges between the rails and the stock to clamp my work stock in place. 

If I put the stock on a bench or on top a piece of plywood... I use my pin nailer to tack down blocks around the work and then use wedges between the blocks and work to clamp it.

I use planning jigs- For hand-held routers, router tables, radial arm saws... for work pieces that are either too large or too small (too short) for my thickness planner.

Jointing- If small/thin, I do on a router table with a jointing fence. If bigger/ thicker/longer, I do it on my table saw or panel saw.

To tell the whole truth, I have a self-made 3-1/2 bench jointer that I barely use and sits on a shelf collecting dust.. I used to use it when I first built it. Even though I am still getting more orders for cabinets and furnishings... In forty plus years, I've done most my jointing without a dedicated jointer. At least for me, I've gotten by without using one for so long, and even though I have one... so I can't going out and spending my money on one. There's other ways.


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## flockshot (Mar 15, 2012)

Here is one man's solution.
Milling Wood Without A Jointer (using a router table) - YouTube


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

Harvey, it is easy to build a ski jig for your router. This is the smart way to go for surfacing small boards at a minimal cost.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

This ski set-up makes light work of such a task. Using the bottom cleaning bit as shown in the router means that it has to be ABSOLUTELY parallel with the wood which is achieved by ensuring all four corners of the skis are at the exact same height. If the bit is even a fraction out there will be slight lines formed with each pass. Using a dish cutter as shown in the last photo is not so critical.


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## Harvey Dunn (Oct 18, 2013)

I really enjoyed the ski video. But I don't have the tools for making the skis. Also I only have one router, so if I can find ways to always use it at the table, I'll be able to skip having to detach it/reattach it.


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