Swapped to a router sled for flattening slabs last winter and it changed everything

Used to spend hours with a hand plane flattening walnut slabs for my dining table builds. Back in November I finally built a router sled from some aluminum rails and a scrap piece of MDF. Cuts down the rough leveling from 4 hours to about 45 minutes per slab. Still finish with the plane for the surface finish but the heavy lifting is done way faster. Anyone else made the switch and found a specific jig design that works best?

3 comments

3 Comments

theasmith1mo ago

Forgot to check the level on my rails the first time out and carved a nice 1/4 inch trench in the middle of a slab before I realized what was happening.

simon_coleman1mo ago

Built my sled with cheap angle iron from Home Depot and it works PERFECT.

felix1471mo ago

Yeah that's the way to go! I grabbed a couple lengths of aluminum angle from the hardware store and it's held up through like 20 projects now. Did you bolt yours together or just clamp it?