Newby idiot

8015 Views 62 Replies 18 Participants Last post by FloydRandall, Jul 14, 2018

botanical

Discussion Starter · Jun 22, 2018

Hi ,
New to this forum and pretty much to routers although have played about with a small bosch a bit. I have joined as I have come into possession of some elm slabs, about 9 of them ranging in size including some large burrs. I want to make a couple of tables for myself and then some trinkets to sell from the offcuts in an effort to recoup something.

I have, on the advice of my father acquired a Triton TRA001 big router to flatten some of my slabs and I imagine there will be questions that need to be asked as I go along. I hope that some of you here will be gracious enough to guide me through some of my rookie errors.

Thankyou kindly

Bo

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woodknots

· #2 · Jun 22, 2018

@botanical - Bo, if you want gracious guidance you've come to the right place. You might even get some satirical guidance just for good measure but it will be all in fun.

Welcome aboard - I'm sure @Stick486 will be along shortly to offer you some good reading.

As you get started on your journey, feel free to post pictures of your progress. You won't be able to post links to the web until you've reached 10 posts, but you can certainly post pictures located on your computer or other device that you use.

Reactions: 3

botanical

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jun 22, 2018

I'm British so I can take satire, bring it on, and I'll post some pictures. Thank you for your welcome.
Bo

Reactions: 4

Gene Howe

· #4 · Jun 23, 2018

Welcome, Bo. Got two jobs for ya. Job one: make a good sled. Job two: get A decently sized surface planing bit. The rest is a piece of cake.

Reactions: 2

Stick486

· #5 · Jun 23, 2018

botanical said:
Hi ,
New to this forum and pretty much to routers although have played about with a small bosch a bit. I have joined as I have come into possession of some elm slabs, about 9 of them ranging in size including some large burrs. I want to make a couple of tables for myself and then some trinkets to sell from the offcuts in an effort to recoup something.

I have, on the advice of my father acquired a Triton TRA001 big router to flatten some of my slabs and I imagine there will be questions that need to be asked as I go along. I hope that some of you here will be gracious enough to guide me through some of my rookie errors.

Thank you kindly

Bo

Welcome to the forums Bo..
I'm Stick and do I have some reading for you to do... just like Vince hinted...
Go to this link....
much of which can not be ignored or treated lightly ESPECIALLY SAFETY...

There are PDF's here on maintenance, methods, jigs, tooling, accessories, aides, set up, and so much more...

PLEASE take the time to read them.. Your health, welfare and safety matter...
to us anyways...

Reactions: 1

RainMan 2.0

· #6 · Jun 23, 2018

Welcome to the forum Bo

DaninVan

· #7 · Jun 23, 2018

Hey, Bo; welcome!

There's lots of past threads, pictures etc. here on making and using both a sled and 'skis'.. Different approaches to the same basic concept.
Also, YouTube on the same topic.
Check HarrySin's threads, pics etc. on how to make a router ski.

Reactions: 2

DesertRatTom

· #8 · Jun 23, 2018

2

Glad you joined the fun. Be sure to post some pictures of your wood find. The TRA001 is a terrific machine, lots of power. To flatten stuff with a router generally requires a router sled, which holds the router mounted on two steel rods, secured to two end pieces. You're going to use a fairly large bit that leaves a flat surface. That would be to work the stock down to the thickness you want to work with. Here's a picture of a router sled. I think I'd probably apply some friction-free tape on the aluminum to make it slide easier.

On twisted or irregular pieces, you will sometimes be propping up low corners with the stock on a carrier. That is also a method for turning a planer into an upside-down jointer. Don't try to take very much wood off on any one pass. An eighth of an inch is ample

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Reactions: 5

Shop guy

· #9 · Jun 23, 2018

Welcome to the forum, Bo. You can never go wrong listening to Stick. Read his material it will be well worth your time.

Reactions: 1

DesertRatTom

· #10 · Jun 23, 2018

BTW, NOT asking for input is idiotic. :wink:

Reactions: 3

JOAT

· #11 · Jun 23, 2018

vchiarelli said:
@botanical - Bo, if you want gracious guidance you've come to the right place. You might even get some satirical guidance just for good measure

Spelling problems, eh? I believe that word is spelled satanical.

Reactions: 1

reuelt

· #12 · Jun 23, 2018

botanical said:
Hi ,
New to this forum and pretty much to routers although have played about with a small bosch a bit. I have joined as I have come into possession of some elm slabs, about 9 of them ranging in size including some large burrs. I want to make a couple of tables for myself and then some trinkets to sell from the offcuts in an effort to recoup something.

I have, on the advice of my father acquired a Triton TRA001 big router to flatten some of my slabs and I imagine there will be questions that need to be asked as I go along. I hope that some of you here will be gracious enough to guide me through some of my rookie errors.

Thankyou kindly

Bo

Watch this video TOO

https://www.wwgoa.com/video/flattening-large-wood-slabs-with-a-router/

Reactions: 1

old55

· #13 · Jun 23, 2018

Welcome to the forum Bo.

harrysin

· #14 · Jun 23, 2018

8

Welcome to the forum Bo. These shots show how I plane boards, the first shot shows the easy, but most expensive way, using a thickness planer. But where a member hasn't got such a machine or the board is too wide for the planer, then my second method is to make a set of router skis which are very versatile and often can perform tasks that would be difficult if not impossible to do by other means. I've shown here examples of both my methods, also pdf's showing HOW I make the skis.
There are many other things that I use my skis for hiding in my uploads.

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Reactions: 2

woodknots

· #15 · Jun 23, 2018

JOAT said:
Spelling problems, eh? I believe that word is spelled satanical.

Would that be the Theological spelling????>

>

>

Reactions: 5

DesertRatTom

· #16 · Jun 23, 2018

I have memory lapses from time to time. Called the router ski, a sled. Oops. Harry set you straight and showed the kind with bars.

Cherryville Chuck

· #17 · Jun 23, 2018

Welcome Bo. For large projects I agree with making a sled as Ruelt suggested. It's scalable to do very large slabs. Nick Offerman, the actor from the TV show Parks and Rec, was featured in Fine Woodworking with a sled setup he made for doing slabs about 10' long by 4 or 5' wide. None of the other methods are practical when you get up to anything close to that size. When I built a workbench years ago by laminating 2 bys together on edge I built a large sled to flatten it after. In Ruelt's video link the router stayed stationary in the cross arm where the one I built had a slot in the bottom and the router moved back and forth as in this video:

botanical

Discussion Starter · #18 · Jun 23, 2018

Planing bit?

Gene Howe said:
Welcome, Bo. Got two jobs for ya. Job one: make a good sled. Job two: get A decently sized surface planing bit. The rest is a piece of cake.

Hi Gene, thanks for your reply. Can I ask you a quick question?

Calipers Measuring instrument Tool Ruler Finger

I purchased this 2" bit for this purpose but if you can see it is not flat there is air in the middle. Is this right or is this a poorly built bit.

Bo

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sunnybob

· #19 · Jun 23, 2018

When it spins it covers all of the area.

when you make the sled, you need to be ultra precise. The longer the sled is, the more important every thousandths of an inch becomes.

Reactions: 1

botanical

Discussion Starter · #20 · Jun 23, 2018

sunnybob said:
When it spins it covers all of the area.

when you make the sled, you need to be ultra precise. The longer the sled is, the more important every thousandths of an inch becomes.

I did think that but also that would put all the pressure on the outside corner. I also have a 1" bit but that one is totally flat across the bit.

Anyway perhaps I dont need to send it back then.

Thanks

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