Thicknessing?

[Hedley]

I was wondering what is the easiest way to thickness a body without a planer? Safety planer for drill press, router, hand planes? I've never used the safety planer before, but it sure does look like a handy device. I definitely plan on buying a planer sometime down the road, my buddy has a planer but we don't have the same days off and work at different times so it could be a pain to get together just to exchange the wood.

[WezV]

if it a body blank i would go with a handplane

if its a shaped body i would go with a router thicknessing jig

[Johnny Foreigner]

i'm in the same position as you.

I tried building a router sled assembly using aluminum L bars and found it next to useless.

I'd say safe-t-planer all the way. For thicknessing it's really quick - you just have to take shallow passes, and clamp a flat piece of MDF or similar to your drill press to make a bigger table.

[guitar101]

i'm in the same position as you.

I tried building a router sled assembly using aluminum L bars and found it next to useless.

I'd say safe-t-planer all the way. For thicknessing it's really quick - you just have to take shallow passes, and clamp a flat piece of MDF or similar to your drill press to make a bigger table.

Ditto safety planer. Just make a fence and don't force the work.

[Tim37]

can i ask what went wrong with your sled? i have been thinking of building one.

[Johnny Foreigner]

can i ask what went wrong with your sled? i have been thinking of building one.

almost certainly my own failings in constructing it, but I find it impossible to move the router with any fluidity - I can either move it forward/backward (so the sled moves along the rails) or side to side (router moves along the sled) but never both at the same time.

I also find it very difficult - and again this is probably user error - to get all four corners of the rails the exact same height so that the router gets a uniform thickness on the work piece.

[Johnny Foreigner]

FYI, I copied this design:

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...st&p=379441

but now I'm looking at it again, I'm think I probably need to use a thicker base and find some way to make the slidy bits slide smoother...

[Metalhead28]

I built a similar sled, but just use it over a malamine board on either side. I get great results from this. I use it for flattening warped stuff or for thicknessing stuff that chips too bad in the planer.

And I don't try to move it both ways at once. I position the router, make a pass with the sled, reposition the router, make another pass, and so on. Otherwise it would bind. I'd like to make a more permanent version with some linear slides or something, but i don't know if I use it enough to warrant that....

[Tim37]

my fear is that the aluminum would be too flexible causing the router to dip in towards the middle of the blank.

[Metalhead28]

The angles are really stiff; mine won't budge. But just to be on the safe side, I don't put any pressure on the router.

[WezV]

my current one is made from some steel, needs regular oiling on the rails but certainly never bends... i have the router sled longer than the rails so i can move it in any direction - some stops on the end to prevent me going to far

[Johnny Foreigner]

my fear is that the aluminum would be too flexible causing the router to dip in towards the middle of the blank.

no, the aluminum is actually very stiff and unyielding.

[solomon684]

I built one just like Metalheads, in fact I pretty much copied it because it looked very good and simple. The aluminum I used may be too thin, but Im pretty sure mine bends in the middle, making it kinda useless

[Johnny Foreigner]

I built one just like Metalheads, in fact I pretty much copied it because it looked very good and simple. The aluminum I used may be too thin, but Im pretty sure mine bends in the middle, making it kinda useless

or your router is too fat.

[solomon684]

Its this one

http://www.amazon.com/Skil-1825-2-Inch-Hyb...IN%3DB0000C6DY0

[Johnny Foreigner]

Its this one

http://www.amazon.com/Skil-1825-2-Inch-Hyb...IN%3DB0000C6DY0

same as mine. exactly the same.

maybe your aluminum is too thin. Mine is 1/8" and seems fine.

[solomon684]

Its this one

http://www.amazon.com/Skil-1825-2-Inch-Hyb...IN%3DB0000C6DY0

same as mine. exactly the same.

maybe your aluminum is too thin. Mine is 1/8" and seems fine.

Yea I knew fro you had the same one from your build thread

My aluminum's 1/16" I think. Maybe I'll replace it with some thicker aluminum

[Tim37]

i looked at the aluminum at homedepot and it jsut seemed flimsy so i figured i would just use some old scrap steel i have laying around here.

[Johnny Foreigner]

I ordered mine from Speedy Metals - good prices and quick delivery.