Better Sled for Planing Thin Stock and Tapered Laminations

Better Sled for Planing Thin Stock and Tapered Laminations This sled is simply a tapered board with two 1/4-in.-dia. holes near the leading end that receive dowels.I’m on the faculty of the Vermont Woodworking School, where we developed this sled as a quick, secure way to make tapered plies for bent laminations. We also make parallel versions for planing anything thinner than 1/8 in.—such as shop-sawn veneer. As opposed to traditional planer sleds, which push the parts into the knives, our sleds pull them through the machine, keeping the thin stock in tension and preventing it from lifting up and getting damaged. If the leading (doweled) edge of the thin stock wants to lift, we add some double-stick tape under it. The sled is nothing more than a board with two 1/4-in.-dia. holes drilled near the leading end, which receive dowels (unglued). The stock has the same hole pattern drilled at its leading edge, which is cut away later on. The holes in the stock are drilled just slightly larger than the dowels, and we generally drill an entire bundle of stock at the same time. To taper the sled board for tapered plies, we use a jointer trick that involves making a thick cut halfway down the board and then tilting the board down on the end with the stopped cut for a second pass. The thinner end of the sled (and thicker end of the plies) is the leading end. —BRETT KINCAID, Cambridge, Vt. Fine Woodworking Recommended Products Double Sided Tape Milescraft 4007 6in Bench Clamp Incra Miter 1000HD Comments could someone correct the dimensions in the text. Do 11/88 and 11/44 mean ⅛ and ¼ respectively? Log in or create an account to post a comment. Sign up Log in