Thread: Router planing jig

Well I had some fun today. After searching about on the net and watching a few videos and asking a few questions on the forum today I made a simple jig and did some flattening of a work bench. I used the same procedure as I saw on the Wood Whisperer website. The jig was made out of scrap. The router bit is a CMT planing bit for about $40 from Carbatec. The only change I made from the video was to put spacers between the side support rails and the side of the bench. In the video putting the rails hard up against the side of the bench seemed to cause problems. With the spacers I could take the router bit over and past the edge of the bench without cutting into the support rails.

How did it work? Well the first thing I noticed was that my original hand flattening with a jointer plane was pretty good actually and that the top had stayed close to dead flat. The orientation of the grain possibly assisted in this. I don't suppose I took off more than a few mill anywhere with the router. Secondly the router bit gave a very good smooth surface. If I was so inclined I could make it glassy but I don't mind a small bit of roughness. My bench is near on 1.9 m long and 0.75 m wide and I took a very short time to make two passes. The final result is a dead flat surface.


image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg



The reason I did this flattening was to create a reference surface for surface for planing some camphor laurel slabs. I suppose I could hand plane then flat but the idea of hand planing a cubic meter of timber does not seem like a good one. The timber is fated to become a new kitchen and by the time I worked them with a plane I would be dead.

If anybody is considering trying this router method of flattening larger surfaces I can highly recommend that they give it a try. Like I said at the start it was a real fun..