Thread: Wide belt sander / wide thicknesser in adelaide

No one is going to put reclaimed timber through their wide belt sander the belts cost too much, same with a thicknesser one chip in blade costs down time, Adelaide & and rural salvage used to machine timber although I think you will have the same problem, may have to bite the bullet and do the old way by hand.

I had a work bench with a top that need leveling and made a sled for a router and took out the high spots and took off 3-4mm over all. It worked so much better than I thought it would. I was very impressed with myself.

China is quite right, and Scotts suggestion is excellent.

To make a router sled work properly the secret is rigidity and precision. Any flex in the system an it will leave marks on your project. Suggest that you go to an auction and buy a couple of $5 tables for practice.

Router jig.jpg

not in adelaide but I have a 1100mm wide belt sander and 510mm TP combo in my private workshop.

I dont put reclaimed timber through my WBS because the belt easily cost more than the timber you put through, it doesnt take a lot to rip the wide belt and you have a mess to clean up and the down time...

Thicknesser is the same. although I have the spiral cutter block, I still dont put reclaimed timber through it.

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

China is quite right, and Scotts suggestion is excellent.

To make a router sled work properly the secret is rigidity and precision. Any flex in the system an it will leave marks on your project. Suggest that you go to an auction and buy a couple of $5 tables for practice.

Router jig.jpg

Yep, rigidity was the key. I had some steel flats that i fixed to the side of the table with screws, but clamps would have worked. I used steel angle for the slide. I had the steel hanging around, so it was easy. Can't remember how long it took - maybe an hour.

scottbr and GraemeCook are dead on the money. A router sled and base is not terribly time consuming or expensive to build, I did mine out of 16mm MDF and melamine chipboard and flattened a spotted gum countertop. In hindsight, the sled could've been sturdier but I sat to the side and just pushed and pulled it without downward force, and the end result was flat using the Stabila level as a straight edge. Yes, it's embarassingly janky in it's construction but it took an hour and it worked!

sled 1.jpg

sled 2.jpg

You'll need a surface planing bit if you don't want to spend a very long time at it, I used this one from Carbitool. Then it was just the ROS to finish off. The only downside to this process is the phenomenal amount of mess that is created, so I would do some type of dust collection the next I have to break the sled out.

End result, very acceptable!
countertop.jpg

Welcome to the forum.

Cheers guys
Have made a hand full of tables, have a working sled but as has been mentioned, but it makes a hell of a mess as being in the line of fire makes for a pretty unpleasant experience

There was a post on here from many years ago, and someone in Adelaide found more than one company that were machining / levelling timber for another person, I was hoping to see if they were still around.
Cheers

Why an auction?