How to make a DEAD FLAT torsion box planer sled!

[@nickmukai8507]

You need several coats of poly on both sides of the MDF if you don't want it to move from humidity changes. Probably a good idea for the plywood to be finished as well.

[@laurentsaint-louis4818]

with that amount of glue and nails all along that lattice... it will last.

[@raynavarrete7898]

Just what I need, right now! I've been struggling to straighten a tick board to use as a base for other boards, but it is so hard to get it perfectly flat!

[@silvanuswood956]

#3 Carpenters Tipp ☝
NEVER ever put something with metal through your planer, espeically screws. IT could screw you some new ones in your body. ✌

[@fullertonwoodworks]

It’s definitely worth being safer than sorry if you’re concerned about this! However to be honest, I think as long as the screws are buried well within what you’re working with as they are here, you’d have to mess up pretty bad to hit them - at which point you probably have a more catastrophic issue than hitting screws.

[@silvanuswood956]

@@fullertonwoodworks You are right. It is like with every safetytipp. If you know what you shouldn't do and why, you could work around an do the "wrong" things with more care. But I think all kind of "tutorial" should at least inform about the dont's, before breaking the "rules". Not all people who repeat this are aware. Keep up the good work!

[@JesseWright68]

Brass screws, while still not a great idea won't roach your knives like steel screws.

[@condor5635]

Just a thought but I don’t think all those pocket screws were necessary. The end result with a good glue up with that huge wood matrix would’ve ended in the same results.

[@fullertonwoodworks]

Definitely! The pocket screws were only used to keep the wood in place while the glue dried.

[@joemedeiros8433]

Well built, but WOW, bro, completely unnecessary. That torsion box reduces the planer's cut capacity by half. My 3/4" melamine sled gives me a dead-flat surface every time.

[@fullertonwoodworks]

Thanks! It was a fun project to build with leftover MDF.

[@Chvdxii]

Could you use a 3/4 piece of melamine, or do you need the added height for some reason? Genuinely curious no hate!

[@fullertonwoodworks]

None taken, great question! Honestly, I wanted something a bit more durable than melamine and also I had a ton of leftover MDF on hand and thought this would be a fun project. You could absolutely use melamine too!

[@marvinwilliams4223]

Yesh this is Overkill. Melamine alone would work for it

[@orangeduc3129]

Good job

[@joey.g]

So as I'm understanding at the rollers of the planer don't allow the board to live flat so you have to accommodate when not using a jointer

[@fullertonwoodworks]

Exactly! A planer (for the most part) makes things parallel, not flat. So if you send a cupped board into the planer, you get a cupped board out - the cup is just identical on both faces by the end. However if you shim the board to make it flat, you can get the other side perfectly flat by using the shimmed side as a flat reference. This is why the sled is handy - you can shim something onto it, then send the whole thing through.

[@brandon152lee]

Very cool!

[@fullertonwoodworks]

Thank you!

[@roberttill3787]

I havent seen anyone advise that it is stored on a flat surface to stop potential warping.

[@fullertonwoodworks]

The point of the torsion box is actually to keep it from warping

[@roberttill3787]

@@fullertonwoodworks Yes but if the torsion box becomes warped in storage, that is transferred to the workpiece. I would not advise its stored leaning against the wall.

[@haltz]

people sure do love pocket holes

[@greazymcgeezy]

I know I’m a fan of the one in mine.

[@fullertonwoodworks]

😂

[@equinoxproject2284]

The piece isn’t flat because the sled is flat…it’s flat because it was held in a static position while going through the planer. Granted the flatter the sled the less material you will need to remove from the stock to get the stock nice and flat.

[@TheTsunamijuan]

I hope its relatively dry in your shop. Cause if you have high humidity. That MDF is likely to swell inconsistently over time. I won't mention how i know this :D

[@fullertonwoodworks]

Good point for sure! Fortunately my shop is climate controlled so moisture isn’t a huge issue. The plywood strips between the two MDF sheets also help to keep everything from warping.

[@TheTsunamijuan]

@@fullertonwoodworks yeah i am not so lucky at this point... I really wish that was the case. Here it sits at about 70-80% humidity year round. Since i am on the coast. I find mdf surfaces swell in a matter of days. Requiring a facing cut before use.

[@audetnicolas]

I've built something similar recently, but with plywood on the faces, instead of mdf. Do you think that it is also subject to swelling (enough that it would be an issues)?

[@TheTsunamijuan]

@@audetnicolas in my experience plywood is generally more stable. it might swell small amount, over time, But otherwise its very stable, unless left in water for a extended period. Both mdf and plywood are more stable if sealed. Though mdf will take a good deal of finish to seal, as its quite porous and spongy to most finishes. So your best burnishing the surfaces first.

[@satishpathy]

What are the dimensions of your torsion box? Assume the width is around 13”, more interested in knowing the length dimension. Thank you.

[@fullertonwoodworks]

Hi there! The width is just shy of 13" as you mentioned, because that's the width capacity of my planer. The length is roughly 40", but of course it can be as long or short as you want. Some people make multiple planer sleds of different lengths for convenience sake. Cheers!

[@wizardmaster6639]

why - I keep my wood straight and right and never need to send it to the chopper - Chomper yes, chopper no

[@joey.g]

Can you just lower down the plainer so that it pushes on the wood what is the purpose of adding the sticker material

[@fullertonwoodworks]

It's not so much an issue of the planer not making contact with the wood or not pushing down on it - the issue is that a planer does not make things flat, but rather parallel. So if you send a board through with a big cup in it, the two faces will just end up with parallel, cupped shapes. The purpose of the sled is to allow you to shim one side flat so it serves as a reference, and then your opposite face will be made parallel to it - making one side flat. Then you can flip the board over and run it through without the sled to end up with two flat, parallel faces.

[@cameronkeyes5654]

Does this help with snipe?

[@fullertonwoodworks]

Overall, not really to be honest. If you’re getting snipe due to the board itself not being flat then I suppose it could help there, but I find snipe is pretty much impossible to avoid completely (at least on consumer grade planers like this one).

[@cameronkeyes5654]

@@fullertonwoodworks that’s fair I suppose lol.

[@georgevillanueva6926]

😅so.. had to watch a second time because I didn’t hear u mention the slight twist in that board 😂man that threw me for a loop..the shim messed me up

[@SPMech1]

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@Book-Gnome]

The screws were over kill

[@fullertonwoodworks]

They aren’t strictly necessary - they’re only there to keep everything in place until the glue dries :)

[@trex283]

Make your deck dead flat instead. There is a way to do it easily and cheaply.

[@JesseWright68]

MDF? Nope.

[@fullertonwoodworks]

To each their own! Plywood works just as well; whatever stable material you have on hand will do the trick.

[@JesseWright68]

@@fullertonwoodworks MDF isn't stable and has little strength.

[@fullertonwoodworks]

MDF is absolutely dimensionally stable and stays very flat when you don’t subject it to sagging or moisture. It doesn’t need strength in this application, so I don’t see why it would be a bad choice for this project. Feel free to use any sheet good you prefer, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with MDF here.

[@InchFab]

All the pieces are horizontal.