# Milling wide boards



## big treble (May 10, 2012)

Just curious, what's your preferred technique to get rough sawn lumber flat.

router sled, planer sled, flipping & planing or some thing else?

In the past I've just been flipping the board and running it back through the planer with ok results, but I just built a router sled today and not sure if the results will be worth the hassle and clean up(appears to be hard to control dust).

By the way, this is educational for me, not a poll.


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## calwilliams63 (Dec 17, 2008)

Luckily I have a 12" spiral head jointer that makes that process easy now. But before then I use to brad nail some hardwood strips on the sides and run it through the planer. Worked for me for many years.


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

All depends on the width on a planer. Most lunchbox planers are only 12-13". 
Plaining a rough cut slab will only duplicate what is on the bottom. So using a plainer sled or a router sled would be my choice. 
Unless your a hand tool guy, you could use a hand plane.


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## big treble (May 10, 2012)

I lack the talent and skills to use hand planes, and the thought of trying them makes me tremble. But let me describe in great detail my extensive experience in flipping a electrical switch...it is almost an art.:laughing:

Cal, that's interesting with the hardwood strips, I might try that.


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## calwilliams63 (Dec 17, 2008)

It is a quick easy method if you don't have a big jointer. Rarely will you ever have to flatten a rough sawn board over 12 or 13 inches anyways. Best of luck guy!!!


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## big treble (May 10, 2012)

I'm going to try the planer sled I just built, but will certainly try that as well. I have an idea that the planer would have better dust control, and I would have less mess, and faster.


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## whatalesyou1 (Mar 18, 2011)

How about some pics?


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## big treble (May 10, 2012)

Well, it's far from fancy, it's simply 3/4 mdf 5 ft in length, and will mill up to 20" wide.

Like I said not fancy....but square.


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## big treble (May 10, 2012)

Here's another


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

I use hand plane for all slabs - no mater the width.

I'm a hand tooler.


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