For saving money, space, time and letting your tools do your duty, you need a plane wood that is equipped with a router. Planers make flat surfaces by shaving off a small amount of wood. The tool works great for transforming warped wood into workable wood and is essential for any workshop. However, they take up a great deal of workspace and are expensive. It is simple to make your own planer from a router, and all routers work.
And now the question comes how to plane wood with a router? And for that, we bring you a guide that will cover all the aspects of your planning, execution, and operations. For flattening your wood, you don’t need any industrial-sized thickness planner. Because the planner will not only consume time, but at the same time, it will consume your energy and time as well. To avoid this, we will use a router that will allow you to enjoy working on to plane your wood.
Tools Required
How To Plane Wood With A Router Process
Let us take you to the process for How To Plane Wood With A Router. The process contains a few steps, and these steps will ensure a safe and convenient operation.
Step 1
Here in the first step, you must build a fixture and a jig right before you plan your piece of wood. Your wood will be held in place in the fixture by two rails, and the jig will be moved by these two rails. Moreover, your router will be attached to the fixture via the jig. And with this, you can control the planning process with ease. All you have to do is by sliding the jig along with the fixture. There is one thing that you need to keep in mind the jig is required to hold your router in place for the operations. In order to build a jig and fixture that can accommodate your timber, you will need to know the dimensions. So in the first step of the process, you need to take measurements of the slab in terms of width length and not forget the overall thickness of the lumber you are working on.
Step 2
In step two, you should always use a fixture that matches the wood piece or pieces that you wish to plane. During the surfacing process, the router’s surfacing fixture must consist of a base along with the two rails. Furthermore, it is recommended that the base is about half an inch thick. And the rails are constructed in a manner that joining two half-inch pieces of wood together makes a one-inch thick rail.
Step 3
Leave one and a half inches of space on either side of the wood you wish to plane. In addition, in this way, you will be able to fix the rails to the base. A bit taller rails are generally better than wood that is thicker, but not by much. The rails should be about a quarter-inch higher than the lumber. The surface of your wood will be irregular. The rails should be built in a way that accommodates these irregularities. In this way, you must glue or screw the rails into the base of the wood just to ensure they are securely attached.
Step 4
In the fourth step, plywood is stretched taut to make the jig. To mount the base of the router, all you need is a piece of plywood that has a wide enough center. In order for the jig to overhang the opposite rail of the fixture when the router is positioned on one side. You should make sure it is long enough. The jig should belong rather than be short as a rule of thumb. A hole should be drilled in the middle of the plywood. It is important to allow for sufficient clearance for the router bit during this process since there will be a lot of wood chips and dust generated.
Step 5
You can use a combo square to create streaks around the edges of the hole. To drive four small screws in a box-shaped pattern around the hole, use the lines to guide you as you position and predrill holes. Ensure the screw heads are slightly raised when mounting. Rather than enabling the router bits to cut into the rails before the screws are screwed into place. The screws prevent the jig from sliding from side to side. In order to prevent accidental contact with the lumber you plan to plane, the screw heads should not protrude much beyond the surface of the board. Mount a mortising bit or a wide bit on the router base and then attach the router base to the jig. Larger bit sizes will accomplish the job more quickly than smaller bits.
Step 6
Initially, the stock needs to be secured into the fixture. There are many ways to achieve this, including tape, glue, and wooden blocks clamped against the side of the stock. Place the wood where you would like to plane it. You should align the wood so that you are cutting cross-grain. The wood fibers are aligned to make it less likely that strings will come out from the wood.
The router needs to be positioned to cut about an eighth inch deep. Router bits can be quickly positioned after removing the bit from the stock. Position the jig outside of the rails as the router is started. The route across the lumber uses straight passes. It can be dangerous to hold the router during your pass because it may make the router worry a bit.
Step 7
As a result of the uneven surface of the wood, you often select the depth to cut first. The bit will not contact each point during the first depth setting. Thus, the bits will have to be adjusted after each complete pass over the wood. The bit depth should be adjusted until the wood surface is smooth. Repeat the process on the other side of the wood until you are looking for two flat surfaces. Both surfaces should be sanded after finishing the machining process to eliminate any machining marks.
Step 8
As you operate a workshop on a day-to-day basis, you won’t use this technique very frequently. However, the deployment of the method cannot be avoided when it is necessary. A wide or thick board is best for this technique. In addition, you can also use it to deal with tree trunks whose cross-sections are difficult to handle with conventional machinery.
Conclusion
Here in the conclusion section, we hope that all your questions about how to plane wood with a router are settled. Using the techniques mentioned above is for everyday use. Further, you can use these techniques on the thick, cross section of trees, trunk, and all other nontypical tree segments.
