I've recently started working with a planer, specifically the DW735, that I got on sale, and I'm trying to use a planer sled to face-joint my rough boards. However, no matter how I set up the sled, the ends of my boards are consistently tapering towards the middle. I built a simple sled using a sheet of 3/4 melamine with a lip on one end, but I'm certain I'm making a mistake somewhere along the way. I'm looking for advice on what I might be doing wrong and suggestions to fix this issue.
3 Answers
It sounds like your board might be flexing on the sled while you’re planing. To fix that, try shimming it properly so the rollers don’t push it down flat. The board needs to stay level during the process for you to get a uniform thickness all the way through.
I totally get where you’re coming from with the sled. It can be tricky! Instead of just using the planer sled, try face jointing the stock first with either a hand plane or a power planer. You don't need to get it perfect, just enough so it doesn't rock on a flat surface. Then, after that, you can power plane the other side and keep flipping the board until you reach your desired thickness. This might help avoid the tapering issue!
Just out of curiosity, are you using the sled instead of a jointer? A planer sled can be a bit confusing. Make sure that you’re measuring the thickest part of the board and planing down from there. Don’t forget to square it up on a table saw after you’re done with the edges; that could be a part of the tapering problem too!
Thanks for the tip! I had mentioned shimming it, but maybe I'm not doing it right. Do you have any advice on how to properly shim?