Strut your stuff with this shop-made flattening sled
After slabbing a log with my chainsaw mill, I needed a router sled to flatten the slabs. For less than $90, I built a heavy-duty version that should last me for years.
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The inspiration came to me while watching an electrician hang 10' lengths of steel channel (Unistrut is one brand) on a wall. This length is ideal for a sled to flatten 8' boards, and stacked two high, I can easily flatten thicker slabs. I used 11⁄4 ×11⁄4 " 14-gauge channel to reduce weight.
Two shorter pieces of channel attached to a scrap of plywood make a super-stiff router sled. The sled slides on the long rails, guided by cleats that fit inside the long channels. A dust hood helps remove most of the chips while routing the slab.
—Shawn Jelinek, Sussex, Wis.