A few years ago, I made a router sled (mentioned here), which is a jig designed to turn a router into a way of levelling off bits of wood. It doesn’t do a flawless job, certainly with the router bits I have available, but it does get to a point where a little sanding can give a good final finish. I used it for the bookshelf project I was working on in 2018 and also for creating some wooden coasters. Now, as some of those coasters are beginning to split, I’ve pulled it out of storage and begun figuring out how it works again.
I’m not sure the wood I’m working on – slices from branches a lilac tree I recently helped reduce in size – will do much as coasters despite it’s gorgeous colouring. The slices I cut a few weeks ago have now mainly developed cracks larger than the ones I was thinking of replacing. I’m wondering if this is a project where I need to cut some lengths from suitable branches and then store them for a couple of years so they can dry out more before I slice them down? Still, I’m making some refinements to my sled system and perhaps this time I will remember to jot some instructions down on it to make the process quicker to pick up next time it comes out of storage.