The Woodpeckers Slab Flattening Mill, along with your router, lets you accurately and safely flatten oddly shaped and oversized slabs in a home shop. Using the Mill is as easy as sliding your router across the slab in repetitive passes, moving over a little less than the width of your router bit until the slab is flattened. After flattening, slabs should only need a light final sanding.
The Slab Flattening Mill starts with two aluminum extrusions, onto which slides an aluminum router baseplate with handles. The inverted “V” shape of the main rail sheds sawdust and provides a solid base for the mating extrusion. It fits over the inverted “V” and glides on ultra-high molecular weight (UHMW) polyethylene runners. You can mount the Mill to any flat and level work surface — even a sheet of MDF.
When extra capacity isn’t needed, the whole assembly can be condensed down to work on projects as small as cutting boards or end table tops without reaching across a vast stretch of unused space. The Mill’s modular design also enable its components to be stored conveniently when not in use.
The Basic Slab Flattening Mill accommodates slabs up to 38 in. wide by 57 in. long. Four included Slab Clamping Dogs fasten to the work surface to help keep slabs firmly anchored during milling. Woodpeckers provides all hardware necessary to mount the Mill to your workbench or other suitable worksurface.
An extra pair of 72-in. rails in the Extended Slab Flattening Mill kit can either replace the 48-in. cross rails to increase width-cutting capacity, or they can connect with the 72-in. base rails to extend the Mill’s length. Cutting capacity grows to either 62 x 105 in. or 38 x 129 in.
The Slab Flattening Mill works best with 2hp or larger routers, and the router plate is pre-drilled to accept 16 popular router models. For better efficiency and smoother results, Woodpeckers also recommends using larger-diameter “spoilbit” style router bits with this system. The company offers two different bit styles — a 1-1/2-in.-dia. bit from Amana that has four replaceable carbide inserts or a 2-in.-dia. Whiteside bit with four brazed carbide cutters.
Made in America, the Woodpeckers Basic Slab Flattening Mill (item SLBFLT) sells for $799.99, and the Extended Slab Flattening Mill (item SLBFLTXL) is priced at $999.99. You can add the company’s Extension Kit (SLBFLT-EXT) to either Mill configuration for $249.99. Amana’s insert-carbide spoilboard router bit (item RC-2250) sells for $182.88, and Woodpeckers offers replacement inserts for it for $17.98. Or, choose Whiteside’s brazed-carbide spoilt (item 46220) for $79.46.
The Slab Flattening Mill and Extension Kit are anticipated to begin shipping on Feb. 22. Learn more about this system and both router bit options by clicking here.
