Rotary milling table with your own hands. How to make a router table

1. Device
2. FS design example
3. bed
4. table top
5. Working plate
6. Rings
7. Frazier
8. Router fixture
9. guide rail
10. Thrust bars
11. Nozzle
12. Longitudinal movable stop
13. Additional latches
14. Rotary FS

The owner of a private house has to do a lot of repairs, improve his living conditions. The milling table will become great solution in the manufacture of various parts and fixtures made of wood, as it ensures accuracy and good quality of workpiece processing.

The table is the main base of the machine. The working body of the equipment is a cutter, a part with several cutting blades. With its help, in wooden blanks they make different kind grooves, channels, windows (vertical recesses), oval profile bevels and much more. Milling - machining of workpieces with a multi-blade tool. cutter, in addition to rotary motion, makes translational movements. A frame with a worktop for processing wooden products is called a milling table (FS).

Device

The correct installation of the router in the table depends on impeccable design beds. On the bed is the working surface of the machine. A milling cutter is attached to the plate from below, which moves along the vertical axis. The workpiece is fixed in the transverse direction with a special device - a parallel stop for the milling table.

The principle of operation of the FS can be compared with how a circular saw works. A wood material is pushed onto a rotating blade body installed in a stationary position for processing.

FS design example

For the manufacture of FS you will need the following materials:

• small pieces of chipboard or plywood;
• various hardware;
• metal corner;
• steel plate;
• aluminum profile;
• elevator (jack);
• carriage;
• plastic clamps.

The drawing shows the dimensions of the parts that can be adjusted in each case of an individual design of the FS. This homemade table for a manual router is an example of the most primitive FS design. Homemade designs FS can be made from other materials. It all depends on the capabilities and qualifications of the one who undertook such work.

Independent production of FS

Consider the structural features of the parts of the FS:

bed

The base of the machine can be made from wooden beam or welded from a metal profile. Required drawing the bed is shown below.

Under FS, you can use an ordinary workbench. But you need to know that during the operation of the power unit strong vibrations will occur. If the workbench is not stable enough, then a special support structure should be made. The main load is transferred from the working platform down to the machine support. Therefore, the bed must have a lot of weight.

table top

The working area of ​​the table is the tabletop. It is better to make it from textolite with a thickness of 20-30 mm. Why choose textolite? This is due to the fact that the entire process of processing blanks is associated with sliding parts on the working surface of the table. Textolite differs from other materials in a high degree of wear resistance and a low coefficient of friction. A tabletop made of such material will not harm the solid surface of the workpiece and will last for many years.

Instead of textolite, a steel plate with a thickness of 6 mm or more can be used as a working platform for the table.

Working plate

The plate for the milling cutter is made of textolite or sheet metal. A hole is made in the plate into which metal rings are inserted. Rings with different diameters are inserted into each other. Ring inserts are flush with the tabletop surface.

Rings

What are the rings for? They provide a tight entry of the cutter into the body of the workpiece. different size rings corresponds to different diameters of the cutting elements.

Frazier

Since the router is attached to the bottom of the tabletop, the design of the FS creates free space below. Installation and maintenance of the power plant should not be difficult due to the cramped conditions at the bottom of the machine.

A universal power unit that drives a cutter is called a milling cutter. It can be done using any suitable electric motor. But this is within the power of a person with extensive experience in this field of activity. The best option would be to purchase a ready-made hand mill.

Manual milling cutter is a multifunctional unit. Power tools perform a variety of tasks. It is mainly used for the processing of wooden blanks.

However, it is very difficult to hold the tool in your hands and at the same time try to fix the wooden part. This will not bring the desired result. In order for the manufacture of parts to take place with high precision, the milling cutter is fixed on a special table.

The sole of the milling cutter has threaded holes. The holes are used for fixing the tool with screws to the plate built into the FS tabletop.

Router fixture

Tabletops and plates at milling tables must be located strictly in the same horizontal plane. The fixing screws on the plate are screwed into countersunk holes. Nothing should protrude or sink into the working surface of the FS.

If there are no mounting holes in the router body, they are cut independently. To fix the plate in the countertop, a sample of the material is made from below. If the work platform is made of steel sheet, then the metal plate is equipped with special fasteners.

Elevator

On professional machines, a special device is installed to move the router vertically - an elevator.

With a certain skill, you can adapt a jack or other lever as an elevator lifting mechanism. The best option would be to purchase a ready-made elevator in the distribution network. The main thing in the design of the lifting mechanism is to ensure reliable fixation of the unit at a particular height. The conical arrangement of the cutting elements of the cutter allows, at a certain height of the protrusion above the working surface of the FS, to adjust the depth and width of the working in the body of the workpiece.

guide rail

The guide rail is made of duralumin profile. You can use duralumin tracks used in furniture for moving cabinet sliding doors as a guide rail. A selection is made under the rail with a manual milling cutter. The guide track must be placed parallel to the opposite thrust wall.

Thrust bars

At the ends of the tabletop on both sides, duralumin tracks are installed along which the frame structure with thrust bars moves. Parallel to the track at the end, a ruler is attached. The ruler can be made from a tape of an ordinary roulette.

The stop bars act as lateral support for the workpieces. They are located on both sides of the milling head. To protect the operator's eyes from chips, the gap between the bars is covered with transparent plastic.

Nozzle

A suction nozzle is mounted on the outer side of the thrust bars above the milling head. It is connected to a vacuum cleaner during operation of the machine. Thanks to this, wood dust and chips are effectively removed from the working area.

Longitudinal movable stop

The lower part of the mobile stop is inserted into the guide track. The stand moves freely along the FS. With its vertical wall, the fixture rests against the base of the workpiece. Pressing the stop, the machine operator during milling moves the part along the table.

Additional latches

The fasteners are made of plastic. They keep the workpiece from involuntary displacement of the part in the vertical and horizontal plane. Clamps are mounted on a special rack.

Rotary FS

The rotary table for a milling machine is a rather complicated technical device. Rotary FS allows you to set the angle of inclination of the workpiece. This is due to the ability of the working surface of the table to move in different directions. On machines equipped with CNC, it is possible to manufacture parts with a round and spiral configuration.

FS with manual control perform various rounding, allow you to process curved surfaces of parts. The most common FS diameter is from 300 to 600 mm. Swivel mechanism moves the working surface of the table both in the horizontal plane and in the transverse-longitudinal and vertical-horizontal planes.

The horizontal-vertical turntable ensures the processing of high quality workpieces. The vertical-horizontal working platform makes it possible to perform circular machining of parts and form screw channels on the surface of products.

Rotary tables are used for processing steel parts and workpieces made of other metals.

Only highly qualified specialists can make a rotary machine with their own hands. A machine of this design is advantageous to have in the implementation entrepreneurial activity. For one-time work, it is economically unprofitable to keep a rotary FS in your household.

Below is a video demonstrating a simple diagram of the structure of the FS. To assemble such equipment is quite accessible to a person with experience in carpentry.

Safety Compliance

The milling table is equipped with an electric tool. During the operation of the machine, the following safety precautions must be observed:

1. If the frame of the FS is made of metal, then it is necessary to arrange the grounding of the countertop support.
2. It is important to install the machine in a well-ventilated and well-lit area.
3. In the case of the manufacture of FS from wooden parts ground the body of the router.

Masters of the past made decorative processing of wood manually. We admire their creations to this day. But it took years to learn fine woodwork, and not every apprentice managed to create a masterpiece for the title of master. And to raise money for tools and accessories for the highest craftsmanship. What is relevant today: sets of shaped planers, pieces of iron for them and cutters for manual finishing of the product will cost more than a good one. manual frezer woodworking machine. Which will also reduce the learning process and increase labor productivity at times. If you do to her milling table with your own hands, then the quality of the products will become much more stable. True, the functionality of the router will be reduced (the number of types of work operations), but the remaining sections will not be so difficult to finish with the same router without a table or even manually, without the risk of “screwing up” the entire workpiece. About significant points self-manufacturing milling table and will be this material.

Note: Masterpiece was originally a technical term for trial work that an apprentice who claims to be a master must do on his own. Since in the old workshops the corporate spirit and nepotism dominated everything and everything, a new apprentice, in order to break into the masters, had to make a thing really outstanding, even exceptional. Hence the use of the word "masterpiece" for a creation created on a creative take-off.

Table or machine?

However, a hand router tool is not cheap. There seems to be no fundamental difference in the design of it and the milling head of a vertical milling machine. A suitable motor for a homemade milling machine in terms of power and speed, perhaps, is waiting in the pantry for some use. So what is better to do for milling woodwork: the entire machine from improvised materials, or buy a manual router and a table for it?

Note: factory-made tables for manual milling machines are sold in the same way as drill stands that turn them into a drill or lathe.

It's about vibrations. The trembling of the machine with the workpiece is the worst enemy of material cutting. In milling work, the influence of vibration on the quality of processing is especially strong. If a drill or cutter (except for a chisel in a slotting machine) bites into the workpiece once and then moves more or less smoothly in the material, then the cutter hits the workpiece at least twice at each revolution. Shape cutters with cutting edges curvilinear in 3 planes reduce this disadvantage, but do not eliminate it completely - a cutter that does not hit the workpiece will not cut anything from it.

A homemade milling machine with a motor made of trash is shaking in general as it can. Vibration dampening measures available in the home workshop provide a quality of work more suitable for simple carpentry work. In manual milling machines for wood, vibration damping is already provided constructively. Installing the router in the table further reduces the “shaking”, and the entire unit becomes suitable for fairly thin carpentry work, incl. above the facade parts of furniture, decorative details and other critical parts. So there is still a fundamental difference between a home-made milling machine and a table to an existing manual milling cutter.

How the milling table works

The main differences of the milling table with finished machine from a homemade machine for the same purpose are as follows:

• The table is made according to the design scheme of a vertical milling machine with a lower drive, while a home-made machine can be both vertical and horizontal. However, the latter at home does not give any tangible advantages over the vertical one.
• The milling table is quite simply equipped with a lift with its own hands - a device for smooth and, possibly, operational adjustment of the cutter protrusion above the desktop.
• The workpiece stop system of the milling table can be improved compared to a home-made machine to improve the accuracy and cleanliness of processing.
• The tabletop milling machine is reversibly modified (see below) so that it can be removed for manual operation.

How a simple milling table for woodworking is arranged is shown in fig. Cabinet (bed) - any sufficiently strong and stable design, tk. the main damping is carried out, except with the router itself, by the base plate. Therefore, the pedestal in this case is actually not a frame, because. is just a support structure.

On a simple table, it is difficult to achieve high-quality processing of workpieces with a large ratio of width to height. A completely flat board on an exactly the same flat table suddenly jerks for no reason, the cut turns out to be uneven, or even the workpiece is bitten by a cutter. The reason is longitudinal, i.e. propagating horizontally, elastic waves in the workpiece material. The comb vertical stop (see below) does not have time to absorb them, antinodes (foci) of vibrations appear on the workpiece, spoiling the whole thing.

The horizontal stop is intended for such a situation, see next. rice. It is always performed comb, because. is predominantly a vibration absorber. For the same purpose, a second vertical comb stop is added.

On fig. shows a table with 2-sided stops designed to feed the workpiece back and forth, see below. For a home-made table for ordinary carpentry work, it is better to make one-sided stops (see below): they are technologically simpler and can be made from ordinary solid small-layer wood (oak, beech, walnut). In any case, the most important structural components of a homemade milling table are:

1. Base (desktop) and mounting (mounting) plates;
2. Stops - comb and deaf (simple);
3. Elevator milling machine.

Plates

The base and mounting plates of the milling table are structurally identical to those of the same machine. An example of the construction of a milling table base plate made of 2 layers of 19 mm plywood is shown in the figure:

Its main drawback is its high cost: birch plywood (bakelite is even better) grade is not lower than Ib. Meanwhile, having spent a little more time and labor on plywood plywood "pie", it, and even better quality, can be made, as for a milling machine, from cheap 4 mm construction (grade II) or packaging (non-grade) plywood. At the same time, the necessary wear resistance and strength are provided by impregnation of the sheet before cutting with a water-polymer emulsion (a full-fledged substitute is the construction primer ECO Soil), and vibration-absorbing properties are provided by layers of PVA glue. The dried mounting (reinforced) PVA gives a viscous elastic film that perfectly dampens vibrations, but even without that, the height space in which the elastic wave can gain strength is reduced by five times.

Note: plywood is glued from veneer sheets with cheap casein or similar synthetic glue, which has vibration damping properties only to a small extent (its layer is hard and brittle). PVA glued plywood would be completely unprofitable.

The installation unit with increased vibration damping for the milling table is shown in fig. and exactly the same as for a milling machine ().

And the procedure for manufacturing the base plate is the same: the plywood sheet is impregnated 2-3 times on each side, then cut (immediately with cutouts for the router). It is better to make a car window round or with rounded corners. The package is glued according to the instructions for the glue and dried for at least 2 days under a dispersed oppression of approx. 100 kg/sq. m plate; very good weight - stacks of books and/or magazine binders.

Plate for the milling cutter and its refinement

The mounting (mounting) plate of the router is made of fibrous-layered vibration-absorbing thermosetting plastic: textolite, fiberglass. Somewhat worse are vibration-absorbing massive thermoplastic materials - hardboard, etc. Thermoplastic plastic from heating during operation can lead and the machine will lose accuracy. Massive (ebonite, bakelite) or layered thermosetting plastics (getinaks) are unsuitable - they delaminate and crack very quickly from vibrations and heating.

How the machine is being finalized for installation in the milling table is shown in the figure:

The lock of the standard sliding desktop (shown by the arrow on the left in the figure) is released (pressed out). The staff table is then removed and placed on the compression springs (center) with a total force of approx. 1.5 machine weight. The sole of the regular table (shown by the arrow in the center) is removed, and an installation plate is attached instead of it (on the right in the figure). Restoring a machine for manual use is done in reverse order.

Stops

Since a home-made milling table is able to provide better accuracy and cleanliness than the same machine, it is advisable to modify the stop system for it. Stops, as in the machine or in fig. above with image simple table, suitable for the manufacture of non-facade (decorative) parts, tk. a straight L-shaped blind stop still strongly gives vibrations back to the workpiece and makes it difficult to feed it (a workpiece made from ordinary commercial wood can jam).

Drawings of oblique comb and deaf vertical stops for a home-made milling table for wood are shown in fig. Structurally, the comb stop for the table is somewhat different from that for the machine (all teeth are the same), because. the whole unit is shaking not so much. Maple is one of the best vibration absorbers, but seasoned, without defects, knots, streaks and slant, industrial maple wood is an expensive and scarce material. It will be completely replaced by oak, beech, hornbeam, walnut.

Note: an even better vibration damper is elm wood. But the defect-free seasoned business elm in wide sale practically absent, because all goes to blocks for tailoring expensive leather shoes and critical parts of cars.

Comb and blind stops are installed in pairs (the blind one is the first along the workpiece), see the inset in the center in fig. They are fixed with a locking block (stopper), highlighted in red in fig. on right. However, putting a comb with a “grouse” before the cutter along the workpiece when it is fed, as shown in the same place, is still wrong: the main “shaking” occurs behind the cutter. But putting 2 pairs of comb-grouse, before and after the cutter, is not forbidden and is useful for processing accuracy.

Push back and forth

Workpieces made of homogeneous materials of high quality (MDF, postforming for kitchen worktops, selected small-layer wood) are often milled in a round-trip way: the part is pushed onto the cutter and immediately, without turning off the cutter, is pulled back. The combination of up and down milling in one pass (see the article about the milling machine) gives the cleanest surface.

Note: parts milled back and forth are quite suitable for veneering and lamination.

However, to put for milling back and forth a pair of oblique combs turned in opposite sides, it is impossible: the workpiece will jam on the incoming ridge. For back and forth milling, the workpiece is supported by pairs of vertical and horizontal straight combs (see figure above): their combs (and grooves between them) are perpendicular to the working surface, and the working parts of the combs are trapezoidal in plan with bevels of 60 degrees from the perpendicular (30 degrees from the sole of the comb). Unfortunately, the choice of materials for self-production of straight 2-sided combs is limited: defect-free seasoned industrial maple, elm, teak.

Note: on sale there are straight combs for wood routers, cast from polypropylene. I don't know how it works, I haven't tried it.

Elevator

Most simple designs elevators for a milling table for wood - rigid cam (pos. A in the figure) and wedge (pos. B).

Their common advantage is the ability to make the base plate folding for easy access to the router. But a common huge drawback is instability, the machine slides down from vibration. In fact, after 1.5-2 m of cut, the elevator has to be reinstalled. The cam lift, in addition, is not much better in terms of ease of use than the lift of a homemade milling machine adjustable with rubber washers.

The optimal design of the milling machine elevator in the table is screw, see next. rice. If the lower flange nut is additionally fixed with a lock nut (or a self-tightening flange nut is installed), the cutter extension is held iron. And its really operational adjustment is possible, literally on the go of the workpiece.

Precise mini table

For artistic woodworking and / or facade carpentry, an indispensable thing is a milling and copying machine. It is possible to make it with your own hands, but it is difficult, and it makes sense to acquire a factory one only if there is a stable flow of orders for work of this kind and solid skills in their implementation.

However, shaped grooves in the facade details of furniture, milled in a straight line, can give an excellent aesthetic effect. Direct milling is widely used in the manufacture of furniture and decorative wood products in any style, see fig. It is independently performed by low-power manual milling machines for wood with increased accuracy (on the right in the figure); installing a mini hand router in a table increases the quality of work and productivity in the same way as a "big" one.

Drawings of a mini milling table for wood for a domestic manual milling machine are given on the next. rice. Its distinguishing features are the cam side clamp of the workpiece and the vertical comb with wide teeth. The solution for working with high-quality materials is quite justified: small frequent combs themselves “win back” a little on the workpiece, which is minimized in this design.

And the extractor?

When milling wood, many times more sawdust, shavings and wood dust are generated than during sawing operations. Dust spoils the accuracy of processing on the table and the health of its operator just like a dusty machine. Therefore, a dust collector, a dust outlet and a dust collector are just as necessary for a milling table; their design is the same for both the table and the machine, see acc. article.

Professional carpenters treat their router table with great respect. And not by chance. After all, a convenient and properly arranged workbench is a guarantee of high productivity and an increase in the efficiency of the workflow. On sale you can find models of tables for every taste, but often their cost is so high that not every craftsman can afford such a purchase.

However, everyone can make a suitable milling table on their own, adjusting it to their personal needs and habits. And it is not necessary to buy expensive branded products or their Chinese counterparts. Having worked a little, you will not only save a lot, but the main thing is that in the end you will get your own table, working at which you can quickly and much better produce exactly the joinery that you need.

The manufacturer cannot predict the needs of everyone potential buyer and lays in their products the basic capabilities. Many of them may simply never be needed for you, and some that you need may not be in the design of the table.

For the independent manufacture of a milling table, nothing supernatural and too expensive is required. All that is needed is an electric motor, a guide structure and the table itself, a stable bed on which equipment and accessories will be fixed. And, of course, your own drawing of the milling table.

What is a milling machine and what is its purpose

The principle of working with a manual milling tool is that the milling cutter moves along the surface of a securely fixed workpiece that needs to be processed in a certain way. The problem is that this is often not very convenient. Therefore, they resort to tricks: they fix the milling cutter itself, and move the part. The resulting design is called the "milling table".

With the help of milling tables, you can easily make shaped holes, cut grooves, securely connect parts, for example, drawer walls, etc., perform edge profiling and many other operations that are available only in specialized carpentry workshops that have milling machines.

Using milling tables for a manual router, you get the opportunity to process not only wooden products, but also chipboard, plastic, MDF, make joints on spikes and tongues, make grooves and slots, chamfer and decorate profiles.

In addition, milling tables can be used as woodworking machines. To do this, a tool is fixed in a drill stand or on a workbench - and the machine is ready. Therefore, many companies began to produce milling tables in a wide range with a lot of additional accessories for them. However, a well-made table for a router is in no way inferior to branded ones, and sometimes even surpasses them.

How are milling tables arranged?

To work with a manual router on the table, you can use a regular workbench or build a special table. This table features a sturdy construction with good stability. This is necessary given the strong vibrations caused by the running router. Since the tool is attached from below, there should not be anything interfering with work under the tabletop. Only the router itself for the milling table and, if necessary, an elevator device that provides precise and smooth adjustment of the rise of the cutter.

The router is attached to the table with a mounting plate. The material for it must be of high quality and durable. It is best to use textolite, metal or plywood. There are usually threaded connections on the fasteners of the plastic pad on the sole of the router, which can be used to attach the router to the table top of the router table. On the surface of the future table, select the groove for the mounting plate so that the sole of the router is flush. The plate must be fixed with self-tapping screws with countersunk heads so that they do not interfere with the movement of the workpieces to be processed in the future.

The router itself is also attached to the table with countersunk screws, attaching it to the mounting plate. If there are no such holes in the sole of the tool, they must be drilled by yourself. Alternatively, clamping devices can be used if there is no desire to drill the router sole.

On the milling table, be sure to install a button to turn the router on and off. It is also highly desirable to equip the table with an emergency fungus button for the safety of the person working behind it. In order for the fastening of the workpieces to be reliable, clamping devices are arranged. It is convenient to use a milling rotary table. For measurement, a ruler is usually built into the surface of the table.

Types of milling tables

When starting to manufacture a milling table, you should, first of all, decide on a place for it in your workshop. It depends on what features you plan to use. This may be a lateral extension of the saw machine, that is, an aggregate table.

If you plan to only occasionally work on the router table and use it outside of the workshop, build a portable table. It can always be removed or hung on the wall, saving space.

If there is enough space in the workshop, then a stationary table for a milling machine will be most convenient. It can be equipped with wheels and moved as needed.

Both the portable and the stationary table can be temporarily removed, but at the same time keep them constantly ready for certain operations. To do this, they are pre-configured.

Simple table design

If desired, a device of a simple design can be made of a small height, then fixed on an ordinary table. To do this, take a chipboard sheet and a simple board, which should be fixed on the sheet as a guide. The board should be of small thickness and fastened with bolts.

After that, you need to make a hole for the cutter. In a simple version, this can be finished - the resulting design will allow you to perform simple milling operations. However, if you want to make a router table for more thorough work, you will have to spend a little more time and effort.

Bed manufacturing

For any milling machine, the bed is its frame, on which the tabletop is attached from above. The base can be made of any material, the main thing is that it is strong and stable. The size of the bed is selected individually, based on the dimensions of the parts that are planned to be processed on the machine.

In the manufacture of the machine, it is desirable to make its lower part in such a way that the person standing in front of it does not rest his feet on the frame. To do this, the lowest part of the bed is deepened (like ordinary furniture) by about 10-20 centimeters.

If you plan to process door linings, then it will be appropriate to make a table 85-90 cm high, 50-55 cm deep and 150 cm wide.

For convenience when working while standing, the height of the table is taken to be about 85-90 cm. In this case, it is desirable to use adjustable supports in the design of the table, which allow you to level the milling tables for a manual router if there are uneven floors or, if necessary, change the height.

Tabletop for a homemade table

Since the workpieces slide well on plastic, good option will be used as a countertop for the milling table of a kitchen panel made of chipboard with a thickness of 26-26 cm. Its depth of 60 cm will also be convenient during operation, and chipboard material perfectly dampen the vibrations produced by the router during operation.

As a last resort, when making tables of milling machines, you can use chipboard or MDF boards with a thickness of 1.6 cm or more.

Mounting plate

Because kitchen countertop has a rather large thickness, in order to maintain the amplitude of the overhang of the cutter, the router should be fastened to the table using a mounting plate. With its small thickness, it is highly durable and securely holds the tool without losing the cutter's working stroke.

Using a textolite (fiberglass) mounting plate, cut out a rectangular blank 5-8 mm thick and with sides from 15 to 30 cm. Cut a hole in the center of the plate corresponding to the hole in the sole of the milling tool. The plate is attached to the surface of the table, and a milling cutter is already installed on it.

We assemble a table for a milling cutter

After the bed is made, a countertop is temporarily attached to it. A mounting plate is installed on a pre-prepared place and its outline is drawn with a pencil. Then, using a manual milling cutter with a cutter with a diameter of 5-9 mm in the tabletop, you should choose a seat for it. The plate should lie flush in it and without distortions.

corners seat must be rounded with a file. The same operation must be carried out with the mounting plate - process its corners with the same radius as in the seat.

After that, through milling of the tabletop along the contours of the sole of the router should be carried out. This does not require special accuracy, but you will probably still need to choose additional material from the bottom of the countertop for the dust collector and some other additional devices.

It remains to connect all the details together. Having started the router from below, we fix it on the mounting plate, then we attach the plate to the tabletop. We fasten the tabletop to the bed already completely.

Setting up the top clamp

As an additional safety measure and for convenience, the milling table is equipped with an upper clamp - a roller-based device made according to the drawings. When working with door linings this is especially true, as in the manufacture of dimensional parts. The design of the top clamp is simple.

A properly sized ball bearing will do the job of the roller. The bearing must be rigidly fixed at a certain distance from the tabletop so that it provides a reliable clamping of the workpiece from above.

Milling machine drive

If your choice is to manufacture simple machine, pay attention to the electric motor for it. Power is the main factor of choice. If the tree sampling is planned to be shallow, then a power of 500 W will be enough for you. So that the machine does not constantly stop and justifies your expectations, choose a motor with a power of 1100 W or more. Such a drive will allow not only to safely process any wood, but also to use various cutters.

A homemade milling table can be improved indefinitely, depending on your requirements and desires. But the most important thing at the same time is not to forget about safety and be sure to equip your machine with the means to ensure it.

The milling cutter is the most frequently used tool of a self-respecting craftsman. Thanks to him, you can make the things we know with incredible ease. There are operations in carpentry that cannot be performed without this tool.

The milling cutter consists of an engine, a collet for mounting replaceable cutters, a speed controller, and a vertical bar. AT model range From any manufacturer, there are many models with different capacities. A manual milling cutter is a fairly versatile electrical device that has a wide potential and capabilities. It becomes possible to improve the router by installing it on a horizontal surface, which will allow you to process fairly large workpieces with minimal effort.

Purpose of the milling table

Installing a router in a table or workbench allows you to achieve good results in the manufacture of many products. In the furniture industry, it is an indispensable tool. Since this process often requires trimming the edges of the canvases, making figured grooves and recesses.

Such tables can be found in large tool stores. The cost of such equipment directly depends on the functionality and material from which they are made. But even with the most minimum set functions, but with a high-quality coating, the price for such a product is quite high. For a simple amateur who works for his pleasure in the garage, the price is unaffordable. The way out is a homemade table for the router.

Before you start buying material for the future table, you should decide on its functionality. Consider the main features of a manual milling cutter and its machine version.

Hand Router Operations

• Figured or rectilinear processing of ends or edges of preparations.
• Hole cutting various shapes to install furniture fittings.
• Removing a quarter of the thickness.
• Grinding and cutting of workpieces.
• drilling.
• Finishing the cutting area.
• Removal of grooves of slots, grooves.

Milling table operations

A do-it-yourself table for a router allows you to perform operations such as:

• parallel fine cutting;
• facing surfaces and edges of great length;
• quarter sampling;
• edge finishing.

From the list it becomes clear that all the same operations are performed on the milling table as with a conventional manual router, but only with greater accuracy and quality. In addition, the dimensions of the blanks are already many times larger.

Choosing a hand router

For a tiny workshop, buying a separate router is an unaffordable luxury. Therefore, a router table will be required with a quick-release router design. This means that it will work in two versions, both on the table and in manual mode. To do this, you need a quality power tool.

There are two types of manual router:

• submersible;
• trimming.

Their names speak of their functionality. Since the miter router is highly specialized, its further consideration will not be interesting to the reader.

By power, an electric tool is classified into:

• low power- from 500 to 1100 watts;
• medium power - from 1200 to 1800 watts;
• high power - from 1900 to 2500 watts.

Professionals advise using low-power milling cutters for processing small workpieces, this allows you to achieve maximum ease of use. In this case, you will have to make passes in several approaches, removing a small thickness, layer by layer. However, such routers cannot be installed on a special table. For these purposes, milling machines with a power of about 2000 watts are suitable.

Also, when choosing, you should pay attention to the following features of the tool:

• the maximum depth of lowering the rack;
• smooth start;
• spindle speed control;
• dynamic brake;
• maintaining rpm under load.
• chip removal system.

All these parameters determine the quality of a manual router, which will be useful both in manual mode and in machine mode.

Milling table device

Any milling table consists of the following elements:

• directly to the milling cutter itself;
• countertops;
• parallel stop;
• chip removal systems;
• boxes for storing spare parts and various cutters;
• horizontal clamp.

Depending on the functional tasks of the milling table, it can be made in the following versions:

• side table with a milling cutter;
• stationary tabletop;
• stationary worktop with parallel stop;
• stationary worktop with rip fence, with router lift, cutter cross feed.

materials

How to make a table for a router? What should a person who decides on this business have in his arsenal? To begin with, we need a drawing of a table for a manual router. Finding him is easy. Therefore, making a table for a manual router is quite realistic. There are also many detailed tutorials and videos of local craftsmen showing off their creations. There are models that are so multifunctional that they combine, in addition to milling, drilling, grinding and cutting tables.

Almost any material is suitable for manufacturing. Basically, they use sheets of chipboard, laminated plywood or ordinary plywood with a thickness of at least 8 millimeters. You will also need wood screws with a countersunk head, aluminum corners (furniture), PVA glue.

Assembly

Consider how the simplest do-it-yourself table for a router is assembled. We will make it from laminated plywood. The size of the countertop is 400 mm wide and 400 mm long. A laminated board is perfect for a countertop. It has a number of advantages over plywood:

• wear-resistant surface;
• low cost;
• quick replacement.

However, we decided to make a table for a manual router from laminated plywood. Carefully cut it to the intended size. The legs will be made from the same material. It retreats from the edges by 20-30 centimeters and fastens the legs with the tabletop, pre-lubricate the joints with glue and make two or three holes for tightening the screws.

We make the following technological holes in the countertop:

• large round for the exit of the collet with a cutter;
• parallel groove for fastening the guide;
• you can make a small groove for attaching the ruler.

Parallel stop can be made from the same materials as the countertop. The stop consists of two parts, the interface runs exactly in the center of the installed cutter. They must move independently of each other. To increase milling capabilities, it is desirable that parallel stop had two degrees of freedom. That is, he could tilt relative to the tabletop, and turn parallel to it. This will allow you to make products of complex shape.

Among other things, a recess with a square-shaped cover is made on the reverse side of the parallel stop, a vacuum cleaner pipe is inserted into one end. As a rule, the chip removal system is made from two sides, one from above behind the stop, the second directly near the milling cutter collet.

This is the easiest table for a do-it-yourself router. In the future, you can refine and install a lift for convenient adjustment of the departure in height and horizontal cutter.

Accessories

Since the router installed in the table is an electric tool, an external switch can be built into the table for safety. This will allow you to conveniently and safely turn the machine on and off when needed. Here you can also install additional sockets for connecting a portable lamp or a hand drill.

With sufficient free space, milling tables are made with dimensions of 1500 by 1500 millimeters and a height of one and a half meters. Get full-fledged workbenches. At the same time, sliding shelves are made in them, in which it is convenient to store various cutters and a key for changing the spindle. Large table allows you to process large sheets plywood or other material so often used in the manufacture of furniture or doors. Such a table increases the accuracy of machined parts and reduces the percentage of defects in manufacturing.

Safety

It is worth remembering that tables for wood routers are sources of increased danger. The speed of the cutter reaches 25,000 rpm. Any awkward movement will lead to irreparable consequences. Hands should be kept at the maximum safe distance from the rotating head, the cutter should be changed on a stopped and de-energized machine.

When working, you need to wear special glasses that will protect your eyes from getting small chips. The noise level during operation is quite high, you should take appropriate precautions. Keep children away from the router.

Do-it-yourself milling table for a manual router

One of the main assistants of the carpentry master is a woodworking mill. This hand tool is indispensable when you need to:

• cut a groove;
• make a groove
• make a spike connection;
• finish edges, etc.

However, when performing some carpentry work, it is not always convenient to use this tool due to the fact that it is required to simultaneously hold the workpiece and operate the milling cutter. Therefore, many craftsmen go to the trick, making a milling table for a manual router. With the help of the table, which is a reliable addition to the milling tool, it is possible to obtain as a result wooden elements in terms of quality and precision they are in no way inferior to joinery made in professional furniture workshops on milling machines.

A homemade table for a manual router significantly increases the productivity of the tool and facilitates the work of processing wood products. It is not difficult to manufacture such equipment, moreover, unlike a standard milling table produced by various manufacturers, this table will have the dimensions, design and options chosen directly by its manufacturing master.

To perform any engineering work, and the manufacture of equipment is one of these, it is necessary to draw up a sketch of the future machine. On it you need to designate your vision of the project with an indication of the actual dimensions. Based on the sketch, you can easily select materials for the manufacture of the future structure, their quantity, determine the construction budget and stock up on the tools necessary for processing machine parts.

Option 1. Instructions for making a table for a manual router

Materials for the manufacture of the milling table

To build a milling table you will need:

• 4 bars of square section;
• chipboard and plywood trimmings, the dimensions of which are determined when constructing a table drawing;
• hardware (nuts, bolts, self-tapping screws, hinges, etc.);
• jack;
• metallic profile;
• six mm steel plate;
• aluminum guides;
• movable carriage-stop (guide from the saw);
• manual frezer.

Drawing homemade milling table (option 1)

In any case, before starting to make any such table, the drawing must be completed with the designation of all sizes and the location of the work items relative to each other.

Step by step assembly

Let us consider in detail each step in the manufacture and fastening of each element of a homemade milling table.

1st step. For the manufacture of a stationary base for the table, you will need bars and chipboard trimmings, from which we twist the legs, additionally strengthen the rigidity with the help of horizontal plywood connecting panels. In the right side part, we cut a hole for the start button, which will be connected to a manual router.

2nd step. The table top is made of chipboard. We make it lifting together with a router, for which we install hinges and make an additional support base from 15 mm plywood.

3rd step. To smoothly move the workpiece along the table, for example, to cut a groove in it, a moving stop carriage is used. We cut a groove in the tabletop for the guides of the movable stop and install a metal profile into it. As a stop carriage, you can use a guide from an old saw.

4th step. Longitudinal stop we also make it from chipboard and make it movable to adjust the gaps around the cutter. To ensure mobility, we cut out perpendicular grooves in the upper part of the stop and fasten the stop to the tabletop with clamps. In the middle we cut a small groove for sucking out chips and other milling waste.

5th step. From thin plywood we make a box with a hole for connecting a vacuum cleaner hose, which will remove dust and chips formed during the milling process. We fix the box behind the perpendicular stop.

6th step. We take a six-millimeter steel plate and fasten it to the countertop flush with the surface. In the process of fastening, we make sure that its edges do not protrude above the countertop, otherwise the workpieces will cling to them. A manual milling cutter will be attached to the plate from below.

7th step. We attach the milling cutter by the aluminum sole to the bottom of the plate with bolts, but do not forget to pre-drill holes for the bolts in the sole. Attaching the hand tool to the indexable insert rather than directly to the table saves depth of cut and allows for easy cutter replacement.

8th step. We are building a milling elevator. To do this, we use a car jack, which allows you to change the height of the cutter with maximum accuracy.

9th step. We remove the handles from the router and instead of them we fasten the aluminum guides, which we connect to the jack mechanism.

Design and homemade milling table for a manual router

Before proceeding with the manufacture of a milling table, it is necessary to accurately determine its design features. This article provides instructions on how to make a simple router table. For other first build options, see the details below.

We check the reliability of fastening of all elements - and the milling table is ready with our own hands!

We offer several more models of hand-made wood milling machines for your taste.

Option 2. Another milling table and other assembly features

We offer a table design for a milling cutter with a detailed analysis of its nodes.

Materials and tools.

In order to make a table for a manual milling cutter with your own hands, you will need materials:

• metal corner or pipe (for the frame);
• aluminum guide;
• axes for fastening the milling cutter;
• putty, primer and paint for metal;
• self-tapping screws; furniture bolts 6 x 60 mm;
• adjusting hexagon bolts with nuts - 4 pcs. ;
• Finnish moisture-resistant laminated plywood, 18 mm thick (other material can be taken);
• boards or scraps of plywood (for the manufacture of a parallel stop).

The following tools are also required:

• welding machine (for metal frame table);
• drill and drills;
• screwdriver;
• jigsaw;
• milling cutter;
• spatula, brushes, rags.

Basic drawings

Design features of the milling table

Under the milling machine, you can adapt the existing workbench. But it is more expedient, in order to exclude the influence of strong vibration during the operation of the cutter, to make a separate structure that ensures the stability of the table.

The main loads during the operation of the equipment are transferred to the base. Therefore, the frame must be reliable and stable. Under the bed is understood the fixed base on which the milling cutter is located. It perceives all loads and is a design in the form of a table with a fixed lid. It can be made from a metal pipe, corner, channel, wood, chipboard.

It must be taken into account that the router itself is fastened to the tabletop from below, which means that it is required to provide empty space there.

The router is attached to the table through a high-strength and rigid plate to perform installation work. It is preferable to make it from metal, textolite or grooved boards.

On the sole of the router, threaded mounting holes are provided for mounting. In the absence of threaded holes, cutting is performed independently. If the task is not possible, secure the milling device with special clamps.

Start the work by making a sample according to the shape and thickness of the mounting plate with a router. To simplify on the mounting plate, right angles must be rounded off with a file. A recess in the table top ensures that the plate is flush with the tabletop.

Make a hole in the center of the plate for the tool to exit, drill holes for mounting the plate on the table. The next step is to drill holes for attaching the milling device, keep in mind that the fasteners must be sweaty.

How to make a work surface and base

The manufacture of the base of the future milling table begins with the frame. For the convenience of performing work, the table cover should protrude in the front part by 100-200 mm. Special attention when designing the frame of the bed, pay attention to the installation height of the working surface. This size is decisive for the convenience of working at the machine. According to ergonomic requirements, it should be 850-900 mm, depending on the height of the person. For convenient operation of the future milling machine, you can install height adjusters at the bottom of the support. This will allow, if necessary, to change the size of the height of the table;

As a working surface for the future machine, a Soviet-era kitchen worktop is useful. Most often it is made of 36 mm chipboard sheet covered with plastic. The wood chip material will reduce the vibrations that occur during the milling process, and the plastic coating will provide excellent movement on the surface of the workpiece. In the absence of an old countertop, use MDF or chipboard, with a thickness of at least 16 mm.

Choose a place for the future milling machine in your workshop, the dimensions and type of the future design depend on this. It can be an aggregate machine located on the side of a circular saw, desktop version, or maybe a stand-alone stationary machine.

If the use of a milling machine is not regular, it can be reduced to one-time work from time to time, it is enough to make a small compact table.

Make your own milling machine. It is a design that fits on a standard table. For work, you need a chipboard plate, two boards. On a sheet of chipboard, fasten two boards in parallel. Attach one of them to the tabletop with bolts, it will serve as a guide and as an emphasis. Use the second as a limit stop. Cut a hole in the table top to accommodate the router. Attach the router to the table top with clamps. The milling machine in a compact design is ready.

If your workshop has a lot of free space, then make a full-fledged stationary milling machine. It will be more convenient to work on it than on the desktop version

Option 3. Cheap homemade table for the router

The sketch is ready. Materials purchased. The tool, laid out in its place in the workshop, is waiting for the moment to serve its owner. The master is also serious and is not going to grab everything at once. He will put everything on the shelves and do everything in stages.

Start by making the frame of the future machine. You can apply the following method of manufacturing the frame. profile pipe 25 × 25 using a grinder, cut to size, then weld the blanks intended for the frame on which the work surface will be located. Weld a pipe on one side, along which the parallel stop will subsequently move. Weld 4 supports to the frame.

To fix the table top, frame the perimeter of the frame with a corner, then it will sit in a recess.

Use the second method of making the frame. It implies additional supports for the work surface. In the middle of the table, weld the stops for the milling equipment. The size between them must match convenient fastening milling cutter.

For structural stability, connect the lower supports with jumpers at a height of 200 mm from the floor.

Color the resulting design. Why prepare surfaces: clean metal pipes and degrease with a solvent, then primer. If there is a need to putty surfaces, perform a special putty mixture and apply primer. After complete drying, paint with PF-115 enamel.

Cut the work surface according to the inner size of the frame, set it tightly into the corners. Then drill holes in the top frame for mounting the table top. Mark the tabletop itself, drill it and securely connect it to the bed using furniture bolts. Table dimensions 850×600×900.

Step back from the edge 200-250 mm and cut the T-rail along the length of the work surface.

Cut off half of the milling axes. This will make it possible to almost double the distance from the sole to the guide axle, which in turn will expand the range of the tool's capabilities.

Remove the sole from the milling equipment, in the middle of the working surface of the table, mark the holes for its fastening and drill them. In the middle of the table top, drill a hole for the appliance. On both sides of it, drill holes for attaching the clamps of the axes of the router.

On the underside of the worktop, make a selection for the soleplate of the router.

On both sides of the drilled through hole in the sample, make grooves for installing the axes of the router. The size of the groove and the axis must match.

Along the edges of the grooves with a Faustner drill (picture above), drill holes for the adjusting bolts for the hex.

Cut two pieces of pipe to fit the width of the large groove and drill holes in the center for the fixed bolts. They will serve as clamps for the axes of the milling tool. Screw nuts onto the bolts.

On both sides of the axles, install hex bolts and nuts to adjust the plane of the milling equipment.

Now make the parallel stop. Take a small piece of plywood and cut a groove in it so that it can move along the pipe welded in advance for this. Using a jigsaw, cut three strips of identical size, where its length is equal to the sum of the length of the table and the width of the guide tube, and four plates for them in the form of stiffeners.

On strip No. 1, make a semicircular hole to remove woodworking waste. It should match the slot in the work surface of the table. In strip #2, cut a square hole in the same place.

Cut the strip number 3 from plywood into equal parts. Attach one to the back of the square hole strip with bolts or rails. Plywood halves should move in opposite directions. Install an aluminum guide along the top edge of this strip.

Fasten plates No. 1 and No. 2 together with the sides with half holes. Fix two stiffeners along the edge of the hole formed and two on the sides at a distance of 70-100 mm from the edge.

Cut a square of plywood to the size of the distance between the ribs, cut a hole in it according to the diameter of the vacuum cleaner hose. Attach the square to the stiffeners.

Secure the parallel stop with clamps. This is done for the mobility of the rearrangement of the emphasis. If it is intended only for a milling machine, then fix it with brackets with grooves for movement.

Weld a bolt to a 6 mm thick metal strip. Clamps are made of wood with two grooves for bolts in the amount of two pieces.

Install the milling equipment: thread the cut axles into the side holes of the device, put nuts on them and fix the device with pipe clamps.

Turn the table over and use the hexagon to raise the router.

For the convenience of raising the router, it is advisable to install a lift based on a jack.

Option 4. Milling machine based on a desk

A desk-based milling machine is considered an economical and convenient solution. The list of photo drawings contains a table with a specification of parts by size and recommended material.

Part sizes and materials

How to make a mounting plate

Due to the thickness of the table top, in order to maximize the output of the cutting tool, it is necessary to take a smaller thickness of the mounting plate. From this it follows that with a slight thickness, it should have sufficient strength.

The plate can be metal or textolite. It is these materials that most meet the requirements of strength and rigidity. The optimal thickness of the plate should be 6 mm. It is made of a rectangular shape, in the middle of the part a hole is drilled in diameter corresponding to the hole on the sole of the router. To increase the range of use of the tool, rings of different diameters are used. Holes are made in the plate for connection with the router and fastening it to the table top.

The holes in the plate should match the holes on the bottom of the router in terms of location and size. To accurately mark the plate, you need to draw a sketch with dimensions or fix it on the table with clamps.

The nuances of assembling a milling table with your own hands

When assembling the milling device at the ends of the width of the table top, fix a metal ruler, this will make it possible to set the parallel stop correctly in size and strictly parallel.

On the reverse side of the table cover, make cuts for the subsequent installation of the dust collector casing, additional equipment. The given drawings and photos will help you to make all the components correctly.

For ease of use and safe emergency shutdown on a do-it-yourself milling machine, install the start button and the stop button in the form of a fungus on the tabletop.

Option 5. Small desktop router table

A small desktop milling table and a detailed analysis of its manufacture are shown in the photo.

How to make a top clamp

For processing large parts and creating safe conditions work on the machine use the so-called upper clamp. Its manufacture is based on the use of a roller. Before the device of this device, develop its drawing.

The roller can be a ball bearing. Its installation is carried out on a special device, which makes it possible to fix the workpiece at any distance from the working surface.

Milling machine drive power

As a milling machine drive, it is most advisable to use an electric motor with a power of 1.1-2 kW and a speed of 3000 per minute. When using a low-power electric motor, it will not be possible to use any cutter, the machine will not have enough power. If the number of revolutions is too low, a poor-quality cut will be obtained.

You have seen several options for resolving the issue; how to get a milling table. Which one you like is your choice. We will be glad if we could help you

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