Vertical table for hand router. How to make a milling table

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

The milling cutter consists of a motor, a collet for attaching replaceable cutters, a speed controller, a vertical bar. In the lineup of any manufacturer, there are many models with different capacities. A hand router is a fairly versatile electrical device that has a wide potential and capabilities. It becomes possible to improve the router by placing it on a horizontal surface that will allow you to machine fairly large workpieces with minimal effort.

Purpose of the milling table

Installing a router in a table or workbench can achieve good results in the manufacture of many products. In the production of furniture, this is an irreplaceable inventory. Since this process often requires trimming the edge of the canvases, making shaped grooves and grooves.

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

Before you start purchasing material for the future table, you should decide on its functionality. Let's consider the main capabilities of a hand-held milling cutter and its machine version.

Hand Router Operations

Curly or straight-line machining of ends or edges of workpieces.
Cutting holes of various shapes for installing furniture fittings.
Removing a quarter of the thickness.
Grinding and cutting of workpieces.
Drilling.
Finishing of the cut site.
Removing grooves of splines, grooves.

Milling table operations

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

parallel finishing cut;
facing surfaces and long edges;
sampling a quarter;
finishing of edges.

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

Choosing a hand router

For a tiny workshop, buying a separate router is an unaffordable luxury. Hence, a milling table will be required with a quick-detachable 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 hand router:

submersible;
trimming.

Their names speak of their functionality. Since the milling cutter is highly specialized, its further consideration will not be of interest to the reader.

In terms of power, an electric tool is classified into:

low power - from 500 to 1100 watts;
average 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 convenience in work. In this case, you will have to make passes in several approaches, removing a small thickness, layer by layer. However, these routers do not lend themselves to installation on a special table. For these purposes, milling cutters with a capacity of about 2000 watts are suitable.

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

the maximum depth of lowering the rack;
smooth start;
the presence of adjustment of the spindle rotation speed;
dynamic brake;
maintaining the number of revolutions under load.
chip removal system.

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

Milling table device

Any milling table consists of the following elements:

directly from the router 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:

an attached tabletop with a router;
stationary tabletop;
stationary tabletop with parallel emphasis;
stationary worktop with parallel stop, router lift, cutter cross feed.

Materials (edit)

How to make a router table? What should a person who decides on this matter have in his arsenal? First, we need a drawing of a table for a hand router. It is not difficult to find it. Therefore, it is quite possible to make a table for a hand router. There are also many detailed workshops 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. They mainly use sheets of chipboard, film faced 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 to assemble the simplest do-it-yourself router table. Let's make it from film faced plywood. The size of the countertop is 400 millimeters wide and 400 millimeters 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 hand router from laminated plywood. We 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 fasten the legs to the table top, pre-coat 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 rail;
you can make a small groove for attaching the ruler.

The rip fence can be made from the same materials as the worktop. 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 the milling possibilities, it is desirable that the rip fence has two degrees of freedom. That is, it could tilt relative to the tabletop, and rotate parallel to it. This will allow making products with complex shapes.

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 next to the mill collet.

This is the easiest table for a do-it-yourself router. In the future, you can modify and install an elevator for convenient adjustment of the cutter height and horizontal reach.

Additional accessories

Since the table-mounted hand router is an electrical tool, an external switch can be installed in the table for safety. This will allow you to conveniently and safely turn the device on and off when necessary. Here you can also install additional sockets for connecting a portable lamp or 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. Complete workbenches are obtained. At the same time, pull-out shelves are made in them, in which it is convenient to store various cutters and a key for changing the spindle. The large table allows you to handle large sheets of plywood or other material so often used in furniture or doors. Such a table increases the accuracy of the processed parts and reduces the percentage of rejects in production.

Safety

It is worth remembering that tables for wood cutters are sources of increased danger. The frequency of rotation 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 when the machine is stopped and de-energized.

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

The presence of a milling machine will greatly simplify the process and the accuracy of processing products. It can be purchased ready-made in a specialized store, or you can save your own savings and make a table with your own hands.

With such a device, you can cut not only different types of trees, but also plastic, wood-based panels. Also, with it, you can independently make a curly selection of a profile, grooves, spikes and cuts.

With a DIY milling table, you can equip your workshop with a practical woodworking machine. All that is required for effective work is to attach the manual router itself to the product.

Type constructions, the milling table can be:

mounted... This option is quite practical and easy to use. For this, a separate unit of the unit is attached to the sawing machine with clamps on the side. This design saves space. If necessary, it can be easily and quickly removed and left to the side;
portable... This option is in great demand, especially if the workshop is small. Also, this type of design is suitable for those who often change their place of residence or take a router with them to construction sites;
stationary... This option is suitable for a spacious workshop. This is a very handy model. Since with a stationary product, you can equip a well-thought-out workplace.

Material

For the manufacture of a milling table, you can use various materials:

Each individual option has its own advantages. The tree is distinguished by its high strength, reliability and durability. But you need to be able to work with this material. It is more difficult to handle manually, unlike DPP or MDF. And natural wood is much more expensive.

As for chipboard and MDF, these materials are more affordable in terms of price. They can be easily processed with hand and power tools and have good technical characteristics.

Drawing of a homemade milling table for wood

Before you start making a milling table, you need to make a drawing. It indicates the exact dimensions of each individual element and the materials of manufacture. As for the manufacture of a drawing, you can do it yourself, you can use special programs on the computer or, order from a furniture company... The last option is the most reliable. Since the specialists will make a competent calculation of all the details, with an accuracy of one millimeter.

Tools

To make a homemade milling table design, you will need the following tools:

hacksaw;
electric jigsaw;
sander or sandpaper;
drill;
chisel;
screwdriver or screwdriver.

Advice: The use of electrical tools will greatly speed up the manufacturing and assembly of the product.

From materials you will need:

Chipboard or MDF. In order not to bend during work, it is worth choosing lumber with a section of 3.6 cm.For the side parts, chipboard with a thickness of 1.6 cm is suitable;
plywood, textolite, metal (manufacturing of a mounting plate);
the router is purchased from a specialist store.

An easy way to make a table for a hand router

Countertop manufacturing

First you need to prepare the parts for the table. They are cut with a jigsaw from the selected lumber, according to the drawing.

Advice: Detailing can be ordered from a specialized furniture company. Here you will be helped to immediately create a competent drawing and select lumber. The cost of services of a furniture company is fully justified by the quality and accuracy of work. All you need next is just to assemble the product according to the diagram in your workshop.

The process of making a milling table is carried out in the following sequence:

Important: whether to do for the design of the table or not is a personal matter for everyone. A worktop with an installed router can simply be fastened between two tables.

How to make and install the plate yourself

Since the tabletop of a homemade milling table has a decent thickness, the mounting plate should be thinner. Then you can maximize the overhang of the cutting tool.

Attention: the plate with the minimum thickness should be as strong and rigid as possible.

It can be made from metal or from a material that is not inferior in strength, for example, from PCB. The thickness of the PCB should vary within 4-8 mm.

The plate making process is as follows:

After checking the drawing, cut out a rectangular piece from the PCB sheet.
In the center of a rectangular part make a hole... Its dimensions should correspond to the hole diameter of the router base.
We connect the plate with the base of the router and the table.
For fixing the plates to the worktop we make clamps for the machine, which are located at the four corners. These dimensions must strictly correspond to the holes located on the instrument itself.

Work area equipment

After the manufacture and assembly of the milling table, it is recommended to think over a competent work area. To maintain the precision of milling, it is worth installing on the worktop:

guides... They can be made from chipboard or from the same materials as the countertop. The guides are installed at right angles and are held together by four oblique stops.
clamps... They can be made in the form of a wooden comb or from a ball bearing of the desired size and weight.

Finishing

After building a milling table with your own hands, to give the product an aesthetic appearance and to extend its life, you need all the working surfaces:

grind;
polish;
bottom and sides - paint;
open with varnish.

The electrical part of the product must be covered with a metal sleeve.

Photo

The result of the work may be a table that looks like one of the following

Useful video

A detailed description of the manufacturing process can be viewed in the following video:

Conclusion

In conclusion, it should be noted that the process of making a milling table is a rather responsible process. If you are sure that you can cope with such a task, you can save your own savings and make the product yourself. This will require: stock up on a well-drawn up drawing, the necessary materials and tools and free time.

In contact with

Do-it-yourself milling table for a manual router

One of the main assistants of a carpenter's work is a woodworking router. This hand tool is indispensable when you need to:

cut a groove;
make a groove;
make a spike connection;
process 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 wield a milling cutter. Therefore, many craftsmen go to the trick, making a milling table for a hand router. With the help of a table, which is a reliable addition to a milling tool, it is possible to obtain wooden elements in quality and accuracy that are in no way inferior to joinery made in professional furniture workshops on milling machines.

A self-made table for a hand router significantly increases the productivity of the tool and makes it easier to work on 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 the craftsman who makes it.

To perform any engineering work, and the manufacture of equipment is just such, it is necessary to draw up a sketch of the future machine. On it you need to indicate 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 hand router

Materials for making a milling table

To build a milling table you will need:

4 square bars;
trimming chipboard and plywood, the dimensions of which are determined when building the drawing of the table;
hardware (nuts, bolts, screws, hinges, etc.);
jack;
metallic profile;
6mm steel plate;
aluminum guides;
movable carriage-stop (guide from the saw);
manual frezer.

Drawing of a 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 determination of the location of the working elements 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. To make a stationary base for the table, you will need bars and chipboard trimmings, from which we twist the support legs, additionally strengthen the rigidity using horizontal plywood connecting panels. In the right side part we cut a hole for the start button, which will be connected to the hand router.

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

3rd step. To move the workpiece evenly along the table, for example, to cut a groove in it, a moving stop carriage is used. In the countertop, cut out a groove for the guides of the movable stop and install a metal profile in it. You can use a guide from an old saw as a stop carriage.

4th step. The longitudinal stop is also made of chipboard and we 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 attach the stop to the table top with clamps. In the middle we cut out a small groove for sucking out chips and other milling waste.

5th step. From thin plywood we make a box with an opening 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. Take a 6mm steel plate and screw it to the table top flush with the surface. In the process of fastening, we make sure that its edges do not protrude above the tabletop, otherwise the processed parts will cling to them. A manual router will be attached to the plate from below.

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

8th step. We build a router elevator. For 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 hand 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 milling table. For other first build options, see the details below.

We check the reliability of fastening of all elements - and the do-it-yourself milling table is ready!

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 router with a detailed analysis of its nodes.

Materials and tools.

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

metal corner or pipe (for the frame);
aluminum guide;
axles for mounting the router;
putty, primer and paint for metal;
self-tapping screws; furniture bolts 6 x 60 mm;
adjusting hex bolts with nuts - 4 pcs. ;
Finnish moisture-resistant laminated plywood, 18 mm thick (you can take another material);
boards or plywood trimmings (for the manufacture of a parallel stop).

The following tools are also required:

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

Basic Drawings

Design features of the milling table

The existing workbench can be adapted for the milling machine. 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 bed must be reliable and stable. The bed is understood as a fixed base on which the router is located. It takes all the loads and is a table-like structure 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 attached to the table top from below, which means that empty space must be provided there.

The router is attached to the table through a high-strength and rigid plate for installation work. It is preferable to make it from metal, PCB or tongue-and-groove boards.

On the base of the router there are threaded mounting holes for fastening. In the absence of threaded holes, cutting is performed independently. If the task is not feasible, fix the milling device using special clamps.

Start the work by making a cutout according to the shape and thickness of the mounting plate. For simplicity, straight corners on the mounting plate should be rounded off with a file. A recess in the table top ensures that the plate is flush with the table top.

In the center of the plate, make a hole for the tool to exit, drill holes for fixing the plate to 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 countertop and base

Making the base of the future milling table begins with the frame. For the convenience of work, the table cover should protrude in the front part by 100-200 mm. When designing the frame of the bed, pay special attention to the height of the installation 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; in case of unevenness in the floor, it will help to set the tabletop in level.

A Soviet-era kitchen countertop will be useful as a working surface for the future machine. Most often it is made from a 36 mm chipboard sheet covered with plastic. The wood-based material will reduce the vibration generated 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 boards with a minimum thickness of 16 mm.

Choose a place for the future milling machine in your workshop, the dimensions and type of future design depend on this. It can be a modular machine located on the side of the circular saw, a tabletop version, or it can be a free-standing stationary machine.

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

You can make a milling machine yourself. It is a structure that fits on a standard table. For work, you will need a chipboard plate, two boards. Fasten two boards in parallel on a chipboard sheet. Attach one of them to the tabletop with bolts, it will serve as a guide and as a stop. Use the second as a limit stop. Cut an opening in the table top to accommodate the router. Attach the router to the table top with clamps. The compact milling machine 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 router table

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

Start by making the frame of the future machine. The following method of making the bed can be applied. Using a grinder, cut the profile pipe 25 × 25 to size, then weld the workpieces intended for the frame on which the working surface will be located. Weld a pipe on one side, along which the rip fence 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 the recess.

Use the second method for 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 should correspond to the convenient fastening of the router.

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

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

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

Step back from the edge 200-250 mm and cut the T-shaped guide along the length of the working surface.

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

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

On the underside of the tabletop, make a groove for the sole of the router.

Make grooves on both sides of the drilled through hole in the recess to accommodate the router axes. 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 hexagon.

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

Install Allen bolts and nuts on both sides of the axles to adjust the plane of the milling equipment.

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

On lane 1, make a semicircular hole to remove wood waste. It should line up with the slot in the table top. In strip # 2, cut a square hole at the same location.

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

Fasten plates # 1 and # 2 together with the half-hole sides. Fasten 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 to match the diameter of the vacuum cleaner hose. Attach the square to the stiffeners.

Secure the rip fence with clamps. This is done for the mobility of permutation of the stop. If it is intended for a milling machine only, then fix it with brackets with slots for movement.

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

Install the milling equipment: pass 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 hex wrench to lift the router up.

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

Option 4. Milling machine based on writing table

A milling machine based on a writing table is considered an economical and convenient solution. In the list of photo drawings, there is a table with a specification of parts by size and recommended material.

Parts sizes and materials

How to make a mounting plate

Due to the thickness of the table top, to maximize the output of the cutting tool, the thickness of the mounting plate must be reduced. From this it follows that with a small thickness, it must have sufficient strength.

The plate can be metal or textolite. It is these materials that best meet the requirements for strength and rigidity. The optimum plate thickness should be 6 mm. It is made of rectangular shape, in the middle of the part, a hole is drilled in diameter corresponding to the hole on the base 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 connecting to the router and attaching it to the table top.

The holes in the plate must match in size and position with the holes in the router base. For accurate marking of 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, fasten a metal ruler at the ends of the table cover width, this will make it possible to set the parallel stop correctly in size and strictly parallel.

On the reverse side of the table top, make selections for the subsequent installation of the dust collector casing, additional equipment. The above drawings and photos will help you make all the components correctly.

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

Option 5. Small desktop milling table

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

How to make the top clamp

For processing large parts and creating safe working conditions on the machine, the so-called upper clamp is used. Its production 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 that makes it possible to fix the workpiece at any distance from the working surface.

Milling machine drive power

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

You have familiarized yourself with 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 were able to help you.

http://o-builder.ru

In search of a worthy answer to the discomfort that arises when working with a hand-held milling tool, home carpentry owners eventually come to the need to purchase a convenient milling table.

VovroKsyu FORUMHOUSE user

I have been thinking about the table for a long time. Especially after I manually performed f reservation 22 m fence.

The purchase option can be expensive, the dimensions of the machine, assembled in a production environment, do not correspond to the size of a small home workshop. The best solution in this case would be to assemble the milling table yourself.

Those wishing to make a homemade milling machine can be found in the corresponding section of FORUMHOUSE.

How to make a milling table

A homemade milling table is the simplest. The main working unit in it is a hand-held milling machine. Working with a hand-held power tool involves moving a working cutter over the surface of a stationary workpiece (which is far from always convenient). A milling table for hand tools allows you to change the way of processing and milling in a lightweight way: the hand tool is fixed on the work table motionlessly, and the workpiece to be processed is easily fed onto the milling cutter by hand.

A homemade milling table is the simplest woodworking process. The main working unit in it is a hand-held milling machine. Working with a hand-held power tool involves moving a working cutter over the surface of a stationary workpiece (which is far from always convenient). A milling table for hand tools allows you to change the way of processing and milling in a lightweight way: the hand tool is fixed on the work table motionlessly, and the workpiece to be processed is easily fed onto the milling cutter by hand.

A milling table for a hand router consists of basic and additional elements. Additional elements are not required, but their use makes it possible to facilitate the great work of the master as much as possible, to make the design of the device safer, and the functionality - close to the capabilities of serial installations.

Universal milling table:main structural elements

The main elements of the milling table are indicated in the figure.

Aib User FORUMHOUSE, Moscow.

I really needed a mobile milling table. I welded the frame, painted and assembled the structure.

The dimensions of the milling table depend on the dimensions of the workpieces being processed, as well as on the growth of the master himself. The length and width should be slightly less than the table top, and the height of the bed should be 850 ... 900 mm, which corresponds to the most comfortable conditions for working while standing. The homemade legs can be made adjustable to compensate for uneven floors or change the height of the bed.

Router table top

The dimensions of the table top depend on the dimensions of the workpieces.

dautov FORUMHOUSE user

In a home workshop, a small table of 500x500 mm is enough.

For the processing of relatively long parts (for profiling the edges of the door trims), you will need a tabletop of the appropriate size. We look at the drawing:

For the manufacture of the bed, wood-based materials are most often used, which can effectively damp the resulting vibrations. This can be a chipboard countertop, which is used in the manufacture of kitchen furniture, or a sheet of thick plywood. Here, for example, is a countertop made of chipboard trim formed after the installation of a kitchen sink.

Krott64 FORUMHOUSE user

On this trimming of the tabletop, after a simple revision, you can do quite decent things.

Someone makes a tabletop from metal, someone from edged board, but, as practice shows, chipboard and plywood are always a priority.

Orfo74 FORUMHOUSE user

If I do, it will be made of laminated plywood (I have one on my trailer). She has already covered hundreds of thousands of kilometers under the heat and under the "minus". It was not spoiled by salt or rain. And you can still use it, but you need to collect it either in 2 layers, or make the bottom from simple plywood.

For the manufacture of countertops, you must not use material on the surface of which there are defects (knotty boards, etc.).

Mounting plate for hand router

A hand router is attached to the mounting plate with threaded connections. Therefore, its manufacture must be taken with full responsibility. The material from which the plate will be made must be strong enough so that the router does not vomit during operation (the consequences can be imagined). It can be a rectangle made of metal or plywood (but metal is more reliable).

AlekX FORUMHOUSE user

A powerful machine has a lot of dope. And if she is turned out of the table during work–will not seem a little.

Dgusepe FORUMHOUSE user

The legs can also be made of wood, but it is advisable to make the tabletop of 3 mm metal. For maximum cutter lifting.

The length and width of the mounting plate must match the foot of the hand router used to attach the power tool to the table.

Workpiece rip fence

The longitudinal stop can be made from a regular chipboard sheet or from an edged board. The stop must be made movable in order to ensure the possibility of adjusting the horizontal overhang of the cutter. For more precise adjustment, you can attach measuring rulers to the sides of the tabletop.

The design of the locking mechanism, which allows the longitudinal stop to be fixed in the required position, is extremely simple. It can consist of two rails with through longitudinal grooves and two threaded fasteners with thumbs.

Instead of slats, you can use two metal corners, which will last longer and will not deform under the action of the clamps.

So that dust and shavings do not interfere with the work, it is advisable to equip the longitudinal stop with a dust collector, to which a chip suction or a small carpentry vacuum cleaner is connected.

The rip fence can be doubled, which significantly expands the functionality of the milling table.

Superkuzen FORUMHOUSE user

The monolithic stop makes it impossible to carry out a lot of operations performed on the milling table, that is, it makes the table less functional.

A milling table can perform the functions of a small planing machine if an adjustable difference of working planes is organized between the two halves of the longitudinal stop. This design allows one half of the stop relative to the other to be displaced by aligning one stop flush with the cutter using thin wooden plates. Adjusting plates are placed under the non-working surface of the stop.

Manual milling machine

The performance of the milling table will directly depend on the technical characteristics of the hand tool (power, number of revolutions per minute, etc.). Choosing a router for a milling table should be based on the expected load. The additional functionality of the machine will become an additional plus for the master. If you do not have a hand router yet, then choose a tool with an adjustable cutter speed and with the ability to set the working depth (plunge cutters). Very easy to use machines with a spindle lock (for easy replacement of cutting tools), as well as devices with a soft start and quick stop of the spindle.

We have reviewed the basic elements of a milling table, which will allow the owner to perform the most basic milling operations. In order to expand the functionality of the device, make it universal and increase operational safety, it is necessary to take care of the availability of additional devices. Let's consider the most common ones.

Longitudinal guide for movable milling carriage

With the help of a longitudinal guide built into the surface of the worktop, a variety of devices can be attached to the milling table: an angle stop with a protractor, a perpendicular stop, etc.

The longitudinal rail can be of different designs, but most often it is an aluminum C-profile, into which bolts with wing nuts are inserted. This design allows you to quickly install the desired attachment on the milling table.

By the way, with the help of the C-shaped profile, you can also attach the longitudinal adjustable stop to the tabletop.

Vertical clamp

The upper clamp increases safety when working on a homemade router and increases processing accuracy. Its fastening can be realized as clips for a movable carriage.

If you are planning to make a milling table with your own hands, a video about the device of a universal carpentry workshop for personal use will help you with this.

Router elevator

The vertical overhang of the cutter very often has to be adjusted. To carry out this adjustment, a milling lift is provided - an adjustable stop that allows you to maintain the milling machine at a given height and, if necessary, quickly change this height.

It is advisable to use the milling elevator in conjunction with submersible milling machines. Their design initially has guides for adjusting the cutter overhang (in contrast to machines with a fixed engine).

The lift for a homemade router can be of various designs.

Car jack lift

An old car jack can be used to create a lifting mechanism.

leon42 FORUMHOUSE user

An elevator can be made from a car jack: there is a shelf under the router, we attach a jack to the shelf. We twist the jack - the router rises or falls.

For convenience, the jack handle can be pulled out of the side wall of the bed. This will make the adjustment much easier.

Threaded rod lift

Blackk FORUMHOUSE user

The corner with the threaded rod is screwed to the protrusion on the router, on which the measuring pin is attached in the normal mode. A thread has been cut in the corner for the threaded rod. Rotating the pin, we kind of screw into the corner and pull the entire router up along the guides. Accordingly, when rotating backwards, we lower the router.

The mechanism consists of a wooden wedge (pos. 1), in which a through hole has been drilled for the screw (pos. 2). Thanks to the metal plates (pos. 3) attached to the sides of the wedge and having threaded holes, the wedge moves horizontally, raising or lowering the milling machine. The handle of the lifting mechanism is brought out to the side surface of the bed. To reduce the load during lifting, the router is equipped with a homemade roller (pos. 4).

Switching the milling table on and off

All the necessary equipment for the electrical part of the milling table is already provided in the design of the milling machine. The only thing that can be added to the existing electrical circuit is a remote switch and an emergency shutdown button (after all, no one has canceled the safety rules during operation).

You can use the most ordinary switch for the router. As for the possibility of quick disconnection: it can be realized by installing an emergency button on the table with a locking mechanism (in which the unlocking is carried out by turning).

Assembling the table

We have listed the main and auxiliary elements of the milling table. Each master can determine the order of assembly of the device for himself. The only point to pay attention to is the manufacture and installation of the mounting plate.

After a plate of a suitable size is cut out of a steel (or plywood) sheet, it is necessary to drill holes in it for attaching the milling machine, a hole for a cutter (its diameter should correspond to the diameter of the hole in the base of the router) and mounting holes (for attaching the plate to the table top) ...

What tools you need to have in your carpentry or furniture workshop. And a video about the design of a homemade milling table and about the features of a carpentry power tool will help you find answers to questions regarding equipment that is extremely rarely used in a small home workshop.

Professional carpenters have great respect for their router tables. And it is no coincidence. After all, a convenient and properly arranged workbench is a guarantee of high productivity and an increase in the efficiency of the work process. 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 you don't have to buy expensive branded products or their Chinese counterparts. With a little work, 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 will be able to make exactly those joinery products that you require faster and much better.

The manufacturer cannot anticipate the needs of every potential buyer and incorporates basic capabilities into his products. Many of them may simply never be necessary for you, and some, which are necessary for you, may not be in the design of the table.

To make a milling table yourself, you do not need anything supernatural and too expensive. All that is needed is an electric motor, a guide structure and the table itself, a stable frame on which equipment and accessories will be fixed. And, of course, your own milling table drawing.

What is a milling machine for and what is its purpose

The principle of working with a hand-held milling tool is that the router 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 trick: they fix the router itself, and move the part. The resulting structure is called a "milling table".

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

Using milling tables for a hand router, you get the opportunity to process not only wood products, but also chipboard, plastic, MDF, make joints on tenons and tongues, make grooves and splines, 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 a wide range of milling tables with a lot of additional accessories for them. However, a well-made do-it-yourself router table is in no way inferior to the branded ones, and sometimes even surpasses them.

How milling tables are arranged

To work with a hand router on a table, you can use a regular workbench or build a special table. Such a table is distinguished by a rigid structure with good stability. This is necessary in view of the strong vibrations caused by the running router. Since the tool is mounted from below, there should be nothing under the table top to interfere with the work. Only the milling cutter itself for the milling table and, if necessary, a lift device that provides accurate and smooth adjustment of the cutter lift.

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 PCB, metal or plywood. The fastening of the plastic strip on the base of the router usually has threaded connections that can be used to attach the router to the table top of the router table. On the surface of the future table, you should select a groove for the mounting plate so that the base of the router is flush. It is necessary to fasten the plate with self-tapping screws with countersunk heads so that they do not interfere with the future movement of the workpieces being processed.

The router itself is also attached to the table using 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, it is possible to use pressure devices if there is no desire to drill the milling cutter base.

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

Types of milling tables

When starting to make 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 can be the lateral extension of the sawing machine, that is, the aggregate table.

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

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

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

Simple table design

If you want a device of a simple design, you can make it a small height, then fix it 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 lightweight and bolted.

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

Manufacturing the bed

For any milling machine, the bed is its frame, on which the table top 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.

When making the machine, it is advisable to make its lower part in such a way that the person standing in front of it does not rest their feet on the frame. To do this, the lowermost part of the bed is deepened (like with 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 advisable to use adjustable supports in the table design, which allow you to align milling tables for a hand router in the presence of unevenness in the floor or, if necessary, change the height.

Homemade table top

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

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

Mounting plate

Since the kitchen worktop is quite thick, in order to maintain the amplitude of the cutter protrusion, the router should be attached to the table using a mounting plate. With its small thickness, it is highly durable and reliably holds the tool without losing the cutter's working stroke.

Using a mounting plate made of textolite (fiberglass), you should cut a rectangular workpiece 5-8 mm thick and sides from 15 to 30 cm. In the center of the plate, cut a hole corresponding to the hole in the base of the milling tool. The plate is attached to the table surface, and the router is already installed on it.

We assemble a table for a router

After the frame is made, a tabletop is temporarily attached to it. A mounting plate is installed on a previously prepared place and its outline is drawn with a pencil. Then, using a hand router with a cutter with a diameter of 5-9 mm in the worktop, you should select a seat for it. The plate should fit flush and without distortion.

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

After that, you should make a through milling of the table top along the contours of the router's sole. This does not require much accuracy, but you will probably still need to select additional material from the bottom of the countertop for a dust collector and some other additional devices.

It remains to connect all the parts together. Having started the router from the bottom, we fix it on the mounting plate, then we attach the plate to the table top. We screw the tabletop to the bed already completely.

We arrange the upper 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 well as when manufacturing dimensional parts. The design of the upper clamp is simple.

A properly sized ball bearing will fulfill the roller task. The bearing must be rigidly fixed at a certain distance from the table top so that it can securely hold down the workpiece from above.

Milling machine drive

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

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