The easiest way to make a homemade router. Making a homemade wood milling machine: spindle and shaft device

A home milling machine is an indispensable equipment for processing metal and other materials with your own hands. If you set a goal, you can build a mini-copy of industrial equipment, significantly saving on components, while the machine can be additionally endowed with turning functions. A home-made milling machine for metal is made quite simply; in the manufacturing process, you only need to be patient and have at hand detailed drawings typical of serial equipment.

DIY do-it-yourself metal milling machine

A home router is an excellent helper for processing metal or wooden products in cases where the use of a hand tool would not bring desired result. In this case, you can contact the workshop, but such services are not always cheap. With certain skills, you can assemble a milling machine for metal of the simplest type or a more complex model with your own hands. Accordingly, more simple type machine assembled on the basis conventional drill, the functionality will be more modest than that of a more complex, equipped big amount components and powered by an electric motor. If you follow the instructions and drawings on the basis of which industrial samples of milling cutters are assembled, you can build a machine for your home workshop that can perform complex technological operations: cut metal or wood products, process surfaces of various configurations, make grooves, folds, slots, etc. When assembling the machine, you can rely on video instructions that can be found in large numbers on the Internet.

But before you start assembling a homemade machine, we would like to warn you that without knowing all the intricacies of assembling the device, in the end it may turn out to be unsafe for operation. Therefore, if you have doubts about the operation of a device assembled by yourself, pay attention to CNC milling and engraving machines from domestic manufacturer MULTICUT, which have a guarantee of quality and great performance.

Design and principle of operation

Do-it-yourself metal milling machine drawings

The basis of the milling machine is the bed, which must be rigidly fixed and strong enough to withstand the required load.

The second important element is a hand drill or an electric motor that acts as a drive for a working tool, which is a sharply sharpened cutter. To fix workpieces made of metal or wood, as well as to place them for processing, a milling table equipped special mounts. All accessories must be High Quality, since the efficiency of the machine will depend on it. The power of the router, as well as its performance, depends on the power of the drive and the maximum number of revolutions. The minimum power of a home machine should be 500 watts, and to work with harder metals, you will need a 1.2-2 kW engine.

The operation of the equipment can be carried out manually or automatically. The second type of machine is equipped with a CNC module, which allows to minimize human participation in processing, sharpening and other work with metal.

Do-it-yourself mini-milling machine for metal

Do-it-yourself mini milling machine for metal

Mini router hand assembled consists of an electric drive from a drill attached to a frame. To assemble a mini-milling cutter, you will need the following materials:

Metal corners No. 25
Channel
car jack
Square pipe profile 20
Metal pins for axles
thick plywood
Morse taper
400 W electric drive
drill chuck

First of all, it is necessary to make a frame from a channel, as a result, a welded structure in the form of the letter P should be obtained. Further, vertical guides are made from a metal corner, which is bolted to the column, for the movement of the milling console. Directly vertical movement of the milling console will be carried out using an automobile diamond-shaped jack in an amplitude of 10 cm. Guide consoles are made of profile pipe, to which threaded metal pins are attached. The amplitude of movement to the side is 13 cm, and horizontally - about 9 cm.

A desktop is made of thick plywood, which is fixed to the metal frame with screws. For maximum strength working surface, plywood is faced with textolite. To do this, a blank is cut out in accordance with the dimensions of plywood with allowances of 25 mm. Glue is applied to the textolite part, as well as to the surface of the plywood, after gluing the procedure is repeated on the reverse side.

From the corner and the profile square pipe, you need to weld a vice that is installed on the countertop, attached with self-tapping screws. A drill is attached to the welded jumpers in the frame with the spindle down. It is joined by a Morse taper with a drill or collet chuck. With the help of such a mini-unit, you can process or make products from soft metals - bronze, aluminum.

This model of the router differs in that the drill itself is stationary, and only the console with the part moves. There is a second version of such a milling cutter, when the product is stationary, and the drill moves along the machine with the help of an elevator. To make an elevator, it is necessary to cut out a base plate from textolite, install it on a tabletop. A pair of parallel posts is attached to the plate, along which a carriage (using a push mechanism) with an attached mini-milling cutter will move. The elevator must be stable, rigid, so that there is not the slightest backlash that can spoil the product during processing.

DIY CNC milling machine for metal

The CNC machine is technologically more complex than a mini-milling tool, consisting of the following components:

Ball screw transmission. It is used to change rotational movements into reciprocating and vice versa.
Vertical, transverse and longitudinal guides. They are designed to drive the portal with a spindle vertically, the desktop to the right and left and move it along the bed.
The basis for fastening of all equipment.
A spindle in which a milling cutter is fixed for processing metal products.
Work surface (table)
Cooling system for cutter and spindle unit.

The CNC router works with the help of software installed on the computer. The program creates a future product, calculated in special codes recognized by the controller. The command is then sent to stepper motors that move the spindle or router according to the contours of the workpiece. The machine itself is assembled in the following steps:

The first step in assembling the CNC router is the assembly of the electric drive and the frame, on which the components and the machine itself will be located. It must have a strong and rigid structure, located on a flat surface. The power of the electric drive of the CNC machine should be 1-2 kW. In its role, you can use a stationary electric motor or an electric drive from any powerful hand tool with a large number of revolutions.
The milling console, columns, all guides and stepper motors are installed. At this stage, it is necessary to ensure that the slide along the guides is smooth and smooth. In addition, at this stage of the assembly of the CNC router, the reliability of fastening of all mechanisms and their performance are checked. The name and the exact number of required elements must be viewed in the exact instructions and drawings.
At the final stage, the operability of the entire machine as a whole is checked before installing the software.
Controller elements are connected to each other in accordance with the diagram, connected to a computer on which software and all necessary drivers. When the software is installed, you need to download the required part sketches. After that, the desired material is selected to be installed on the work surface, as well as the type of cutter for this material.

Work on the equipment should be carried out only after familiarization with the safety regulations. This applies to both the CNC router and the mini-unit. Firstly, it is necessary to use means to protect the eyes and exposed parts of the body from the ingress of metal chips. Secondly, you need to ensure that the milling unit does not overheat, otherwise it may shatter into pieces, causing harm to health. Thirdly, all electronics and network must be grounded, and electrical network must be protected against short circuits.

Do-it-yourself metal milling machine: video

Special equipment is used for wood processing. It can be used in completely different industrial areas. Often it is used by home craftsmen. There are certain types of operations that cannot be performed without the use of milling cutters. Many of the craftsmen prefer to make a universal wood milling machine with their own hands.

Purpose and device of the machine

The equipment has a fairly wide range of applications. With it, you can perform the following operations:

cutting blanks from wood or solid wood;
incision;
making grooves or holes;
drawing drawings of a high level of complexity;
planing;
edge processing, etc.

Due to this, milling is one of the most common types of wood processing.

The design of this type of device consists of the following working elements:

The rather simple design of the machine for milling wooden blanks ensures ease of operation and popularity of this type of equipment.

Unit types

There are many types of milling equipment, each of which has its own distinctive features designs and purpose. Conventionally, devices can be divided into several types.

Machine tool with numerical programmer

The design of this type of device has a built-in microprocessor with a certain volume random access memory And operating system. Thanks to this, it can be programmed to perform a certain sequence of operations, configure the device's functions.

The advantage of working with a CNC machine is as follows:

To work with this type of milling device, you must have special skills and knowledge.

Manual machine type

A do-it-yourself milling table for a manual router has the ability to perform a smaller amount of work than CNC equipment. The small size of the machine does not allow it to be used in production, but only at home. Usually, manual view milling equipment is designed to make grooves when connecting parts. The machine is especially relevant in the manufacture of grooves of small sizes.

It should also be noted that often manual frezer oval machine is used when it is necessary to process a piece of wood, decorated decorative inserts. This makes it possible to use the equipment in small furniture manufacturing enterprises.

Copy-milling mechanism

This type of device is mainly used for the manufacture of workpieces of a high level of complexity associated with the presence of complex patterns and decorative elements. It is possible to perform such operations manually. However, this will take a lot of time and requires high professionalism from the master. In order to be able to produce identical workpieces, pre-made templates are used in the production process.

Turning and milling unit

The machine is designed to give the workpiece a certain shape by using the profile method of work. As a result of using this equipment, it is possible to process workpieces of multifaceted, round or helical shape. This is made possible by the ability to program the workflow.

As a cutting element of turning and milling machines, special knives or cutters (disk and finger type) are used. In the manufacture of machine tools, modern integrated circuits are used.

desktop device

The main properties of the machine can be considered the convenience of working with them and the simplicity of the design. Like the previous type of machine, its use is relevant in small businesses or households. The desktop type equipment has both a simple design and the ability to perform complex workflows.

Household router

This is a simple type of milling equipment designed for home use. It can be used to perform the following types of operations:

sawing wood blanks;
planing;
milling;
drilling;
grinding, etc.

The equipment is easy to use and maintain.

Vertical milling machine

The main type of work item for this type of machine is a milling cutter. The workbench is capable of performing the following processes:

drilling;
reaming;
boring holes;
surface treatment of grooves of any diameter.

Of no small importance is the fact that the device can be used to work not only with wood blanks, but also with other materials.

Each of the above types of milling machines has its own design features, as well as the area of \u200b\u200buse. This must be taken into account when choosing a particular type of machine.

Independent production of equipment

A do-it-yourself milling machine, the drawings of which are in the special literature, can be done quite simply and with minimal cost time and money.

Most simple option It is considered the manufacture of equipment based on a ready-made desktop, which needs a little modernization. Experts recommend making a homemade milling table.

To do this, first of all, you should decide on the place in which the circular will be located. If you plan to use the equipment to work with end surfaces, it is better to position the cutter horizontally. Thus, the trimming edge will be processed as accurately and quickly as possible.

After all the materials have been prepared, you can begin to assemble all the elements of the machine.

There is another fairly simple option with which you can make a vertical milling machine. Do-it-yourself milling table, the drawings of which must have exactly the specified dimensions. During the manufacturing process, it is recommended to strictly adhere to the dimensions indicated on the drawings.

First you need to assemble the frame of the machine, for which pre-purchased pipe blanks are used, which are interconnected by welding.

Now you can begin to conduct the first tests of a homemade milling machine. At the same time, you should follow the safety rules when working with it.

Router operating rules

In order for the work with the machine to be practical and safe, it is necessary to follow the established rules. Among the most important are the following:

Only those persons who have undergone special preliminary training are allowed to work on the machine.

The operator must wear loose-fitting protective clothing, goggles, boots, a respirator, ear muffs and gloves.

After the work is completed, it is necessary to turn off the power supply of the machine. Then clean the desktop from the chips and debris accumulated on it.

The specialist is advised to clean the workroom approximately once a week. This applies to the surface of the ceiling and walls. It is convenient to use a regular vacuum cleaner for this.

We must also not forget about the preventive inspection of the state of the machine:

Subject to the above rules and recommendations, the machine will be able to serve for a long time. In addition, the risk of an emergency during the operation of the equipment, as well as injury to the operator, will be minimized.

The milling table will facilitate your work and help to increase the accuracy of processing workpieces. You can buy a ready-made one, or you can make a router table for a manual router with your own hands, using woodworking skills. We have prepared for you a fairly detailed step-by-step instruction for making a table.

The essence of all structures of the horizontal milling table one, the idea is clear - you need to think it over for yourself and implement it, taking into account your capabilities. And in the end, get a machine that allows you to process workpieces much more accurately and perform operations that previously seemed difficult for a manual milling cutter.

Decide on the size of the work surface, starting from the dimensions of the workpieces being processed and the free space in the workshop. Start small by building a simple countertop with upgradeability in mind. Work on it and gradually bring to mind.

Make a tabletop

The simplest table for a milling cutter is a separate working plate, placed on carpentry goats or between cabinets. The fixture costs a penny and is made in a few hours, but will allow you to perform a significant proportion of the same operations as a multifunctional machine. You only need MDF or birch plywood 19-25 mm thick. Better fit a plastic-coated panel that provides less friction resistance, and a plate laminated on both sides will not warp during operation.

Set the exact right angle of the cut on the circular saw, cut the parts according to the dimensions and grind the ends.

Cutting pattern: 1 - main plate; 2 - stop base; 3 - front wall of the stop; 4 - scarf (4 pieces, dimensions for 19 mm plywood); 5 - tsarga (2 pcs.); 6 - side bar; 7 - connecting bar (4 pcs.)

Advice. Before cutting, measure the thickness of the sheet material, which often differs from the standard. Make adjustments to the drawings, eliminating problems during assembly of the structure.

Remove the plastic pad from the sole of the router.

Draw a line in the middle of the slab and mark 235 mm from the edge.

Place the overlay so that the router's main controls are next to the edge of the table. Visually align the center of the lining with the marked point and mark the places for drilling the holes for the mounting screws.

Determine the center location for the sole with equidistant screws.

For a base with asymmetrical screws, measure the diameter of the rubber and the distance from the outer circumference to the cut of the sole.

Draw a line with a pencil in the middle of the beveled side, calculate the distance from it to the center:

S=D/2-(D-H)

Position the cut perpendicular to the midline and mark the center of the sole.

Mark the mounting screw locations.

Drill mounting holes and under the cutter, countersink the recesses. Mark semicircular cutouts in the base and front wall of the stop.

Cut out the bends with an electric saw. Make auxiliary frequent cuts perpendicular to the edge of the part, slightly leading to the marking line. Then lead the file a little closer to the contour line - the pieces will fall out without interfering with the movement of the blade. Sand the cutout with sandpaper wrapped around the pipe.

Fasten the connecting strips from the bottom of the tabletop.

Glue all the blanks and fasten with additional screws. Pick up screws longer than the regular ones by the thickness of the plywood and install the router at the bottom of the slab.

1 - side bar for fastening with clamps on the goats; 2 - tsarga; 3 - countersunk guide holes; 4 - front wall of the stop; 5 - self-tapping screw with countersunk head 4.5x42; 6 - scarf; 7 - stop base

Fix the table on the goats with clamps, fix the position of the stop with clamps and get to work.

Build a solid foundation

The worktop can be installed on a frame of low height, sufficient to accommodate the router. A portable table is stored on a rack, and is fixed on a workbench for work. If you often mill and have a workshop free place, add support pedestals to the tabletop and get a full-fledged machine.

Cut the cabinet pieces to the dimensions given for the 820mm high table or modify them so that the tabletop is level with other equipment .

Frame details: 1 - outer side panel; 2 - inner panel; 3 - rear panel; 4 - base

Lay the countertop back side up. Install side panels in sequence and fasten them with screws, pre-drilling pilot holes. Fasten the base, lay the frame face down, align the square corners and install the two back panels.

At the end, attach the wheel supports to the bottom of the hull using roofing screws. Position the wheel mounting pads at least 20 mm from the edges.

1 - side stand; 2 - wheel support; 3 - bottom; 4 - internal rack; 5 - rear panel

Use free space in cabinets to solve the problem of storing tools and Supplies.

Insert mounting plate

Get a longer cutter overhang by placing the tool on a 4-6 mm thick plate made of duralumin, getinaks or solid polycarbonate.

Cut out a 300 mm square from the sheet, put it on a workbench. Glue the plastic sole of the router on top with double-sided tape, placing it in the middle face up. With a drill of the same diameter as the fixing screws, drill holes in the plate using the plastic pad as a template. Remove the sole, make recesses for the caps with a countersink or a large drill.

Screw the plate to the disconnected router, insert an 8 mm drill into the collet. Lower the body of the tool until the drill touches the surface and rotate the chuck, marking the center. Unscrew the plate and make a hole according to the mark with a hole saw.

Place the plate on the tabletop and trace the outline. Draw and cut the cutout by inserting the jigsaw blade through drilled hole. Trim the ends with a file and sand with sandpaper.

Fix the thin boards around the marked contour with clamps.

Clamp the copy cutter with bearing in the collet, set the milling depth according to the thickness of the mounting plate. Carry out the milling in several passes, then add 0.5 mm with the micrometer regulator of the router and make the final pass.

Drill through holes for the screws and widen them from the back of the worktop with a 11 mm drill bit for self-locking nuts. Clean the surfaces and install the nuts on the epoxy, leveling with the screwed bolts.

Fit the mounting plate to the cutout, lay it in place, drill the fixing holes and countersink from the front. Attach the part to the sole of the router, insert the tool into the tabletop and tighten the screws. Check that the plate is flush with the tabletop plane, if necessary, compensate for errors with washers.

Improve your focus

For faster and more convenient setup of the machine, modify the parallel side stop and complete the machine with a rotary stop, which helps to process the ends of narrow parts. The latter can be taken from a stationary circular saw. Cut aluminum guides with a T-profile into the surface of the plate. To make cutouts in the countertop, use a router or a circular saw with a slotted disc.

Lightly round the top corners of the grooves with sandpaper. Cut the profile to size, drill holes according to the diameter of the screws, process them with a countersink. Insert the parts into the grooves, make thin holes and tighten the countersunk screws.

Drill 7mm holes in the base of the stop, pick up hex bolts and plastic handwheels with nuts.

Install the guide profile in the front plate of the stop to secure the clamps, auxiliary pads and protective devices.

Cut out a plywood cover with a hole in the center, fasten it to the scarves located near the cutout of the longitudinal stop. Connect the adapter and connect the vacuum cleaner when working on the milling table.

Add a safety shield to the stop, made from plywood trim and a strip of plexiglass.

To make oblong cuts, drill 7 mm holes at the indicated points, connect them tangentially and make cuts with a jigsaw.

Make homemade clamps and clamps needed for milling small elements.

A comb press can be made from maple wood, choosing a straight-grained area. Make the gaps between the ridges on a circular machine:

Set the cutting height to 50 mm.
Set the cutting width to 2mm.
Make a cut.
Pull the workpiece back with the manual pusher.
Turn the board 180°, saw through the other side.
Move the stop by 5 mm, repeat the operations.
Move the fence back again and make cuts all over the workpiece.

Secure the clamps to the rail with bolts and wing nuts.

1 - stopper; 2 - clamp-comb; 3 - protective shield; 4 - aluminum guide; 5 - nozzle for a vacuum cleaner

Sand the surfaces of parts, especially in places where workpieces will pass during the milling process. Clean the machine from dust and coat with oil.

1 — drawer for cutters; 2 - trapezoidal groove for stop

Summing up the project

Materials needed:

Plywood 19x1525x1525 mm - 2 sheets.
Plastic 4x30x30 mm.
Several dozen screws.
Aluminum guides - 2.3 m.
Wheel support with brake — 4 pcs.
Glue joiner's and epoxy.
Bolts M6 with nuts.

The ability to take your time and think through every step, accurately mark and cut blanks, or the desire to learn this, came in handy. The result is a solid milling table for little money. In the future, it is worth thinking about equipping the machine with a switch and a milling height adjustment mechanism.

If you set a goal and assemble a milling machine with your own hands, you can get at your disposal an effective device that allows you to perform many technological operations on metal and other materials. Serial models of such equipment have been well known for a long time, they are actively used in most manufacturing enterprises operating in various industries. Such machines are distinguished by a wide functionality that allows them to process workpieces made of metal, wood and a number of other materials.

Knowing all the advantages of such a device, many home craftsmen are wondering how, using affordable and inexpensive components. It should be said right away that it is possible to make such a machine, moreover, it is possible to additionally endow it with functions that are inherent not only in milling, but also in turning equipment.

The simplest in execution is a vertical type milling machine. You can assemble it on the basis of a hand drill, spending quite a bit of time and effort on it. In order to make a more functional mini-milling machine for your home workshop with your own hands, you must find other components and have a lot of time, but this task is quite solvable.

If you are going to make a milling machine for metal and wood with your own hands, it is very important to pay attention to the fact that the device should work on the same principle as serial equipment. To comply with this important requirement, you can read the drawings of serial equipment and watch a video of the process of the factory machine.

Milling tables are often called milling machines, but their designs are fundamentally different.

A milling table is often referred to as a milling machine. We will consider its device at the end of this article. But a separate detailed article is devoted to the manufacture of a home-made milling table, which can be found by clicking on the link below.

Tasks of milling equipment

Those who often work in their home workshop often need to process various products made of wood and metal. Not all operations with such products can be performed with only hand tools often require special equipment. Of course, you can contact the workshop, but you will need to pay for the services it provides.

It is in such situations that a home milling machine can help out, which every person who knows how to work with his hands can assemble. Having become the owner of such equipment, it will be possible to process blanks from both metal and wood on it. Depending on the availability of certain components at your disposal, you can make both the simplest home-made metal milling machine and a more complex device that already belongs to the turning-milling category.

As mentioned above, the simplest mini-machine is assembled on the basis of a conventional drill. The principle of operation of such equipment is similar to the operation of serial machines of this type. Despite the fact that the functionality of a mini-machine made on the basis of a drill is somewhat more modest than that of a more complex homemade equipment, and such a device in any home workshop will always find a use.

In order to make a more functional and complex desktop machine with your own hands, you will need a powerful electric motor, as well as a whole list of specific components. Such a machine, assembled according to all the rules, will allow you to perform quite complex technological operations at home: cut out products of complex configuration from metal and wood, process curved surfaces, select grooves, folds, slots, and much more.

Before you make a milling machine with your own hands, you should study the principle of operation of serial equipment, watch a video of its operation, draw up a drawing, prepare the required components and tools that will be needed to assemble your home machine.

Homemade milling machine: option number 1

Base Stand parts and spindle holder Vertical guide (sled) Vertical guide (rear view)
Connecting the base to the rack Connecting the base to the rack (rear view) Fixing the vertical rail to the rack Coordinate table G5757 "Proma" is installed on the base
lead screw coordinate table Spindle mounting platform (selected by the router) Base with stand, guide and table
Vise Motor mount Motor mount (side view) Drive belt

Homemade milling machine: option number 2

Homemade or manual milling cutter with self-made mechanisms for feeding the cutter and moving the desktop. Below is a video of the manufacturing stages with an analysis of the key elements. Namely: rack assembly, vertical rack carriage design, machine desktop drive.

The author explains the manufacturing process, which will later become a milling machine.

Analysis of the creation of a cutter feed system, as well as fastening a milling cutter (or drill) to a machine stand with the ability to change tools.

Disassembling the drive of the coordinate table to ensure the possibility of moving the workpiece relative to the cutter.

Design and principle of operation of the equipment

If you look at the drawing of a professional, you will notice that its design includes a wide variety of mechanisms and assemblies. The desktop home machine, unlike the serial one, has a simpler design, consisting of a limited set of required elements. Despite the simplicity of the system, a home-made milling machine is a fairly functional device and allows you to successfully solve many problems associated with processing metal and wood blanks.

One of the options for a homemade milling machine. The disadvantage is the insufficiently developed drill mount, but from here you can borrow the design of the frame

The basis of any such machine is the bed, which must be rigid and reliable in order to be able to withstand the necessary loads. The next important element of a home-made milling machine is the drive, the rotation from which will be transmitted to the working tool. Such a drive can be used hand drill or a separate electric motor with a sufficiently high power.

To place and fix workpieces that will be processed on such equipment, its design must necessarily include a work table with fastening elements for workpieces. Processing on both professional and home milling equipment is carried out using a special tool - a milling cutter with a sharply sharpened working part.

In the manufacture of a mini-machine for the home, you should not save on components. They should only be of high quality, as this directly affects the reliability and performance of your equipment.

The specifications that your home desktop machine will acquire will depend on a number of parameters. These include the dimensions of the desktop, as well as the allowable weight and dimensions of the workpieces that will be placed on it. An important factor affecting the performance and power of the equipment is the power of the drive installed on it and the maximum number of revolutions that it can provide.

Another option for a homemade milling machine

Milling table assembly process

It is necessary to start assembling a home-made machine for the home from the manufacture of the desktop - the most important structural part of the milling equipment. The desktop of a home machine can be made with your own hands from a sheet of plywood, plexiglass or sheet metal.

Of the consumables, you will need high-quality contact glue, double-sided tape and a lot of sandpaper. In addition, it will be necessary to purchase several clamps, hardware and a high-quality copy mill, which should be distinguished by maximum accuracy and have a sharp cutting surface. The technical capabilities of your desktop machine will largely depend on how high-quality a milling cutter you get.

Drawing of a milling machine made like a milling table (click to enlarge)

For the manufacture of milling equipment with your own hands, use the following instructions.

The first step in assembling a homemade machine is to make a cover. Plywood can be used as a material for it. A simple manufacturing process for this element is as follows: blanks of certain sizes are cut out of plywood, then they are interconnected.
The next stage in the assembly of a home mini-machine is the installation of fasteners, the installation of a router and other structural parts. Since you are engaged in the manufacture of milling equipment, all work should be done with increased accuracy and accuracy.
After assembling the desktop, you need to install the mounting plate on it. For this purpose, a recess is made in the surface of the desktop, the contours of which completely repeat the shape of the mounting plate. In such a recess, the mounting plate is fixed with double-sided tape. Further along the entire contour of the plate with a certain step, gaskets are laid, which are pressed against it with the help of clamps.
The working body of the machine itself - a copy milling cutter - is installed in bearing assemblies, the assembly of which should be given special attention.
All technological holes required on the surface of the desktop can be obtained using a conventional hand drill.
Your desktop mini-machine will have a series of wooden surfaces that need to be carefully sanded with sandpaper.
The next step in the manufacture of a home-made machine is the assembly of the base, which must be carried out in strict accordance with the previously prepared drawing.
Special attention when assembling the machine, you should pay attention to the process of mounting the stop and clamping comb.

Anyone who works more or less seriously with wood sooner or later comes to the conclusion that it is impossible to obtain a high-quality product without milling. But for a decent household milling machine for woodworking, you will hardly have to pay less than 20 thousand rubles. Will these costs pay off and when? Will the selected unit be adapted to your most common milling operations and to what extent? Solving such questions is speculatively extremely difficult and far from always possible. The way out is to make a wood milling machine with your own hands. This will at least make it possible to understand exactly what this or that machine can do and what you can do with it. Perhaps the need to buy will disappear - a homemade product made for oneself will be handed over for years. The material of this article is intended to lead the reader to just such a turn of events.

What to do?

For processing materials, dozens of different milling operations and at least a dozen types of machines for them are used. At home, not all of their designs are repeatable by beginners and intermediate craftsmen. 2nd and 3rd coordinate machines with CNC (2D and 3D wood routers) are not considered in this article. It is possible to make a 2D or 3D router on your own (pos. 1 in the figure below), but already having quite a lot of experience working on simple machine, a significant volume of orders and an urgent need for sharp increase labor productivity. At the same time, you will have to master the programming of microcontrollers, because. finished samples are designed for a machine of a well-defined design; there will also be considerable costs for stepper motors and precision drive parts.

To begin with, at home, you can make a home-made milling machine of any of the following. varieties:

Horizontal (pos. 2 in the figure).
Vertical (pos. 3).
Flat copy with pantograph (2D duplicarver, pos. 4).
Machine for volumetric copying (3D duplikarver, pos. 5).

Tool…

The choice of a machine of one type or another is determined, of course, by the work operations most used by the master. To specify their nomenclature, you must first decide which working bodies (milling cutters) you will need the most. Most of them are applicable both in horizontal and in vertical machine.

Shell cutters (pos. 1 in the figure) process preim. straight edges of the boards: cut out grooves and ridges (including shaped ones) in full length, induce a molding (shaped chamfer). The spindle assembly of the machine for shell cutters (see below) is structurally the most simple; its parts can be machined by a turner of the 3rd category. The required drive power for a processing depth of up to 60 mm from 1.5 kW. The quality of the material is almost any, starting from raw right from under the sawmill from the sawmill. The most suitable for shell cutters is a vertical wood router, see for example. Below is a video in 4 parts:

Video: homemade wood milling machine with shell cutters

Mills with a cylindrical shank (landing, landing) are much more varieties, because. their functionality is wider. But for such a cutter, it will be necessary to grind a spindle nozzle with a Morse taper under the chuck; it is also possible to use ready-made spindle assemblies from drilling machine.

End mills, e.g. Forstner cutter (pos. 2 in the figure above) is a specialized tool; they choose round holes with a flat bottom in thin boards with decorative coating that cannot be spoiled. Have you ever hung doors on furniture? The holes for their loops were chosen precisely by the Forstner cutter. The quality of the material is no worse than straight-layered wood of the 1st grade of chamber drying. Required drive power from 150 watts. They work with end mills only on a vertical machine or, with a certain skill, manually.

Note: it’s quite possible to choose a Forstner cutter in a 170 W screwdriver for holes D32 for door hinges in furniture chipboard 16 mm thick, it’s quite possible, I did it myself.

End (finger) cutter, pos. 3, can be threaded into both horizontal and vertical spindles. With end mills, blind grooves are selected (not the entire length of the board) and spikes are cut out for carpentry tenon-groove joints. It is more convenient to work with an end mill on horizontal machine. On a vertical one, it is possible to choose long grooves (grooves) of a rectangular profile on the faces of boards and beams. Tapered end mills (key 4) are also specialized tools for preparing parts for dovetail joining. Work with conical end mills only on a vertical machine. For those and others, the required drive power to a processing depth of up to 80-100 mm is from 1 kW. The quality of the material is from industrial wood of the 2nd grade of air drying (from the timber exchange).

End shaped (curly) cutters, pos. 5, also a specialized but highly sought-after tool. They are used to make a mold (including on curved edges) and select shaped grooves (decorative grooves) of any configuration in the faces of the boards. Drive power from 1.2-1.5 kW; material quality requirements are the same as for face mills. For edge processing, the shaped cutter can be threaded into both horizontal and vertical spindles; for work on layers only in vertical.

Cone cutters (burrs, pos. 6) can also select shaped grooves and induce molding both on a horizontal and vertical machine, but in general they special tool for copy milling machines. The requirements for material quality are high, as for face mills, but the drive power in the copier can be from 250-300 watts.

And, finally, with a circular cutter (pos. 7) in a vertical milling or drilling machine, large-diameter round holes are cut out in almost any not excessively thick material (including sheet metal). Required drive power per hole D200 in 60 mm thick oak plank approx. 2-2.5 kW.

…and its presentation

Milling can be done in two ways: counter and passing, see fig. below. As for wood, ordinary straight-grained wood (especially of not very high quality air-drying) is milled only along the way, otherwise the cutter can very well split and / or ruffle the workpiece. But in this case, with an excessive feed rate, there is a considerable probability of the workpiece being withdrawn by the cutter and damage to the processing profile. Removal of dust, sawdust and chips from the working area (and this serious problem) on a vertical milling machine with climb milling is difficult, because the dust collector (see below) has to be placed in the field of view in front of the cutter and it obscures the working area.

Note: on a horizontal milling machine, there are no problems with the removal of processing waste during climb milling, because dust (sawdust) then fly down, and the dust collector socket can be placed directly on the machine plate (see pos. 2 in the figure at the beginning and further).

Up milling gives the best accuracy and cleanliness of processing, but only on sufficiently high-quality and homogeneous materials. From wood - on solid small-layer wood of chamber drying. At the same time, the removal of processing waste on a vertical milling machine is facilitated, but on a horizontal one it is difficult - dust and sawdust fly up. The removal of the workpiece is almost unbelievable, but there is a danger of biting it with a cutter. A behavioral profile can often be modified; bitten and broken workpiece unconditional marriage.

Motor

Based on the foregoing, it is optimal to do a do-it-yourself milling machine with a drive with a power of 1.5-2 kW. The reason is that motors up to such power are produced, incl. asynchronous with capacitor start for voltage 220 V 50 Hz. They can be plugged into a regular household outlet, and switching the direction of rotation is a child's task for an amateur electrician; rotation speed is 700-2850 rpm, which is suitable for milling. It is also possible to use an electric motor of the same type from washing machine; in this case, it becomes possible to switch the rotation speed (there are different windings for this in asynchronous washing machine motors). A 2 kW motor will provide a processing depth of up to 80-100 mm; if you need a larger one, you will have to put a three-phase motor at 380 V 50 Hz from 3 kW into the machine, see for example. video clip:

Video: homemade vertical milling machine for wood

Note: collector electric motors for 1.5-2 kW 220 V 50/60 Hz (for example, from another washing machine or vacuum cleaner) are not suitable for driving a milling machine - due to their excessively soft external characteristics, the cutter can get stuck in wood, tear and shaggy it (if damp).

What is the best wood router

Now we know enough to choose the horizontal or vertical axis of rotation of the machine spindle. Comparative performance characteristics horizontal and vertical milling machines for wood are summarized in the table:

Horizontal or vertical?

From the data in Table. it follows that it makes sense to do a horizontal wood router on your own if you are faced with the need for mass simple processing of lumber from raw materials of low quality. Not necessarily for sale; possibly for cladding wooden siding or clapboard of your house. The savings will be such that it is just right to buy a branded router, but a normal developer does not have extra money. Or, let's say, still for sale, if you are an individual entrepreneur with a sawmill and a circular saw. Compare market prices for unedged and tongue-and-groove boards, calculate the profitability - is the game worth the candle?

Details for the most complex module of a horizontal wood router - a spindle assembly - will be made by any skilled turner similarly to the same circular saw assembly; structurally, they are the same (see the drawings in the figure; plain bearings are highlighted in red).

Cabinet, dust collector and base plate are the same as for the vertical machine (see below). The plate is even simpler - no cutout is needed to hang the motor with vibration damping. Own vibrations of a horizontal milling cutter are an order of magnitude smaller than those of a vertical one. The transmission from the motor to the spindle further reduces them, and pulleys or sprockets for it can be found in their own trash or in the iron market. In a quite decent horizontal milling machine for wood, you can also convert cash circular saw, see e.g. video:

Video: milling machine from circular / planer

Making vertical

A vertical wood milling machine has a lot of great functionality and provides a better quality of material processing than a horizontal one. It is vertical milling machines that are built most of all by home-made amateurs. However, the problem of dealing with vibrations in a vertical milling machine is much more acute. If in a horizontal milling cutter vibrations through the sole of the spindle assembly are given preference. down and are effectively damped, re-reflecting in the thickness of the material, then in a vertical machine the elastic waves in the machine plate propagate mainly to the sides. In this case, their inertia and the occurrence of standing waves with antinodes (foci) of such a magnitude that the workpiece is thrown away from the cutter are possible. Therefore, one of the main tasks of designing a homemade router is to suppress machine vibrations.

Structural scheme

The least susceptible to vibration are vertical milling machines with a lower drive of a free (fixed only from below) cutter. The working body is mounted directly on the motor shaft. The entire drive is made as vibration-resistant as possible. Under the influence of the beats of the cutter on the inhomogeneities of the workpiece, the drive staggers, swaying. At the same time, a noticeable transverse (vertical) component appears in the elastic waves, which is effectively absorbed by the frame, and a heavy motor with a massive, rapidly rotating rotor plays the role of an inertial absorber of mechanical vibrations.

The device of industrial and home-made home vertical milling machines for wood is shown in the figure:

Their main difference is in the folding (lifting) stop 7. Since drives of 5 kW or more with high-performance milling cutters are not used in amateur designs, the folding stop is replaced by a lifting stop that prevents the workpiece from being extruded upwards from the cutter. Also, for an amateur machine, an adapter adapter with a Morse cone on the motor shaft is machined to order, the same as for a home-made drilling machine. A standard clamping chuck for a cylindrical shank is mounted on the cone. In this version, it is also possible to use shell cutters: adapters for them with a cylindrical shank are commercially available or are included in the set of cutters. The most important structural components of such a machine are:

Base plate - the main damper of longitudinal (horizontal) elastic waves in the machine;
Vibration-damping drive board;
Comb stops (emphasis) - dampen vertical vibrations of the workpiece;
Static side stand - provides correct delivery blanks, and homemade machine also some adjustment of the cutter exit (horizontal processing depth);
Dust collector - removes processing waste into a dust collector.

The latter is absolutely necessary when milling, because. wood dust, sawdust and shavings, the cutter gives several times more than they are formed during sawing. The base plate is most often made integral with the vibration damping suspension of the drive. The curbstone (bed) can be any, if only the plate with the rest of the parts did not crash down.

Drive plate and hanger

The window (opening) for hanging the drive from the machine plate is most often cut out square (see the figure on the right), so it’s easier at home. But the machine in operation will tremble much less if the drive window is made round. In any case, the motor must not directly touch the plate (again, see the figure on the right), otherwise, instead of damping the vibrations, they will be strengthened.

The best materials for the plate and drive board are fibrous laminates: textolite, fiberglass with a thickness of 12-15 mm; the thicker the better. Hardboard and other massive plastics are less suitable: they dampen vibrations well, but over time they warp from heating by the motor and the machine loses accuracy. Getinaks and other thermosetting laminates are unsuitable: they exfoliate very quickly due to vibrations.

However, making the whole plate whole is both impossible and impractical: it is difficult, expensive, the vibrations of the drive itself will be freely transmitted to the plate. Only the motor board needs to be made of plastic, and the plate - from impregnated with a vibration-absorbing compound and re-glued plywood, and low-grade construction and packaging will do. It is necessary to re-glue the slab from at least 5 sheets so that the fibers of the outer layers of the neighboring ones are oriented mutually perpendicular.

Cutting pattern standard sheet plywood 1550x1550x4 mm on sheets for the base plate of a wood milling machine is given on the left in fig. Sheets for the plate of a horizontal router are cut out without windows for the motor, but with a dust collector socket (see above and below). Plate size up to 750x500 mm. A flash of 50 mm along the contour of the sheet is needed to cut off poor quality material along the edges.

At first, the sheet is abundantly impregnated 2-3 times on each side with building eco-primer (water-polymer emulsion), it perfectly dampens vibrations. The interval between impregnations is at least 3.5 hours. Then the sheet is cut out, a plastic film is spread on the floor (not PVC, it will stick!). Sheet No. 1 is placed on the film and with a brush (better - with a “shaggy” paint roller) a thin even layer of mounting (reinforced) PVA is applied to it; the same layer - on the adjacent side of sheet No. 2. The brush (roller and its tray) immediately after applying the glue is thrown into a bucket of water, and after all the gluing is completed, it is washed in water.

Before folding, the sheets are kept for 15-20 minutes (or according to the instructions on the adhesive package), folded and adjusted without separating them so that the edges of the drive window fit exactly. Then sheets No. 3, 4 and 5 are glued in the same way. The whole package is covered with a film and loaded over the entire area with a dispersed load of 30-40 kg (it is best to pile more books or magazine binders). Dry for at least 3 days room temperature: mounting PVA is durable, its adhesive layer is viscous and perfectly absorbs vibrations, but it takes a long time to dry to full strength.

The design of the motor suspension is shown in the section on the right in fig. Between the motor board and the machine plate, you need to leave a gap of 0.5-1 mm. It is not necessary to clean sawdust from it: they will be an additional side vibration-damping cushion. It is advisable to find a motor with mounting paws protruding beyond the body size: then it will be possible to set (not quickly) the cutter extension upwards. To install the cutter in height, the motor mounting screws are taken long, and the takeaway itself is exposed, putting on them, between the rubber suspension cushion and the motor housing, steel washers alternately with gaskets from the same chambered truck rubber.

The plate with a suspension is checked for workmanship with a pencil. If you put it sticking out 5 cm from the edge of the suspension board, then with the engine turned on, Idling the pencil must not fall.

Stop and dust collector

A drawing of a simple but good static side stop with a dust collector socket, see the following. rice. Material - re-glued plywood from the same sheet. Holes for comb and lifting stops are drilled in 3-5 pieces: the first 50 mm from the edges of the cutout for the cutter (rectangular); the rest after 25-30 mm. The position of the stops is selected depending on the size of the workpiece and the quality of its material. Lateral removal of the cutter within a small range is regulated by turning the stop and fixing it with a clamp.

dust collector

Since there is no industrial pneumatic system with air extraction at home, it is necessary to suck out the milling dust household vacuum cleaner. If you connect it directly to the nozzle of the dust collector, the necessary expensive household appliance will soon fail. An expensive, well-cleaning vacuum cleaner with a hydraulic trap, most likely immediately. So, in addition to the dust collector, a homemade wood router also needs a dust collector, through which the vacuum cleaner is connected.

The dust collector device for the milling machine is shown in fig. on right. Capacity - round in plan from 10-15 liters (preferably from 20 liters). Perfect option- a household bucket with a tight lid, planted on a seal and equipped with cap latches (both are quite doable with your own hands).

The inlet pipe is approx. 20 mm (on the inside). Its end is beveled 45 degrees and rotated 20-30 degrees outward; is installed 15-20 mm from the side of the vessel (counting from the outer edge of the nozzle). Exhaust outlet wider, approx. 30 mm on the inside; installed exactly along the vertical axis of the container. Its selective end is narrowed to 15-20 mm (the taper is not critical). Everything together works like a cyclone, and the air goes into the vacuum cleaner clean enough not to spoil the device.

Note: additional advantage dust collector - the dust from it is an excellent filler for high-quality wood putty. For her, the dust is mixed with PVA (3-4): 1 by volume.

Comb

A drawing of a comb stop of a wood milling machine is given on the next. rice. Material - solid elastic small-layer wood (oak, beech, walnut) without defects - streaks, rot, slant, knots - 20 mm thick. Combs need a pair, right and left, so that the workpiece can be fed from either side.

The first comb tooth along the workpiece (pay attention!) is shortened by 3 mm. It does not directly contact the workpiece, but serves as a rebound spring for the entire ridge. Without it, the comb can pinch on the workpiece and break.

Fastening combs to the side stop - with a bolt with a wing nut through a longitudinal groove (slotted hole in the figure); fixation with a non-working self-tapping screw to the same stop through the hole D7. In the working position, the comb is placed so that it touches the workpiece with all teeth except the first, and is fixed with a lamb.

Making a copy cutter

Copying on wood by milling a workpiece is a very delicate matter. The principle of 2- and 3-coordinate (2D and 3D) copying is the same: the copier probe outlines the contour of a flat sample (template) or drives along the surface of a volumetric one. The cutter of the milling head exactly repeats the movements of the probe, removing excess wood from the workpiece. You need to drive the probe carefully and slowly, sensitively feeling the resistance of the material: the workpiece is not out of thin air. It is better to start mastering wood copying with 2D. In this way, it is already possible to make good money: flat decorative parts with a moulding, induced on a router, are in good demand, and are made quite quickly. But for both 2D and 3D copying, you will need a special milling head.

Head

Copy milling heads are commercially available separately, but are expensive. You can replace the branded head with a drill without an impact mechanism: “grooving” drills are unsuitable for copying due to design features from the spindle assembly. To begin with, any drill or screwdriver will do, but it is better to purchase a tool with increased accuracy. Such a drill is more expensive than a conventional one, but much cheaper than a milling head, and in terms of work quality it is not inferior to it. It is easy to recognize an accurate drill by its appearance: on the neck of its body there is a metal collar for installation in the bed of a drilling machine under a drill.

2D

For 2D copying on wood, machines with a pantograph, desktop and hinged, are used. It is easier to make a desktop pantograph machine with your own hands, but it will be difficult to achieve copying accuracy better than 1 mm. On a machine with a hinged pantograph, you can literally draw and leave autographs on the workpiece.

The device of 2D copy-milling machines for wood is shown in Fig: on the left of the desktop; on the right with a hinged pantograph. The last in essence engraving machine. The probe here and there is needle-shaped with a tip radius of approx. 0.5 mm (in engraving up to 0.1 mm or less). Mill cone conical; by setting it to a different offset in the head chuck, the width and depth of the selected groove are adjusted.

Do you need a scale?

Drawing and drawing pantographs are made scaling (see Fig.). Wood copying is usually done on a scale of 1:1. The fact is that due to the resistance of the material, the copying error on wood increases greatly due to backlash in the hinges; a professional engraving machine is a complex precision expensive unit. But if the copy pantograph is set to a scale of 1:1, there is interesting phenomenon: the beats in the hinges, as it were, compensate each other, and the total error due to backlash increases slightly.

3D

3-axis milling and copying machines (duplicarvers) are quite active in the tool market despite high prices. On a duplicarver, you can make copies of a three-dimensional sample (not necessarily wooden; for example, stucco), which, in the opinion of the average consumer, are not inferior to the original in terms of artistic merit.

The device of the factory duplicarver is shown on the left in fig. Its copier (milling cutter + probe) has 4 degrees of freedom: swing up and down, back and forth, turn in a vertical plane, move left and right. It would be possible to do without an “extra” degree of freedom in comparison with the number of geometric dimensions of the copied figure if the movements of the copier along all three axes were rectilinear (as in CNC machines), but this is technically difficult and expensive. The same degrees of freedom can be implemented in a different kinematic scheme used in most homemade duplicarvers (center in the figure).

Experienced copiers work with a cylindrical probe and cutter. At the same time, the template is surrounded by the very edge of the probe (the annular face of its lower end); it turns out to be working and acc. cutter edge. The sample and the workpiece are fixed in exactly the same position on exactly the same supports. In the process of work, they have to be laid on their side and turned upside down, each time fixing the stands in a precisely defined position relative to each other. In this way it is indeed possible to exactly copy the complexity figure as on the left in fig.

It is better for beginner copiers to learn business on less complex samples, using a spherical probe and cutter, on the right in fig. The probe needs to be sharpened to order. "Micron" precision is not required; instead of a sphere, a drop can hang at the end of the probe. But the tip of the probe must be sanded at home with fine sandpaper and polished with felt or leather with alcohol and GOI paste. The diameter of the cutter is taken equal to the diameter of the probe tip, otherwise the contours on the left and right (top and bottom) will not converge. The handle of the probe is also better turned from pear-shaped wood; with a probe from a screwdriver with a ribbed plastic handle, the “recoil” of the workpiece material feels much worse.

Errors in design

There are three main mistakes in the designs of homemade duplicarvers. The first is insufficient balancing of the mechanism. The copier within the working area should move easily and freeze from the position in which it was left. The second is a copier on a rod instead of a U-shaped frame, pos. And in fig. The torsional rigidity of the rod is an order of magnitude (ki) less than the frame; resp. the error of copying also increases. The third is a “hanging” horizontal copier bar, pos. B; here the insufficient rigidity of the bar free at one end for bending is already affecting.

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