Milling table allows you to significantly increase the efficiency and productivity of work. There are many models available for sale for a wide variety of hand routers. However the price finished products very overpriced. It is much more profitable and interesting to assemble the table with your own hands. You don’t need any expensive materials or difficult-to-use tools for this.
The milling table can be installed on a workbench or on a specially assembled separate table. The product must have a rigid structure and good stability, because During operation, a very noticeable vibration will be created. Be sure to take into account the fact that the router will be installed from below the countertop and absolutely nothing should interfere with it. None additional elements are not installed there.
The design of a homemade table includes a mounting plate, due to which the router will be attached directly to the table. Use durable material to create the plate High Quality: plywood, textolite, sheet metal, etc.
A recess is created on top of the tabletop for the plate. The plate itself is fixed using self-tapping screws with a hidden head. The router is secured with screws with the same hidden head. Additional fixation of the plate can be done using clamps.
To conveniently turn on the router, a button is attached to the table. Additionally, it is recommended to install an emergency shutdown button of the mushroom type. If you have to work with large workpieces, equip the table with upper clamping devices. For even greater convenience and accuracy, the table is equipped with a ruler.
For self-assembly For a router table you will need the following tools:
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Explore your workshop and choose a location to install your future router table. Determine the most suitable product design. Tables are:
If your router table will be used infrequently, or you have to work outside the workshop, opt for a portable option. If you have enough space, create a separate table. For greater convenience, it can be equipped with wheels, which will allow you to “move” to another place if necessary.
You can assemble a small structure and install it on an ordinary table. You can take chipboard suitable size and install a guide on it. Guide in in this case is a board of relatively small thickness, secured with bolts.
Take 2 clamps. Make a hole for the cutter. This will complete the main work. However, if the machine is your main working tool, you need to approach the process more thoroughly and create a convenient and reliable table, which will be comfortable to spend time with.
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The bed is the stationary part of any milling table. At its core, it is a frame on supports with a table top on top. The material of the frame is not particularly important. Suitable for wood, metal, chipboard, MDF. The main thing is to ensure the required rigidity and maximum stability. The dimensions of the bed are also not critical. Select them taking into account the size of materials you most often have to process.
The lower part of the bed should be deepened by 10-20 cm in relation to the front overhang of the tabletop. Dimensions, as already noted, select to suit your needs. For example, for processing the ends of facade blanks and door trims you can make a bed 150 cm wide, 90 cm high, 50 cm deep.
Very important characteristic in this case is the height. The optimal value is 85-90 cm. It’s good if you can equip the frame adjustable feet. They will allow you to compensate for uneven floor surfaces and change the height of the milling table if the need arises.
To make a homemade table, you can take an ordinary kitchen countertop made of chipboard. A 26 or 36 mm thick plate with a wear-resistant plastic coating is used. Thanks to the plastic, the workpiece will slide well on the tabletop, and the chipboard will take on the task of dampening vibration. As a last resort, you can use laminated chipboard or MDF with a thickness of at least 16 mm.
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A mounting plate must be fixed near the place where the router sole is attached. The best is considered durable and at the same time thin material. Most often used sheet metal. A more convenient and equally durable option is textolite (fiberglass). Usually this is a rectangular plate 4-8 mm thick. It is necessary to prepare a hole in the center of such a plate. Its diameter should be the same as the diameter of the hole in the base of the router.
The milling cutter sole is usually equipped with standard threaded holes necessary to secure the plastic cover. Thanks to these holes, the router is fixed to the mounting plate. If there are no holes initially, make them yourself. You can use another method of attaching the router, for example, with metal clamps. Holes for securing the plate are created closer to its corners.
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First you need to secure the tabletop to the finished frame. A plate is placed on a pre-selected place on the tabletop. Take a pencil and trace its contours. Next you need to take manual frezer with a 6-10 mm cutter and select a seat for the mounting plate in the countertop. It should lie flush, i.e. create a perfectly flat surface with the tabletop, as if it were a single whole.
U seat There should be slightly rounded corners. You can round them using a file. After adding the mounting plate, take a cutter with a thickness slightly greater than the thickness of the tabletop, and make through holes in the tabletop exactly according to the shape of the router sole. You don’t have to try too hard; perfect accuracy is not required at this stage. At the bottom of the tabletop you need to make an additional cut for the dust collector casing and other accessories that you plan to equip your milling table with.
The work is almost complete, you just need to assemble everything into a single product. Place the router from underneath and screw it to the plate. Secure the plate to the tabletop with self-tapping screws. The screw caps must be recessed, otherwise they will interfere with the work process. Finally screw the tabletop to the frame.
In order to increase convenience and safety, you can equip the design with an upper pressure roller device. This addition will be especially useful when processing large workpieces, such as door trims. The design of the clamp does not have any complex elements, so you can make and install it yourself without any problems.
A ball bearing can be used as a roller the right size. The bearing is installed in a holding fixture. The device itself must be firmly fixed at the required distance from the surface of your countertop. This way you will ensure constant tight pressure of the workpiece being processed to the surface of the tabletop as the product passes under the roller. Thanks to this, the accuracy and safety of the work performed will be increased.
Usually, to perform some new work, new tools are required. As a programmer, I am very familiar with this, since for many years I have had to create libraries and write utilities for each new task. These are the very tools with which solving the following problems becomes simpler and easier. This is probably true in many areas, except those where you have to create everything from scratch, using only knowledge and skills. (Maybe this is why I don’t really like to draw, for example, because I’m used to using previous developments).
I finally finished my router table. (It took 7 evenings to create). At first I thought of buying a ready-made one, but the ones I found for affordable money and suitable for my work did not suit me at all. And I decided to make it myself using the hand router that I had Caliber FE-650E.
A milling table is a very useful handicraft tool. I hadn’t thought much about this before, but if you look around in any house, you can see many objects that have been processed on the milling table: window frames, furniture doors, picture frames, wooden skirting boards, door frames, trims, etc.
First, as usual, I modeled it in a 3D program. I didn’t copy someone else’s table, but developed a model for myself, having seen a bunch of ready-made similar milling tables on the internet. The idea is general, the essence is the same, the details differ, because... everyone realizes it for themselves, using what they have and what they are capable of.
The side stop has slotted grooves and can move back and forth and is fixed in the desired position with two wings. A chip discharger is connected to the angle stop. (The milling cutter produces a lot of chips during operation) If required, the side stop can be easily removed and replaced with other devices or nothing at all.
The stop has two doors that can move apart and slide depending on the size of the cutter. The position of each door is fixed with thumbs.
A regular vacuum cleaner hose is connected to the chip discharger.
This router model did not have fine depth adjustment. It was necessary to press on the router and use a clamp to catch the desired depth. (It should be noted that this is terribly inconvenient. You have to struggle with rearranging the depth several times to get to the right one)
I modified the frame by adding a so-called “elevator”.
I drilled the frame and installed an adjusting screw with a high nut (in the picture in the center). By tightening the nut, you can smoothly adjust the depth.
This is how the depth is adjusted: set the desired value on the square, and use a wrench to lift the cutter until it stops against the square.
The only remaining inconvenience is that this procedure requires two hands. You need to press the depth lock on the router with one hand and turn the nut with the other. I have a solution, but haven't had time to implement it yet. When I do it, I can adjust the depth with one hand. And the clamp to hold the corner will no longer be needed.
note that top part The side support is specially designed so that various devices can be attached to it.
In general, there are ready-made sites for the manufacture of milling tables on sale. There are some with holes for specific models of the router, and there are universal ones in which you can drill holes for your model yourself. The platforms are quite expensive (1500-5000 rubles) and are much larger in size than required for my mini-table.
I made my own platform for the router from plexiglass (6mm), removing the original one plastic platform from the router bed.
Fitting the glass to the window.
First samples.
The stand for the cutters is processed by the cutter on the left. I processed the planks for her
By the way, a cutter with a roller does not require a side stop. This way you can process the edges on a bare table, although it is still more convenient to have another point of emphasis, especially when processing cylindrical workpieces.
What I have left to finish:
- Cut a couple of glasses to install larger diameter cutters.
- Make clamping devices that are installed on the side stop and table top, ensuring tight pressure of the workpiece to the cutter.
- Improve the convenient key that regulates the depth of the cutter.
- Workpiece advance limiters (on the side stop).
- Special paw-pushers for the workpiece (A router is a dangerous tool. If I seriously injure my hands, it will be especially bad for me, because after that I will not be able to play most musical instruments).
- Special stop for working with edge cutters.
- Angular stop with a protractor, a device that allows you to move the workpiece at a certain angle using a rail.
- Sleds for feeding the workpiece along the table at a right angle.
- A device for cutting "box joints".
- Trap container for chips. (The original vacuum cleaner bag gets clogged very quickly)
- Well, and some other little things.
I hope that this post will be found by those who may find it useful.
Other interesting posts about my homemade tools:
The owner of a private house has to do a lot of repairs and improve his living conditions. A milling table will be an excellent solution for the manufacture of various parts and devices made of wood, as it ensures accuracy and good quality processing of workpieces.
The table is the main base of the machine. The working part of the equipment is a milling cutter, a part with several cutting blades. With her help in wooden blanks do various types grooves, channels, windows (vertical recesses), oval profile bevels and much more. Milling – mechanical restoration workpieces with a multi-blade tool. Milling cutter, in addition rotational movement, makes translational movements. Bed with table top for processing wooden products called a milling table (FS).
Correct installation of the router in the table depends on the impeccable design of the bed. The working surface of the machine is located on the bed. A milling cutter is attached to the plate from below and moves along a vertical axis. The workpiece is fixed in the transverse direction with a special device - a parallel stop for the milling table.
The principle of operation of the FS can be compared to how a circular saw works. Wood material is pushed onto a rotating blade body installed in a stationary position for processing.
To make the FS you will need the following materials:
The drawing shows the dimensions of the parts, which can be adjusted in each case of individual design of the FS. This homemade table for a manual milling machine - an example of the most primitive FS design. Homemade designs FS can be made from other materials. It all depends on the capabilities and qualifications of the person who took on such work.
Let's consider the structural features of the FS parts:
The supporting part of the machine can be made of wooden beam or welded from metal profile. The required drawing of the frame is presented below.
Under the FS you can use an ordinary workbench. But you need to know that during operation of the power unit strong vibrations will occur. If the workbench is not stable enough, you should make a special supporting structure. The main load is transferred from the working platform down to the machine support. Therefore, the bed must have a lot of weight.
The working area of the table is the table top. It is better to make it from PCB with a thickness of 20-30 mm. Why choose textolite? This is explained by the fact that the entire process of processing workpieces is associated with the sliding of parts along the working surface of the table. Textolite differs from other materials in its high degree of wear resistance and low coefficient of friction. A tabletop made of such material will not harm the solid surface of the workpiece and will last for many years.
Instead of textolite, a steel plate with a thickness of 6 mm or more can be used as a working platform for the table.
The plate for the router is made of textolite or metal sheet. A hole is made in the plate into which metal rings are inserted. Rings with different diameters are inserted into each other. The ring inserts are flush with the surface of the table top.
What are the rings for? They ensure that the cutter fits tightly into the body of the workpiece. Different size rings correspond to different diameters cutting elements.
Since the router is attached to the bottom of the tabletop, the FS design creates free space below. Installation and maintenance of the power plant should not be difficult due to cramped conditions at the bottom of the machine.
The universal power unit that drives the cutter is called a milling cutter. It can be done using any suitable electric motor. But this is within the power of a person with great experience work in this field of activity. The best option would be to purchase a ready-made manual router.
A manual milling cutter is a multifunctional unit. Power tools perform a wide variety of operations. It is mainly used for processing wooden blanks.
However, holding the tool in your hands and at the same time trying to fix a wooden part is very difficult. This will not bring the desired result. So that the production of parts takes place with high accuracy, the router is fixed on a special table.
The base of the router has threaded holes. The holes are used for fastening the tool with screws to a plate built into the FS tabletop.
Table tops and plates on milling tables must be located strictly in the same horizontal plane. The mounting screws on the plate are screwed into countersunk holes. Nothing should protrude or stick on the working surface of the FS.
If there are no mounting holes in the router body, you can cut them yourself. To attach the plate to the tabletop, a sample of material is taken from below. If the working platform is made of steel sheet, then the metal plate is equipped with special fasteners.
On professional machines To move the router vertically, a special device is installed - an elevator.
With some skill, you can adapt a jack or other lever as an elevator lifting mechanism. The best option would be to purchase a ready-made elevator from a retail chain. The main thing in the design of the lifting mechanism is to ensure reliable fixation of the unit at a particular height. The conical arrangement of the cutting elements of the cutter allows, at a certain height of the protrusion above the working surface of the FS, to regulate the depth and width of the opening in the body of the workpiece.
The guide rail is made from a duralumin profile. You can use aluminum tracks used in furniture to move sliding cabinet doors as a guide rail. A cut is made under the rail using a hand router. The guide track should be placed parallel to the opposite thrust wall.
At the ends of the tabletop, aluminum tracks are installed on both sides, along which the frame structure with stop strips moves. A ruler is attached parallel to the track at the end. The ruler can be made from a regular tape measure.
The stop bars act as lateral support for the workpieces. They are located on both sides of the milling head. To protect the operator's eyes from chips, the gap between the slats is covered with transparent plastic.
WITH outside a suction nozzle is mounted above the milling head. It is connected to a vacuum cleaner while the machine is operating. Thanks to this, wood dust and shavings are effectively removed from the work area.
The lower part of the movable stop is inserted into the guide track. The stand moves freely along the FS. With its vertical wall, the device rests against the base of the workpiece. By pressing the stop, the machine operator moves the part along the table during milling.
The clamps are made of plastic. They keep the workpiece from involuntary displacement of the part in the vertical and horizontal plane. The clamps are mounted on a special stand.
Rotary table for milling machine is quite complex technical device. The rotary FS allows you to set the angle of inclination of the workpiece. This occurs due to the ability of the working surface of the table to move in different directions. CNC-equipped machines have the ability to produce parts with round and spiral configurations.
Manually controlled FSs perform various roundings and allow processing curved surfaces of parts. The most common diameter of the FS is from 300 to 600 mm. Swivel mechanism moves the working surface of the table both in the horizontal plane and in the transverse-longitudinal and vertical-horizontal planes.
The horizontal-vertical rotating platform ensures the processing of high-quality workpieces. The vertical-horizontal working platform makes it possible to perform circular processing of parts and form screw channels on the surface of products.
Rotary tables are used for processing steel parts and workpieces made of other metals.
Only highly qualified specialists can make a turning machine with their own hands. It is beneficial to have a machine of this design when implementing entrepreneurial activity. For one-time work, it is not economically profitable to maintain a rotary FS on your farm.
Below is a video demonstrating simple diagram FS structures. Assembling such equipment is quite accessible to a person with experience in carpentry.
The milling table is equipped electric tool. When operating the machine, you must observe following conditions safety precautions:
Currently, milling equipment is especially popular. The essence of this type of material processing is that the cutter processes a workpiece that is fixed motionless, that is, the tool itself rotates, but the workpiece does not. However, this is not always convenient if we're talking about about a hand router. A hand router table is an excellent solution to this problem. You can make a structure that will allow you to move the workpiece, and the hand router itself will be fixed permanently. The question arises, how to make a table for a hand router with your own hands.
Of course, you can try to search already ready-made solution, but this will be quite difficult to do, since a hand router is a specific tool. You can make such a table with your own hands quite simply. However, first you need to decide on its design.
You can make a table for a manual router with your own hands in three types:
If we talk about the portable version, then it is ideal for a manual router. Such a table can be used not only directly in the workshop, but also dragged to any other convenient place.
If we are talking about working in limited space, as well as in permanent place, That stationary option looks preferable. It will be possible to perform not only operations using a manual milling cutter, but also a lot of other actions. For example, sawing workpieces.
Drawing of a milling table with a milling lift.
If the first two options are not suitable, you need to choose the third.
Before you make a table for a hand router with your own hands, you need to clearly understand what main parts it consists of. There must be a bed, a tabletop, a mounting plate, and stops. These are the parts that are included in any table for a manual router. The easiest option is to use a ready-made table. You just need to attach additional parts to it. Here you will have to make stops, clamps and think over the fastening method.
However, it is worth taking a closer look at the process from the very beginning so that there are no questions about how to make a table for a manual router with your own hands.
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The bed is integral part any table for a router. Moreover, this applies not only to the manual version, but also to the ordinary one. The bed consists of two parts - a frame and a tabletop.
For work you will need MDF or chipboard, as well as metal profiles and wood.
It is the metal profile that provides simple assembly the entire structure. Here all joints are not welded together, but are fastened using bolted connections. In this case, the connections are reliable and, if necessary, easy to disassemble.
As for the dimensions of the bed, they are selected depending on the size of the parts that will most often be processed on it. In order to avoid mistakes, it is worth acquiring a drawing. All overall and geometric dimensions should be indicated on it.
List of materials and parts for making a milling table.
As for the height of the bed, it should be optimal for the work. It is best to choose a height from 0.8 to 1 m. However, everything depends mainly on the height of the person who will have to work with a hand router. To avoid your feet touching the bottom of the table while working, you should make it recessed in relation to the top part. In this case, all problems of this kind disappear.
Chipboard should be used to make the lid. This material perfectly resists various types of vibrations. In addition, such a surface will be hard and smooth, which means that the workpiece will easily slide and move along it.
You can also use thick plastic. Similar surface It is quite easy to process using any tools. In addition, plastic is a smooth material on which the workpiece will glide perfectly. No additional processing is required here. Plastic is easy to cut and process. This allows you to make excellent grooves on its surface and fasteners.
The aluminum tabletop is also excellent option. This material is easy to process and is not exposed to external aggressive factors. First of all, we are talking about moisture. Aluminum is not subject to corrosion. The tabletop will last for many years.
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The mounting plate is one of the main parts of the machine. It is simply necessary to install it. Mounting plate allows you to save design features milling machine. This is done if the height of the frame exceeds 25 mm. This size occurs because the frame is made 1 m high.
Very often, a metal sheet is used to make such a plate. He must have minimum thickness. You can use a sheet of PCB.
This material is extremely durable, which is a necessity in this case.
The mounting plate may have various sizes, but they must fully match the size of the tabletop. It shouldn't be too thick. Its optimal thickness is approximately 6-8 mm.
It is necessary to make a hole in the center of the workpiece, the diameter of which will be equal to the corresponding characteristic in the milling sole. Most models have special holes to which the plate is attached. If there are none, then you should do them yourself. For these purposes, a drill is used, into which a metal drill is installed. You can do without extra holes.
Any hand router can be secured using brackets with springs.
This fastening method is also quite effective, but it is worth remembering that the brackets must be made of durable material, since as a result of work, numerous loads arise that cause vibration of the machine. It can harm both the router itself and cause an accident.
All parts for the table are now ready. It is very important that they are all done according to these instructions. Otherwise, there is a high probability that the work will be done poorly.
A person who loves to create and make things on his own will get great pleasure from creating a router table. This is a rather difficult, but exciting task. Making a table for a router yourself means getting a structure that costs much less than one made at the factory. When producing a milling table, it is imperative to follow safety precautions.
The milling table is designed for processing materials, cutting shaped holes, and making joints. A table made by yourself will be more economical and much more convenient than a purchased one.
Work in which it is necessary to perform milling is always associated with the movement of the tool along the surface of a rigidly fixed workpiece. However, when you need to mill a part with small dimensions, some difficulties arise. To solve this problem, you can make a table for the router yourself. In this case, the tool will have a stationary mount; the workpiece itself must move. As a result, it will be possible to quickly carry out end processing and remove overhangs.
The simplest way to create a table for a router is to mount the router directly to the tabletop. Fastening occurs through drilled hole. This setup has proven to work well. In this case, the router is located at an angle of 90° to the tabletop; it is rigidly fixed to the table, which dampens excessive vibration.
Such an installation is considered the best if the milling cutter has a solid base and if it has the ability to regulate the immersion of the tool. The base of the router must be fixed to the tabletop so that the router can be lowered to the required depth. This installation method has some disadvantages that need to be kept in mind.
Firstly, the thickness of the table top affects the working range of the tool; it allows you to work with cutters that have long shanks.
Secondly, the work is limited by the single diameter of the hole for attaching the cutter.
And lastly, if you have one router, its constant installation and removal, changing the cutter, and adjusting the height is very inconvenient.
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The bed is understood as the main part, without which not a single router table can do. To do it, the most suitable different materials. You can use metal profiles, MDF boards, wood and more.
Perhaps the most the best option a metal profile will be used. Existing butt joints are secured only with bolts during assembly. Welding work is excluded. The design will be highly reliable, it will be technologically advanced and easy to assemble.
The dimensions of the bed do not have fixed dimensions; they are selected by each craftsman purely individually. The main criterion will be the size of the parts that have to be processed. To accurately determine the dimensions of the bed, it is best to make a small sketch.
In order to make it convenient to work, the frame needs to be deepened into the floor by about 15 cm. The most important parameter the table is its height. The optimal length would be 1 m. To get maximum convenience, it is worth equipping the table for the router with adjustable supports.
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Best suited for this part kitchen countertop, made of chipboard, having a thickness of 40 mm. This material perfectly dampens vibration, it has a hard, absolutely smooth surface on which the workpiece moves perfectly.
Modern phenolic plastic of high hardness is also suitable for the production of the lid. He has absolutely flat surface, not afraid of moisture. Plastic does not cause any difficulties in processing, which makes it possible to make grooves where they will be installed aluminum profiles and stops. The only drawback is its high cost.
To make router tables more reliable for long-term use, you can make an aluminum tabletop. This material never corrodes and is lightweight. But before manufacturing, aluminum must be clad so that there are no dirty marks left on the workpieces.
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Router tables have the plates needed to mount directly into the table. This method has several advantages.
Due to the fact that the plate is no more than 10 mm thick, it is possible to easily get the router to replace the cutter.
You can use additional insert plates to make it possible to use different cutter diameters. Such an insert plate can become a support plate during the operation of milling surfaces on large parts. The plate gives the router increased stability; the use of plates helps to mill wide grooves of parts.
Inserting the plate is quite difficult. It is necessary to first drill a mounting hole in the table to obtain a tight fit for subsequent insertion of the plate. When there are large gaps, increased vibration occurs. If the plate does not have a reliable, tight attachment to the table, milling accuracy will not be maintained. Drilling a hole too large into the top of the router table you are making will cause it to weaken. Therefore, when calculating the diameter of the hole, care must be taken to create reinforcement for the tabletop. It has great importance so that the tabletop and insert are made flush. Additional gaskets, washers, etc. will help cope with this problem.
