The craftsmen of the past produced decorative processing wood by hand. We still admire their creations. But it took years to learn fine woodwork, and not every apprentice managed to create a masterpiece for the title of master. And raise money for tools and accessories for the highest craftsmanship. What is still relevant today: sets of shaped planers, pieces of iron for them and cutters for manual finishing of the product will cost more than a good manual wood milling machine. Which, moreover, will shorten the learning process and increase labor productivity at times. If you make a do-it-yourself milling table for it, then the quality of the products will become much more stable. True, the functionality of the router will be reduced (the number of types of working operations), but the remaining sections will not be so difficult to finish with the same router without a table or even manually, without risking "screwing up" the entire workpiece. On essential points self-made milling table and this material will be.

Note: a masterpiece was originally a technical term denoting test work, which must be done independently by an apprentice who claims to be a master. Since in the old workshops the corporate spirit and nepotism dominated everything and everyone, an apprentice who came to make his way to the master had to do something really outstanding, even exceptional. Hence the use of the word "masterpiece" for a creation created on a creative take-off came from.

Table or machine?

However, hand router tools are not cheap. It seems that there is no fundamental difference in the design of it and the milling head of a vertical milling machine. A motor suitable in power and speed for a homemade milling machine may be waiting in the closet for some use. So what is better to do for milling woodwork: the entire machine from scrap materials, or buy a manual router and a table for it?

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

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

A homemade milling machine with a trash motor shakes in general as much as it can. Vibration damping measures available in the home workshop provide a quality of work that is more suitable for simple carpentry work. In manual milling machines for wood, vibration damping is already provided by design. Installing the router in the table further reduces the "shaking", and the entire unit becomes suitable for fairly delicate carpentry work, incl. over the front parts of furniture, decorative details and other critical parts. So there is still a fundamental difference between a home-made milling machine and a table for an existing hand mill.

How the milling table works

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

• The table is carried out according to constructive scheme vertical milling machine with bottom drive, while homemade machine can be both vertical and horizontal. However, the latter does not give any tangible advantages over the vertical one at home.
• The milling table is quite simply supplied with a do-it-yourself elevator - a device for smooth and, possibly, operational adjustment of the cutter protrusion above the work table.
• The system of stops of the workpiece of the milling table can be improved in comparison with a home-made machine to increase the accuracy and cleanliness of processing.
• The table-mount milling machine is reversibly modified (see below) so that it can be removed for manual work.

How a simple milling table for woodworking works is shown in fig. Curbstone (bed) - any sufficiently strong and stable structure, because the main wigbroking is carried out, except with the milling cutter itself, with a base plate. Therefore, the curbstone in this case is actually not a bed, since is simply a supporting structure.

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

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

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

1. Support (work table) and installation (mounting) plates;
2. Stops - comb and deaf (simple);
3. Milling machine lift.

Slabs

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

Its main drawback is its high cost: plywood requires birch (even better bakelite) grades of at least Ib. Meanwhile, spending a little more time and labor on plywood plywood, and even better quality, can be made, as for a milling machine, from cheap 4-mm construction (II grade) or packaging (off-grade) plywood. The required wear resistance and strength are provided by impregnating the sheet before cutting with a water-polymer emulsion (a full-fledged substitute - construction primer EKO Primer), and vibration-absorbing properties - by layers of PVA glue. Dried assembly (reinforced) PVA gives a viscous elastic film that perfectly dampens vibrations, but even without that, the height space in which the elastic wave can gain strength is reduced by five times.

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

The device of the mounting unit with increased vibration damping for the milling table is shown in Fig. and is exactly the same as for a milling machine ().

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

Milling plate and its refinement

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

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

The latch of the standard sliding work table (shown by the arrow on the left in the figure) is released (wrung out). Then the standard table is removed and placed on the compression springs (in the center) common strength approx. 1.5 machine weight. The base of the standard table (shown by the arrow in the center) is removed, and a mounting plate is attached instead (on the right in the figure). Rebuilding the machine for manual use is done upside-down.

Stops

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

Drawings of oblique comb and blind vertical stops for a homemade milling table for wood are shown in Fig. Structurally, the comb stop for the table is somewhat different from that for the machine (all teeth are the same), because the whole unit is shaking less violently. Maple is one of the best vibration dampers, but seasoned, without defects, knots, twigs, and oblique layers, business maple wood is an expensive and scarce material. It will be completely replaced by oak, beech, hornbeam, walnut.

Note: An even better vibration damper is elm wood. But the defect-free aged business elm is practically absent in the general sale, because everything goes to the lasts for sewing expensive leather shoes and critical machine parts.

Comb and blind stops are installed in pairs (blind first along the workpiece), see the inset in the center in Fig. They are fixed with a locking block (stopper), highlighted in red in Fig. on right. However, it is still wrong to put the comb with the “wood grouse” before the cutter along the workpiece while feeding it, as shown in the same place: the main "shake" occurs behind the cutter. But it is not forbidden to put 2 pairs of wood grouse comb, before and after the cutter, and it is useful for processing accuracy.

Back and forth emphasis

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

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

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

Note: on sale there are straight combs for wood cutters, cast from polypropylene. I don’t know how they work, I haven’t tried it.

Elevator

The simplest designs of lifts for a milling table for wood are rigid cam (pos. A in the figure) and wedge (pos. B).

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

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

Precise mini table

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

However, straight-milled shaped grooves in front furniture parts can also have an excellent aesthetic effect. Direct milling is widely used in the manufacture of furniture and decorative wood products in any style, see fig. It is independently performed by low-power manual milling machines for wood of increased accuracy (on the right in the figure); the installation of a manual mini-milling cutter in the table increases the quality of work and labor productivity in the same way as the "large" one.

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

And what about the hood?

When milling wood, many times more sawdust, shavings and wood dust are formed than when sawing operations. The dust spoils the precision of processing on the table and the health of its operator in the same way as a dusty machine. Therefore, for a milling table, a dust collector, a dust extraction and a dust collector are also needed; their design is the same for both the table and the machine, see acc. article.

Currently, milling equipment is very popular. The essence of this type of material processing is that the cutter processes the workpiece, which is fixed motionless, that is, the tool itself rotates, but the workpiece does not. However, this is not always convenient when it comes to a hand router. The 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 stationary. The question arises of how to make a table for a hand router with your own hands.

Of course, you can try to look for a ready-made solution, but this will be quite difficult to do, since a hand router is a specific tool. A similar table with your own hands can be made quite simply. However, first it is worth deciding on its design.

Selecting the type of table to be mounted

Do-it-yourself table for a manual router can be made of three types:

• portable;
• stationary;
• aggregate.

If we talk about a portable version, then it is ideal for a handheld router. Such a table can be used not only directly in the workshop, but also dragged to any other convenient place.

When it comes to work in a confined space, as well as in a permanent place, then stationary option looks preferable. It will be possible to do not only operations using a hand mill, but also a lot of other actions. For example, sawing workpieces.

Drawing of a milling table with a milling lift.

In the event that 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 table top, a mounting plate, and stops. These are the parts that go with any hand router table. 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 hand router with your own hands.

Back to the table of contents

The bed and its features

The bed is an integral part of any router table. And this applies not only to the manual option, but also to the ordinary one. The bed consists of two parts - a frame and a table top.

For work, you will need MDF or chipboard, as well as metal profiles and wood.

It is the metal profile that ensures easy assembly of the entire structure. Here, all joints are not welded to each other, but are fastened by means of bolted connections. In this case, the connections are reliable, and if necessary, they can be easily disassembled.

As for the dimensions of the bed, they are selected depending on what size the parts on it will most often be processed. In order to avoid mistakes, it is worth getting a drawing. All overall and geometric dimensions should be indicated on it.

List of materials and parts for the manufacture of a milling table.

As for the height of the bed, it must be optimal for the work. It is best to choose a height from 0.8 to 1 m.However, it all depends mainly on the height of the person himself, who will be working with a hand router. To avoid touching the lower part of the table with your feet during work, it is worth making it deepened in relation to the upper part. In this case, all problems of this kind disappear.

For the manufacture of the lid, chipboard should be used. This material perfectly resists various kinds of vibrations. In addition, such a surface will be hard and smooth, which means that the workpiece will easily slide and move on it.

Thick plastic can also be used. Such a surface can be easily processed using any tools. In addition, plastic is a smooth material on which the workpiece will glide perfectly. It doesn't even require additional processing. Plastic is easy to cut and handle. This allows you to make excellent grooves on its surface and fasteners.

The aluminum worktop 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 does not corrode. The table top will serve for many years.

Back to the table of contents

Mounting plate: nuances

The mounting plate is one of the main parts of the machine. It is simply necessary to install it. The mounting plate allows you to preserve the design features of the milling machine. This is done if the bed height exceeds 25 mm. This dimension is the case since the frame is made 1 m high.

Very often, a metal sheet is used to make such a plate. It should have a minimum thickness. You can use a sheet of PCB.

This material is characterized by the highest strength, which in this case is a necessity.

The mounting plate can be different sizes, but they must fully match the size of the countertop. It shouldn't be too thick. Its optimum thickness is approximately 6-8 mm.

In the center of the workpiece, it is necessary to make a hole, which in diameter 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 they should be done on your own. For these purposes, a drill is used, in which a drill for metal is installed. You can do without unnecessary holes.

Any hand router can be secured with spring clips.

This method of fastening is also quite effective, but it is worth remembering that the staples 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 the details for the table are now complete. It is very important that they are all made in accordance with this instruction. Otherwise, there is a high probability that the work will be performed poorly.

1. Device
2. FS design example
3. Stanina
4. Table top
5. Working plate
6. Rings
7. Fraser
8. Router fasteners
9. Guide rail
10. Stop strips
11. Nozzle
12. Longitudinal movable stop
13. Additional clamps
14. Rotary FS

The owner of a private house has to do a lot of repairs, improve their living conditions. The milling table will be an excellent solution for the manufacture of various parts and accessories from wood, as it provides precision and good quality processing of workpieces.

The table is the main base of the machine. The working body of the equipment is a cutter, a part with several cutting blades. With its help, in wooden blanks they make of various kinds grooves, channels, windows (vertical recesses), oval bevels and much more. Milling - mechanical restoration workpieces with a multi-edge tool. The milling cutter, in addition to the rotational movement, makes translational movements. Bed with worktop for processing wooden products called a milling table (FS).

Device

Correct installation of the router in the table depends on a flawless frame design. The working surface of the machine is located on the bed. From below, a router is attached to the plate, which moves along the vertical axis. The workpiece is fixed in the transverse direction with a special device - a parallel stop for the milling table.

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

FS design example

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

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

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

Self-production of FS

Consider the structural features of the FS parts:

Stanina

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

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

Table top

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

Working plate

The milling plate is made of PCB or sheet metal... A hole is made in the plate into which metal rings are inserted. Rings with different diameters are inserted into each other. The ring inserts are flush with the worktop surface.

Rings

What are rings for? They ensure that the cutter fits snugly into the workpiece body. Different ring size matches different diameters cutting elements.

Fraser

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

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

The manual milling cutter is a multifunctional unit. A variety of operations are performed with a power tool. It is mainly used for processing wooden blanks.

However, it is very difficult to hold the tool in your hands and at the same time try to fix a wooden part. This will not do the trick. To make parts with high precision, the router is fixed on a special table.

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

Router fasteners

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

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

Elevator

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

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

Guide rail

The guide rail is made of a duralumin profile. You can use as a guide rail duralumin tracks used in furniture to move the sliding doors of the cabinet. A sample is made under the rail with a hand mill. The guide track must be placed parallel to the opposite abutment wall.

Stop strips

At the ends of the tabletop, on both sides, duralumin tracks are installed, along which the frame structure with stop strips moves. A ruler is attached parallel to the track at the end. A 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.

Nozzle

WITH outside a suction nozzle is mounted above the milling head of the stop strips. During the operation of the machine, it is connected to a vacuum cleaner. This effectively removes wood dust and shavings from the work area.

Longitudinal movable stop

The lower part of the sliding stop is inserted into the guide track. The stand moves freely along the FS. With its vertical wall, the device abuts against the base of the workpiece. By pressing the stop, the machine operator moves the part along the table during milling.

Additional clamps

The clips are made of plastic. They keep the workpiece from unintentional displacement of the part in the vertical and horizontal plane. The clamps are mounted on a special stand.

Rotary FS

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

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

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

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

Only highly qualified specialists can make a rotary machine with their own hands. It is advantageous to have a machine of this design when doing business. For one-time work, it is economically unprofitable to maintain a rotary FS in your farm.

Below is a video demonstrating simple scheme FS structure. Collecting such equipment is quite accessible to a person with experience in carpentry.

Compliance with safety precautions

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

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

The question of how to make a milling table on your own is asked by many home craftsmen. This is understandable: the equipment on which the router is fixed motionless, and the workpiece moves on a specially equipped working table, in many cases is much more convenient to use. Often, when working with a hand mill, the workpiece is fixed on an ordinary table, and all manipulations are carried out by the tool itself, which does not allow observing the accuracy of processing.

The milling table greatly improves the productivity and efficiency of working with a hand router. It is often unprofitable to purchase a serial model of such a table for your home. It is much more economical to make a do-it-yourself milling table. It will not take much time and will require very little financial costs. Any home craftsman can cope with such a task, if desired.

Using a homemade hand router table when processing wood products, you can achieve the results that professional milling machines can get. With the help of such a simple device, a whole list of technological operations is performed qualitatively: cutting shaped holes and making various slots and grooves in the workpiece, manufacturing connecting elements, processing and profiling edges.

The device of a factory-made milling table can be found in the video below. We will try to do not worse, but in some ways even better and, which is very important, cheaper.

A homemade milling table, which you equip your home machine with, will give you the opportunity to process not only wooden blanks, but also products that are made of chipboard, MDF, plastic, etc. tongue and groove elements, chamfer and decorative profiles.

A homemade router table, the manufacture of which does not require large financial costs, will allow you to equip your home workshop with a real woodworking machine. It will only be necessary to fix the tool itself - a hand router, for which you can use a drill stand or a workbench. It is no coincidence that many manufacturing companies are engaged in the manufacture of milling tables and accessories for them, but a decent amount of money will have to be paid for such a device. A home-made table for equipping a milling machine, if made in accordance with the drawings that we will analyze in this article, is in no way inferior in functionality to models released in production conditions, and it will cost much less.

Milling table drawings: option number 1

Drawings of the milling table with a detailed analysis of the design of the main units and their dimensions.

Blueprints homemade table for hand router (click to enlarge)

Part Dimensions Sectional Table Double Layer Table Top Cutout in the First Layer of the Table
Marking the cut of the second layer of the table Gluing both layers Sawing the cut according to the markings of the second layer Drawing parallel stop
End plate of the stop Dust extraction pipe Plexiglass safety guard Comb clamp and locking block

Milling table design

If you wish, you can make a homemade milling table from an ordinary workbench, but it is better to make a special design. This is explained by the fact that the machine with the cutter creates strong vibration during operation, therefore the bed used to fix the cutter must be highly stable and reliable. It should also be borne in mind that the very milling device attaches to the bottom of the milling table top, so there must be enough free space underneath.

When attaching the device to the tabletop of a home-made table for a hand router, a mounting plate is used, which must have high strength and rigidity, or special clamps for a milling machine. Such a plate can be made of metal sheet, PCB or durable plywood. The soles of most router models already have threaded holes, and they are needed to connect such a device to the tabletop and mounting plate. If there are no such holes, you can drill them yourself and cut threads in them, or use special clamps for a milling machine.

The clamps for the milling machine or the mounting plate must be flush with the worktop, for this, a selection of the corresponding dimensions is made in the latter. Several holes must be drilled in the plate, some of which are necessary to connect it to the tabletop using self-tapping screws, and others so that such a plate can be fixed on the router base. The screws and self-tapping screws that you will use must be countersunk.

To make turning on your own more convenient, you can place a regular button on the tabletop, as well as a mushroom button, which will make your device even safer to use. To improve the convenience of your home machine you can fix a long metal ruler on the surface of a milling table made for a do-it-yourself hand router.

Before you start designing a do-it-yourself milling coordinate table, you need to determine the place where it will be located, as well as decide what type of milling equipment you want to make. So, you can make an aggregate milling cutter with your own hands (the table will be located on the side of the sawing equipment, serve as its extension), a compact desktop machine, free-standing stationary equipment.

You can opt for compact desktop equipment for working with wood and other materials if you use it irregularly or often use it outside your workshop. Such an installation, which is distinguished by its small size, takes up very little space, and if desired, it can be hung on the wall.

If the size of your workshop allows, then it is better to adapt the base of a stationary milling machine to the router, which is much more convenient to work on than on desktop equipment. To make such a device more mobile, it can be put on wheels, with which you can easily change its location.

A simple homemade milling table. There are questions about the overall strength, but cheap and cheerful.

The simplest milling table or drilling machine table can be made very quickly. For the manufacture of such a structure, easily located on a regular desktop, you will need a chipboard sheet, on which the guide elements are fixed. As such a guide, which can be used as a parallel stop for a milling table, is suitable regular board small thickness, which is attached to the tabletop using bolted connections. If necessary, you can attach a second such board in parallel, which will serve as a limit stop.

In order to insert the router into the table, it will be necessary to make a hole in the chipboard sheet in order to place it, and it will be fixed on the tabletop using two clamps. After that, the manufacture of the milling table can be considered complete. To make the use of such a design more convenient, the simplest clamps for a milling machine can be placed on the tabletop.

Bed and table top manufacturing

The bed of a home-made milling machine must be highly stable and reliable, since it will bear the main loads. Structurally, it is a frame with supports, on which the table top is fixed. As a material for the manufacture of the frame of the bed, you can use welded metal profiles, chipboard, MDF, wood. It is advisable to first prepare drawings of such a device. On them it is necessary to designate all structural elements and their sizes, depending on the dimensions of the parts that are planned to be processed on such milling equipment.

The lower part of the bed from the side of its front must be deepened by 100-200 mm so that nothing interferes with the feet of the milling machine operator. If you are going to process door linings and front ends for them on your homemade machine, then the dimensions of the bed can be as follows: 900x500x1500 (height, depth, width).

One of the significant characteristics of the bed for a homemade milling machine is its height, on which the convenience of working on such equipment depends. According to ergonomic requirements, the most suitable height for equipment to be used while standing is 850–900 mm. It is desirable to make the lower parts of the bed supports adjustable. This will make it possible not only to compensate for unevenness in the floor, but also, if necessary, to change the height of the milling table. For the manufacture of turntable with your own hands, it is enough to fix special wheels on its legs.

The assembly of approximately such a table is considered in option No. 2

You can make a milling table, characterized by a low price, high reliability, from the tabletop of an old kitchen table... Such countertops are usually made of a 26 or 36 mm thick chipboard sheet covered with wear-resistant plastic. Their surface provides good sliding workpieces, and the chipboard base perfectly dampens vibrations arising during the operation of the equipment. If you make a working table for the machine with your own hands, then plates made of MDF and chipboard (laminated chipboard) with a thickness of 16 mm or more are suitable for these purposes.

Milling table drawings: option number 2

Detailed drawings of a milling table with additional pull-out drawers, which can be made from timber and plywood (or MDF). A list of parts with dimensions and recommended material of manufacture is presented in the table.

Table of table parts and their sizes Frame Top corner frame Bottom corner of the frame
Sliding guide for drawers Sliding guide
Large drawer Small drawer Front of small drawer Table side panels

How to make a mounting plate

Since the tabletop of a homemade milling machine is quite thick, the mounting plate for attaching the router should have a minimum thickness. This will maximize the use of the departure. cutting tool... It is clear that such a plate at minimum thickness must be of high strength and rigidity.

The plate can be made of metal or of a material that is not inferior to it in its strength - PCB. The thickness of the PCB sheet should be within 4–8 mm. Using the previously prepared drawings, a rectangular part is cut out of such a sheet, in the center of which a hole is made. The dimensions of the latter correspond to the diameter of the hole in the base of the router.

The connection of the plate with the base of the router and the table itself, as already mentioned above, is ensured by the holes made in it and the corresponding threaded holes in the base of the router. Holes for fixing the plates to the table surface, which are used as clamps for the milling machine, are made at their four corners.

The dimensions and location of the holes for connecting the insert to the router must fully correspond to the holes located on the base of the tool. In order not to be mistaken in the manufacture of the plate, it is necessary to first prepare its drawing, on which it is necessary to indicate the overall dimensions of this part, the diameters and the location of all holes on it. If desired, you can fix it on the table surface using clamps.

Video from detailed story about the construction of a milling table, the functionality and convenience of which are very high, but the complexity of manufacturing is also very serious. For most masters, such a table will be unnecessarily complicated, but perhaps someone will learn useful ideas when creating your own equipment.

Assembling the milling table

Universal milling table or start assembling from the tabletop attachment to the finished bed. The mounting plate is applied to the place of the tabletop where it should be placed according to the drawing, its outline is drawn with a pencil. This is necessary in order to select a recess for the plate along the marked contour, for which a hand-held milling cutter with a tool with a diameter of 6–10 mm is used. The size of this recess must be such that the plate fits into it flush with the surface of the countertop.

It will not work to make a recess with right angles with a round cutter, therefore, on the plate itself, the corners must also be rounded off with a file. After fixing in the worktop, it is necessary to make a hole in the mounting plate with the dimensions corresponding to the diameter of the router base. It is done using a straight cutter, the thickness of which should be greater than that of the countertop itself.

When the requirements for the equipment are small and there is no desire to get involved with homemade products, you can buy something similar to what is shown in the photo below.

PROMA at a price of about 6 thousand rubles is one of the cheapest factory milling tables

To perform such an operation, you do not need a drawing, since it does not require high precision. On the back of the tabletop, it is also necessary to select a certain amount of material, since the dust collector cover and other devices will need to be placed at the bottom of the table. To quickly perform all the above operations, you can focus on the drawings or photos placed in this article.

The final step in assembling a homemade milling table is to connect all of its structural elements... First, a router is started from the bottom of the tabletop, its sole is screwed to the mounting plate. Then the plate itself is attached to the top surface of the countertop using countersunk self-tapping screws, which must be completely recessed into the prepared holes. Only after performing these operations is the tabletop itself securely fixed to the bed.

Milling table drawings: option No. 3

A compact desktop milling table and a detailed analysis of its creation in the photo below.

Computer model Appearance assembled Rear view Front view
The cutter is raised, the sashes are open The cutter is down, the leaves are moved Hand router Hose from the vacuum cleaner for removing dust and shavings
Milling cutter attachment and chip removal Adjusting the cutter lift The cutter is lifted by turning the screw.
Adjusting the cutter overhang Plexiglass platform before installing the router

Making the upper clamp

Asking the question of how to make a homemade machine safer in operation and to ensure the convenience of processing large workpieces on it, you can equip such equipment top clamp... Drawings must also be prepared to create this roller-based fixture.

A properly sized ball bearing is often used as the roller for the pressure device. Such a roller is mounted on a holding device that allows it to be fixed at any distance from the table top. With the help of this simple universal device, the workpiece of any thickness will be securely fixed while moving along the surface of the working table.

In the video below, a man shows his homemade milling table, which he assembled right on the balcony of his own house.

Drive for a homemade milling machine

In order for your homemade wood router to be distinguished by high performance and functionality, you must equip it with an electric drive of sufficient power. If you plan to use your machine for shallow woodworking, a 500W electric motor will suffice. However, equipment with a low power drive will often shut down, which will negate all the savings from purchasing a weak electric motor.

The best choice for such machines are electric motors, the power of which starts from 1100 W. Such an electric motor with a power ranging from 1 to 2 kW will allow you to use your homemade device like a real woodworking milling machine. In addition, you can use any type of cutter on such a machine. To equip the drive of the machine, you can use electric motors that are installed on stationary equipment (for example, on drilling machines), as well as on hand tools(drills, grinders, hand cutters).

For people associated with carpentry, the milling table is irreplaceable assistant... It will help to improve the quality of work performed, their effectiveness.

The industry offers such tables in a factory version, but their cost is not suitable for everyone. We propose to consider a do-it-yourself milling table without expensive components.

Definition of a milling table, its design

A device with which you can perform: grooves in the workpiece, grooves, make spike joints, to process the edges of products, is called a milling table. It is inconvenient to use a router separately, the master will have to concentrate on the workpiece and at the same time on processing. A do-it-yourself milling table facilitates the work process, it can be mounted on a workbench or made for it a special design.

Important! When carrying out work on the manufacture of a specialized table, it must be remembered that the router is installed from below, free space must be allocated for it. The stationary part of any table is the bed; it is a sturdy frame with a table top.

Material for the frame milling table can be:

1. Wooden bar.
2. Metal squares.
3. Plates: MDF, chipboard.

The requirement for the frame is the creation of stability for the table top and the rigidity of the structure. When a milling table is made with your own hands, the overall parameters of the bed are determined from the materials that require processing.

How to make a bed for a milling machine

Despite the simplicity of making a frame for a tabletop, a homemade milling machine must for proper operation meet the requirements:

The table includes mounting plate, it is needed to mount the router.

How to make a mounting plate correctly

Place the mounting plate at the attachment point of the router sole. For its manufacture, a material is selected that meets the criteria:

• Strength.
• Thickness - the thinner the better.

Experts recommend using sheet metal, you can fiberglass or textolite. dimensions rectangular, thickness within from 4 millimeters to 8 millimeters... In the center of the plate, you need to make a hole that matches the diameter of the hole on the foot of the hand router.

The router is equipped with a plastic strip that is attached to the threaded holes on the base, these holes are used to attach it to the mounting plate. If there are no such holes, they must be made in the base of the router. Another method of fastening the router is offered, it is with metal staples-springs. Mounting plate attaches to the table top at the corners.

DIY milling table assembly instructions

To assemble the clamping device, rollers or a ball bearing of the required diameter are used. It is fastened in a holding device, which is rigidly fixed at the required distance from the plane of the table top.

This device provides tight pressing of the overall workpiece to the plane of the tabletop when it passes under the roller. This simple addition increases the accuracy of the work carried out and improves labor safety.

You can assemble a functional milling table with your own hands when the master has information about the electric drive that will be used in the work. Consider the power parameter to select an electric drive:

Important! Experts recommend before assembling the milling machine to determine the power of the milling cutter, it should not be less than 2 kW... This power enables the craftsman to work with any wood. It is recommended to choose models of milling cutters with speed control. The rotational speed of the router is very important to get an even cut on the workpiece. If this parameter is high, the cut will be clean.

Safe use of the milling table

When the milling table is assembled and installed electric drive do not rush to immediately check it in operation, make sure that the work performed is correct. What experts recommend to do for safe work on the milling table:

• It is advisable to install a protective screen on the tabletop, it can be of your own design or an industrial design.
• It is imperative to check the presence of an emergency stop button for electrical equipment, it must be in the form of a "fungus" and be located in the area where the master is located, so that you can press it with the body of the body.
• Equip working area light illumination.
• When the milling table is used for frequent milling cutter changes for the job, it is recommended to equip it with automatic device lifting the cutter.

In equipping a homemade milling table no restrictions, there is only one requirement for them: an increase in the safety and efficiency of the work carried out.