DIY pantograph for a router. Blueprints. Do-it-yourself copy-milling machines for wood Drawings of a pantograph for wood

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Wood copying and milling machines are universal units whose purpose is to copy products in two- and three-dimensional form. In other words, this equipment can copy flat finished products, and when using special copiers, also three-dimensional models.

Such devices are often used for engraving profiles and various decorative elements. They can also be used for ordinary, not very complex milling work.

What is copy-milling equipment

This equipment is unique because... with its relatively simple design, it is capable of copying complex products, even fine handmade ones.

In fact, the unit was designed for milling curved elements:

1. This is done by copying using templates. They allow you to perform the operation as accurately as possible, without the use of manual work. This property of the unit guarantees that the manufactured elements will be identical in size and shape.
2. You can use one sample for all blanks or use ready-made products as a template.
3. When such parameters are not enough, it is possible to significantly increase the accuracy of the machine.

Note! The instructions recommend equipping it with a special copying device for this purpose. It is called a “pantograph” and serves to accurately communicate the movement of the copying unit (head) to the main device that processes the part.

When a template has many fine, elegant details, a pantograph machine is indispensable.

Unit design

Copy-milling units make it possible to process reliefs or profiles:

1. The workpieces are processed with a special tool - a milling cutter made of hard alloys.
2. It repeats in full the movements of the copier, which reproduces the outlines of the template.
3. The copier is equipped with an electronic or mechanical connection that has a tracking system and is responsible for the trajectory of the tool.
4. The copier can be a flat or three-dimensional sample, as well as a contour diagram or a reference model.
5. In this case, a special probe registers the contours of the part. This data is then reported to the tool.
6. In the most modern machines, the probe is replaced by a photocell, which has increased accuracy.

Note! The pantograph plays a vital role in the described units. It is equipped with a special guide “finger”.

It moves along the copier, while determining the geometric parameters of the sample with maximum accuracy. The final size of the resulting copy depends on the proportions of the pantograph’s “shoulders.”

The basis for making a machine with your own hands will be manual. Secure it to a wooden support made of thick plywood (at least 12 mm thick). Several holes are also made in the support for fasteners and a router holder. Additionally, you should build a frame and make several bars that are installed along the edges of the support; they will hold the device during operation.

Manufacturing of milling unit

We use a medium-diameter metal pipe as a guide. We install a carriage with a router inserted into it on the pipe. We attach a bar to the carriage, which plays the role of a copy probe, after which it is necessary to fix the horizontal beam on which the main template is attached. A machine made according to this principle can be used to process and create copies of simple household products, for example, door handles, locks, furniture legs. The milling unit with the motor is inserted inside the carriage and connected to the power supply. The template is fixed on the support, and the copy probe moves along it.

The milling cutter is powered, the carriage moves manually, so that the working head follows the movements of the probe. To create more complex models, it is necessary to connect additional working heads and install a drive with a belt drive. Now it is possible to connect a homemade installation to software, however, this will require CNC and optional equipment and tools. Such a homemade machine will cope with its everyday functions quite well.

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Practice of using homemade copy-milling machines various types shows that the final part produced on such equipment has certain inconsistencies with drawings and shapes and some manufacturing defects in the form of chips and bends. These defects are caused by constant vibrations of the machine and movements of the working head. It is very difficult to get rid of them at home.

Do-it-yourself copy-milling machine

To avoid such shortcomings in the operation of homemade equipment, we recommend making highly specialized machines rather than universal equipment. That is, before starting work on making a machine with your own hands, you need to decide what specific parts you plan to use it for. This way you can optimally select the weight and dimensions of a hand-assembled copy-milling machine. It is important to remember that the larger the size of the parts to be processed, the more powerful and heavier the working unit must be.

For large parts, additional holders and a more massive support are needed; this will allow maximum dampening of vibrations that will occur during operation. In addition, it is better to use an electric drive instead of a manual one and ensure that the guides have a sufficient margin of safety. Remember that the type of working surface determines the smooth movement of the cutting equipment in different planes, and therefore the final result.

To fully work with a hand router, in addition to the tool itself, the material and the corresponding set of cutters, you must have one more component - fixtures. In order for the cutter to be able to shape the workpiece in accordance with the master's plan - cutting the material exactly where it is required - it must be in a strictly defined position relative to the workpiece at each moment of time. Numerous accessories for a hand router are used to ensure this. Some of them - the most necessary ones - are included in the scope of delivery of the tool. Other devices for milling can be purchased or made by yourself. Moreover, homemade devices are so simple that to make them you can do without drawings, using only their drawings.

Rip fence

The most used device that comes with almost every router is a parallel stop, which provides rectilinear movement cutters relative to the base surface. The latter can be the straight edge of a part, table or guide rail. The parallel stop can be used both for milling various grooves located on the face of the workpiece, and for processing edges.

Parallel stop for a manual router: 1 - stop, 2 - rod, 3 - base of the router, 4 - rod locking screw, 5 - fine adjustment screw, 6 - movable carriage, 7 - movable carriage locking screw, 8 - pads, 9 - screw stop locking.

To install the device in the working position, it is necessary to slide the rods 2 into the holes of the frame 3, ensuring the required distance between the supporting surface of the stop and the axis of the cutter, and fix them with the locking screw 4. To accurately position the cutter, you need to release the locking screw 9 and rotate the fine adjustment screw 5 set the cutter to the desired position. For some stop models, the dimensions of the supporting surface can be changed by moving or spreading the support pads 8.

If you add one simple part to the rip fence, then you can use it to mill not only straight, but also curved grooves, for example, to process a round workpiece. Moreover, the inner surface of the block located between the stop and the workpiece does not necessarily have to have a rounded shape that follows the edge of the workpiece. It can also be given a simpler shape (Figure “a”). In this case, the trajectory of the cutter will not change.

Of course, a regular rip fence, thanks to the notch in the center, will allow you to orient the router along a rounded edge, but the position of the router may not be stable enough.

The function of the guide bar is similar to that of a rip fence. Like the latter, it ensures strictly linear movement of the router. The main difference between them is that the tire can be installed at any angle to the edge of the part or table, thereby ensuring any direction of movement of the router in the horizontal plane. In addition, the tire may have elements that simplify certain operations, for example, milling holes located at the same distance from each other (with a certain pitch), etc.

The guide rail is attached to the table or workpiece using clamps or special clamps. The tire can be equipped with an adapter (shoe), which is connected to the base of the router by two rods. Sliding along the profile of the tire, the adapter sets the linear movement of the cutter.

Sometimes (when too close range tires from the router), the supporting surfaces of the tire and router can be in different planes in height. To level them, some routers are equipped with retractable support legs, which change the position of the router in height.

Such a device is easy to make with your own hands. The simplest option is a long block secured to the workpiece with clamps. The design can be supplemented with side supports.

By placing a block on two or more aligned workpieces at once, grooves can be made in them in one pass.

When using a block as a stop, it is inconvenient to place the block at a certain distance from the line of the future groove. The following two devices do not have this inconvenience. The first is made from boards and plywood fastened together. In this case, the distance from the edge of the stop (board) to the edge of the base (plywood) is equal to the distance from the cutter to the edge of the router base. But this condition is met only for a cutter of the same diameter. Thanks to this, the device quickly aligns along the edge of the future groove.

The following device can be used with cutters of different diameters, plus when milling, the router rests on its entire sole, and not half, as in the previous device.

The stop is aligned along the edge of the hinged board and the center line of the groove. After fixing the stop, the folding board folds back, making room for the router. The width of the folding board, together with the gap between it and the stop (if there is one), should be equal to the distance from the center of the cutter to the edge of the router base. If you focus on the edge of the cutter and the edge of the future groove, then the device will only work with one diameter of the cutter.

When milling grooves across the grain, at the exit from the workpiece, when milling an open groove, cases of wood scuffing are not uncommon. The following devices will help to minimize scuffing: I press the fibers where the cutter exits, preventing them from splitting off from the workpiece.

Two boards, strictly perpendicular, are connected with screws. Different cutters are used on different sides of the stop so that the width of the groove in the fixture matches the width of the groove of the part being milled.

Another attachment for routing open slots can be pressed harder against the workpiece, which further minimizes scuffing, but it only fits one diameter cutter. It consists of two L-shaped parts connected to the workpiece with clamps.

Copy rings and templates

The copying ring is a round plate with a protruding shoulder that slides along the template and provides the necessary trajectory of the cutter. The copying ring is attached to the router base different ways: screw it into a threaded hole (such rings are in the photo below), insert the antennae of the ring into special holes on the sole or screw it in.

The diameter of the copy ring should be as close to the diameter of the cutter as possible, but the ring should not touch its cutting parts. If the diameter of the ring is larger than the diameter of the cutter, then the template must be smaller than the finished parts to compensate for the difference between the diameter of the cutter and the diameter of the copy ring.

The template is secured to the workpiece with double-sided tape, then both parts are pressed with clamps to the workbench. Once you have finished routing, check that the ring is pressed against the edge of the template throughout the entire operation.

You can make a template for processing not the entire edge, but only for rounding the corners. In this case, using the template shown below, you can make roundings of four different radii.

In the figure above, a cutter with a bearing is used, but the template can also be used with a ring, only either the ring must exactly match the diameter of the cutter, or the stops must make it possible to move the template away from the edge by the difference in the radius of the cutter and the ring. This also applies to the simpler version shown below.

Templates are used not only for milling edges, but also grooves on the face.

The template can be adjustable.

Template routing is a great method for cutting out hinge grooves.

Tools for milling round and elliptical grooves

Compasses are designed to move the router around a circle. The simplest device of this type is a compass, consisting of one rod, one end of which is connected to the base of the router, and the second has a screw with a pin at the end, which is inserted into a hole that serves as the center of the circle along which the cutter moves. The radius of the circle is set by shifting the rod relative to the base of the router.

It is better, of course, for the compass to be made of two rods.

In general, compasses are a very common device. There are a large number of branded and homemade devices for circumferential milling, varying in size and ease of use. As a rule, compasses have a mechanism that ensures a change in the radius of the circle. It is usually made in the form of a screw with a pin at the end, moving along the groove of the device. The pin is inserted into the central hole of the part.

When it is necessary to mill a circle of small diameter, the pin must be located under the router base, and for such cases, other devices are used that are attached to the bottom of the router base.

Ensuring the movement of the cutter in a circle using a compass is quite simple. However, one often has to deal with the need to make elliptical contours - when inserting oval-shaped mirrors or glass, installing arched windows or doors, etc. The PE60 WEGOMA device (Germany) is designed for milling ellipses and circles.

It is a base in the form of a plate, attached to the surface using vacuum suction cups 1 or with screws if the nature of the surface does not allow it to be fixed using suction cups. Two shoes 2, moving along intersecting guides, ensure the movement of the milling cutter along an elliptical path. When milling a circle, only one shoe is used. The device kit includes two mounting rods and bracket 3, with the help of which the router is connected to the slab. The grooves on the bracket allow you to install the router so that its supporting surface and the base of the slab are in the same plane.

As can be seen from the photographs above, a router was used instead of a jigsaw or band saw, and due to the high speed of the cutter, the quality of the processed surface was much higher. Also, if you don’t have a hand-held circular saw, a router can replace it.

Devices for milling grooves on narrow surfaces

Grooves for locks and door hinges, in the absence of a router, are made using a chisel and an electric drill. This operation - especially when making a groove for an internal lock - takes a lot of time. Having a milling cutter and a special device, it can be completed several times faster. It is convenient to have a device that provides milling of slots in a wide range of sizes.

To make grooves in the end, you can make a simple device in the form of a flat base attached to the base of the router. Its shape can be not only round (according to the shape of the base of the router), but also rectangular. On both sides you need to secure guide pins that will ensure the straight movement of the router. The main condition for their installation is that their axes are in line with the center of the cutter. If this condition is ensured, the groove will be located exactly in the center of the workpiece, regardless of its thickness. If you need to move the groove to one side or another from the center, you need to put a bushing with a certain wall thickness on one of the pins, as a result of which the groove will move to the side on which the pin with the bushing is located. When using a router with such a device, it must be guided in such a way that the pins are pressed on both sides to the side surfaces of the part.

If you attach a second rip fence to the router, you will also get a device for milling grooves in the edge.

But you can do without special devices. To ensure stability of the router on a narrow surface, boards are secured on both sides of the part, the surface of which should form a single plane with the surface being processed. When milling, the router is positioned using a rip fence.

You can make an improved version that increases the support area for the router.

Device for processing balusters, pillars and other bodies of rotation

The variety of work that is performed with a manual milling cutter sometimes dictates the need to independently manufacture devices that facilitate the performance of certain operations. Branded devices are not able to cover the entire range of work, and they are quite expensive. Therefore, home-made devices for a router are very common among users who are interested in working with wood, and sometimes hand-made devices are either superior to branded analogues or have no branded analogues at all.

Sometimes there is a need to mill various grooves in rotating bodies. In this case, the device shown below may be useful.

The device is used for milling longitudinal grooves (flutes) on balusters, posts, etc. It consists of a body 2, a movable carriage with an installed milling cutter 1, a disk for setting the angle of rotation 3. The device operates as follows. The baluster is placed in the body and secured there with screws 4. Rotation to the desired angle and fixation of the workpiece in a strictly defined position is ensured by disk 3 and locking screw 5. After fixing the part, the carriage with the router is set in motion (along the guide bars of the body), and the milling a groove along the length of the workpiece. Then the product is unlocked, rotated to the required angle, locked, and the next groove is made.

A similar device can be used instead lathe. The workpiece should be rotated slowly by an assistant or a simple drive, for example, from a drill or screwdriver, and excess material should be removed by a milling cutter moving along the guides.

Tools for milling tenons

Tenoning jigs are used to mill the profile of tenon joints. The manufacture of the latter requires great precision, which is almost impossible to achieve manually. Tenoning jigs allow you to quickly and easily profile even complex joints such as dovetails.

The figure below shows an industrial sample of a tenon-cutting device for making three types of joints - a dovetail (blind and through version) and a through joint with a straight tenon. The two mating parts are installed in the fixture with a certain shift relative to each other, controlled by pins 1 and 2, then they are processed. The exact trajectory of the cutter is determined by the shape of the groove in the template and the copying ring of the router, which slides along the edge of the template, repeating its shape.

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Copy-type equipment is used in cases where parts need to be manufactured according to a specific template within a small batch. In some cases, a copy-milling machine is used in large-scale production, just like the CNC version. This is due to the fact that the machine in question is capable of creating products whose shape most closely matches the original sample, like CNC machines, the movement of the cutter is set automatically. The main feature of a copy milling machine is its high processing speed.

Purpose

Often, a copy-milling machine is used to perform volumetric and plane processing; its operation is similar to those on which the CNC system is installed. At the same time, special models allow wood processing to be carried out in volume when a volumetric model is used as a copier. In the woodworking industry, volumetric processing allows:

1. create ornaments and various inscriptions.
2. engrave shaped profiles.
3. create complex patterns, the edges or planes of which are located in different planes.

The woodworking machine in question is often used in furniture production. Many decorative parts that have complex shapes are created using a similar machine.

Principle of operation

The possibility of significantly accelerating the production process of complex products is determined by the operating features of the copy-milling machine. Like metalworking, woodworking uses a cutting tool called a milling cutter.

The main points of the work include:

1. The cutter creates a contour or surface that is specified using a copier.
2. The connecting link between the cutting tool and the tracking device is a mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic system. A woodworking machine most often has a mechanical feed and control system.
3. The copier can be a flat template, a previously created reference model, a spatial model, a photocell, or a contour drawing. In some cases, such machines are equipped with CNC, which makes them highly versatile.
4. The samples that act as a template can be made of metal, wood, plastic or other material.

A copy-milling machine works as follows: a sample of various types is installed, a tracking device is connected to it, which, through a certain type of connection, transmits the required force to the cutting tool.

Classification

1. wood pantograph for router. this option can work in 2 or 3 dimensions;
2. universal type, which is also called a pantograph, having a rotating arm. as a rule, the sleeve is located in a vertical plane;
3. There are design options that have several spindles to speed up the processing process;
4. with mechanical, electrical, hydraulic feed;
5. photocopy type of contour transfer for guiding the cutting tool.

Woodworking machines also differ in the level of automation of the production process. In this case, CNC is installed quite rarely, since the template processing method does not require a Numerical Program Control system to indicate the trajectory of the cutting tool.

Making a machine with your own hands

There are a huge number of copy-type woodworking machines, which are known as pantographs, and have a CNC system (a universal option that allows processing using a copier or program). However, not everyone can purchase such equipment, which is associated with its very high cost. The addition of CNC makes the equipment available only to large manufacturers, when the payback period for the equipment will be less than 5 years. That is why many people ask the question - how to make a machine with your own hands?

Before you start work, it is worth remembering that do-it-yourself machines are significantly inferior to industrial models. At the same time, it is impossible to make a CNC version yourself. Also, many note that converting a regular milling version into a copying version with your own hands is also very difficult, and, often, it is easier to start from scratch. It is not difficult to make a pantograph yourself, but there are still certain difficulties in this process.

There are many schemes by which you can create a copy-milling machine with your own hands. A typical version usually consists of the following elements:

1. Desktop;
2. supporting frame;
3. milling head.

To carry out the procedure for changing the cutting mode, the height of the table changes, the head with the cutter has an electric drive, which sets the cutting tool in motion, and often the system includes a transmission mechanism for changing speeds.

The pantograph itself can be made as follows:

1. Made of wood. You can create such a pantograph with your own hands, but it will have low processing accuracy, since the wooden parts are connected using a loop. Fastening with loops is characterized by backlash.
2. Drawing pantograph made of metal - allows you to create copies at various scales, but cannot be used to create three-dimensional copies.

When creating a machine with your own hands, you should take into account that many parts may have flaws and discrepancies in size. This situation is associated with vibration and trembling of the base, which is quite difficult to avoid. When changing the direction of movement of the cutter, errors are also possible. Due to the internal stress of the wood workpiece, the workpiece may become distorted. Therefore, it is recommended to create such equipment only for narrow-profile production, when the machine will be designed to create one part. It is almost impossible to avoid the problems under consideration, however, provided that the same part is processed, gradual improvement of the design is possible.

When milling, copying devices are used, i.e. pantographs, which have a high cost. You can assemble a pantograph for a router with your own hands.

Making a pantograph

A milling cutter equipped with a pantograph allows you to repeat parallel lines of the workpiece during work. This procedure facilitates the production of shaped parts, various ornaments and patterns. In addition, using a pantograph you can make various inscriptions on metal and wooden plates.

It’s not difficult to make a homemade pantograph; you just need 4 ruler levers. Three such levers should be long, and one should be short. In addition, you will need to make several holes in them to mount the axles.

The axles will be used to install the mechanism and attach the rod. The axial mechanism is a pin with a cap at the end. The copying part should resemble a compass element in which the stylus is attached. Such a rod part can be made from the tip of a plastic knitting needle. Such a tip will glide gently during operation and will not damage the original part.

You will also need an axis on which the entire mechanical part of the device will rest. It must be equipped with a heel that acts as a stop. The last or outer guide will act as a fastener for the entire structure using a special boss.

Such a boss should be made of an aluminum cylinder. In its lower part you need to attach 3 stings, which can be made from small furniture nails. These nails will be used to secure the base to the plate being processed.

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Completion of work

The next step is to assemble the copying mechanism for the router. To do this, you need to prepare the following components:

• 4 rulers;
• 8 brass bushings.

Rulers should be made of plexiglass or plastic, their thickness should be 4-5 mm. You can also use plexiglass as a material for making rulers. Next, the marking of these linear parts is carried out. This process should be approached very carefully, since the slightest error in dimensions can lead to incorrect operation of the pantograph.

Holes are drilled on the marked markings. In this case, their alignment must be maintained. To achieve this, you need to put all the rulers together and drill holes in them at the same time.

Then you need to insert brass bushings into the prepared holes. When installing them, a slight tension should be observed: this will help the bushings to stay more tightly in the rulers. In order to secure the axial parts in the bushings, you need to make special clamps. They can be made from hardened steel wire, the diameter of which should be 1-1.5 mm.

Then the boss is assembled. Blind holes are made in its lower part, which can be punched with a core. The nails must be installed in such a way that they protrude from the body of the boss by 2-3 mm.

Having prepared all the necessary parts of the pantograph, they are assembled.

During this process, you need to ensure that all moving parts move smoothly and easily.

In this case, all prepared holes should be marked. According to this marking, you can scale the manufactured copy of the part.