Nowadays it is very difficult to imagine any plumbing work without using a router. But not so long ago, people made grooves, made three-dimensional figures using a plane, chisel and hacksaw. In modern times, various milling devices, including those made independently, are becoming increasingly popular. Do-it-yourself templates for a router make it easier to control the mechanism and help process surfaces as accurately and accurately as possible.
Such a device is necessary where you need to make a hole, smooth the edge of a product, or cut out a three-dimensional shape. Milling is used when cutting out ornaments, patterns, and preparing niches for installing corners, locking mechanisms, and hinges. This tool allows you to remove a chamfer and round the edge of any part. According to its characteristics, the router resembles the actions of a plane.
This processing device works with wood, plastic and aluminum. However, each case requires the installation of specified speed limits and appropriate equipment. Despite the active use of a router, such attributes of construction significance as a chisel, hacksaw, and cutter are still used in work. The use of templates for these installations is often associated with furniture making.
Making a homemade furniture template
Any employee of a furniture organization knows perfectly well how difficult it is to make a corner kitchen. Installing the countertop requires precise joints, rounding the leading edge and flattening other parts. It is known that a flat edge, placed in the form of a rounded beginning, will acquire an unattractive appearance with a noticeable rough seam. To ensure that the cutting is carried out correctly and accurately, a milling device and a specially made template for furniture are used. Creating such samples yourself is not so difficult.
The main devices, without which installation will be impossible, will be:
- fiberboard sheet;
- manual milling mechanism;
- blueprints.
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Step-by-step production of a template for furniture
Furniture parts cut according to a template have the same shape and size.
- Such a template, made by yourself, will perform its functions no worse than one purchased in a store. To create it, you need to prepare a drawing and a cover for the processing machine. Then a test homemade product is made from a fiberboard sheet; its thickness is equal to 8 mm.
- Next, the diameter of the cutter and the machine itself is measured. Then 2 intersecting lines are drawn, the angle of which is 135°. To smooth out these indicators, an arc is taken. To calculate its radius, you should find out similar readings for the cutter and rings. The resulting difference in the radii of the rings and cutters should be subtracted from the value of the first device.
- This creates an internal arc. The flat end of the postforming is milled along its base. As the ring moves along a given radius, the cutter describes an arc whose diameter is equal to its own.
- From the drawn segment, 2 lines are laid parallel to each other. The distance between these points is equal to the diameter of the ring of the router used. 5 mm is added to these readings. The line starts from the middle of the previous arc.
- The connection point of the segments is smoothed using an arc. Its radius corresponds to similar readings of the device’s thrust ring. During movement, the cutter will no longer be able to perform arcuate movements.
- You need to draw 2 equal rectangles that imitate the contours of the tabletop. An angle is applied to them, after which it is extended to a certain distance.
- Marking the template will make your work much easier. The arcs of the top and bottom rows will not overlap. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out verification for each detail by slightly shifting these boundaries.
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Templates for a hand router
- The first step is to make a template from hardboard, the thickness of which is 6 mm. The height of the MDF stencil is 12 mm. These materials are very easy to process and are in no way inferior to wood. However, their corners easily bend from accidental impacts or falls. In order for the templates to serve for a long time, it is necessary to take high quality birch. Despite its high cost, unlike MDF, it has greater strength and consistency of characteristics.
The boundaries of the parts are drawn on the surface of the template in compliance with natural proportions. Then the starting grooves are drilled, the unnecessary material is cut with a jigsaw, keeping an indent of 1 mm near the contour line. The edges of the edge are carefully sanded, the paper stencil is removed.
- Using a template, a specified number of parts are created. Then this element is placed on the product and outlined with a pencil. Unnecessary material is cut out, moving 1.5 mm away from the contour. Similar actions are carried out with other workpieces.
- Using fabric-based double-sided tape, the template is fixed to one of the products. In order for the work to proceed as quickly as possible, you should insert a cutter with a bearing on the shank into the machine collet. This part rolls along the edge of the stencil.
- Then you need to select the type of cutter. All varieties with bearings are used for milling according to templates; the device is held in the hand and installed on the surface. Using a copying cutter, the operation of the machine is monitored at the moment when the part moves along the table, the template is located on top.
- The space between the tip and the shank does not need to be machined with a bearing cutter in one pass. This can be done in 2-3 times using a cheaper version of the cutter. Milling is carried out by aligning the bearing with the middle part of the stencil thickness.
- A thrust rod device is placed close to the cutter. The machine turns on, the part is pressed against this part and gradually moves towards the rotating cutter until the bearing comes into contact with the template. Milling of external contours is carried out counterclockwise, internal contours - in the opposite direction. At the moment the cutter bearing comes into contact with the template, the part is removed from the rod stop device.
The copying device at the shank functions similarly, however, it is necessary to rotate the part so that the stencil faces the table surface. Milling is carried out similarly to a table. During the manipulation process, it is important to monitor the integrity of the base of the workbench.
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Wedge templates for hand router
You can make a template in the form of spikes or wedges on your own. This compound is elegant and is most often used in furniture production. And there, as you know, high build quality is required. Using such primitive devices as a saw and a chisel in work, one cannot do without some experience in the construction industry, which cannot be said about a hand router. It allows even beginners to carry out the given work.
How to connect templates for a router so that it clearly marks the wedges on all workpieces? To do this, you can use a manual machine with decent characteristics. The ring must be the right size for the machine, otherwise it must be purchased.
A partially hidden wedge-shaped device can be seen on one side. The end-to-end connection can be traced from both points. To combine the two parts, the light element is installed strictly vertically. Periodically, the interdental space of the template is cleaned of sawdust. Upon completion of the work, existing roughness must be treated with emery cloth.
Quite a lot of people who are currently working with wood dream of purchasing a factory perfect attachment for a router for cutting tenons, or a so-called template. It is ideal for cutting dovetail joints or straight tenons. Milling patterns will come in handy if you need to complete a large number of parts in a short period of time. Very often, the manufacturer completes its products with the necessary devices to make work easier. However, this condition is not always met if you buy manufacturer's products in the lowest price category. Therefore, a woodworker often makes the required element himself in a garage. Moreover, it is not difficult to do this in modern conditions. Often, no drawing is required to make a template; all necessary manipulations can be performed using a figured ruler and pencil. By spending a little time making a template, you will save a lot of time in the future when routinely cutting out shapes.
How to make a template for a router
Solid hardboard 6 mm thick or MDF sheets 12 mm thick are suitable as patterns for the router. The advantage of these materials is that they are easy to process compared to wood sheets. Their only drawback is that the corners of the material and complex contours easily wrinkle and lose shape when dropped or hit. Birch plywood is required to make a high-quality, durable template. The disadvantage of this material is its higher price.
The pattern is made on a scale of 1:1 to the part. First, holes are drilled to cut out the template, then the template is cut out along the contour using a jigsaw. The distance from the cut line is about 1 mm. The edges of the sample are ground with abrasive. In this way, the required number of templates is cut out. The template is fixed to the working material using double-sided tape. Simplification of work is possible by inserting a cutter with a bearing into the collet of the machine, which will roll along the edge of the stencil.
Flexible routing template
A flexible template is a strip of flexible material (usually rubber or plastic), which is attached to the work surface using self-tapping screws. To make a flexible pattern for milling, you will need a 25x3 mm steel strip. At the back of the strip it is necessary to screw the corners for fastening to the workpiece. You can use a motorcycle chain, first dividing it into segments and securing it on top through spacers using clamps. The sole should be round, the protrusion beyond the main diameter should be no more than two to three centimeters. On the market of materials for milling, patterns from the company SMT are quite popular products. Such templates are used for milling on a manual router with end mills or for working on a stationary manual machine with manual feed. The smaller the cross-section of your template, the smaller its bending radius will be.
Template for dovetail router
The template itself is called a “comb” or tenon cutter, since its shape is very similar to this element of a woman’s wardrobe. The pattern must be made of aluminum; a strip 6 mm thick will be required. The depth of the sheet slot will be 26 mm, the width of the “ridge” will be 18 mm, and the distance between the ridges will be 18 mm. The width of the aluminum plate can be from 140 mm or more. This parameter will depend on the type of router you have. For this design, the cutter parameters will be as follows: D=12.7; B=12.7; angle = 14 degrees. Both the groove and the bridge must have ideal rounding radii. The ring of the router attachment should have an outer diameter of 16 or 17 mm, its thickness should be 1 mm less than the thickness of the comb.
The comb should be attached to the table at corners that can move freely up and down. This property is needed to adjust the template to the thickness of the part. This design has adjusting rings for precise installation of workpieces. There are two stops in front and on top of the milling template, spaced apart to ensure that the teeth of the workpiece align exactly during operation. To fix the part, eccentrics are used, which press on a spring-loaded metal plate that has a bolt at the back to adjust the thickness of the part. When preparing for work, the part must be inserted and fixed against the stop, then clamped with an eccentric. After this, you can safely mill it.
Of course, today the easiest way is to pay and purchase the necessary templates for full-fledged work. However, if you are not satisfied with factory production, you like to make things with your own hands, then you will enjoy working on patterns made by yourself.
Template for a manual router installed in a “table”.
More precisely, this is a homemade stop that can be used with a whole set of templates. The workpiece is installed into this stop along with the required template and clamped with cam eccentrics.
As we usually use a hand router when copying parts according to a template. The template is made from durable sheet material, such as MDF. The template is attached to the workpiece with self-tapping screws and the part is passed through with a router using a cutter with a support bearing, or a special copier ring, which is included in the standard set of accessories and is attached to the platform of the router itself.
Top to bottom, cam clamp, template, workpiece.
The device is assembled.
Such options have their advantages; you don’t need a table for a router. But with a large number of parts to be processed, it gets boring to twist the template every time. This method is convenient because the device you make can be used for a long time. And if you also make a set of the most popular templates for it, then time and labor costs will be significantly reduced. Unusual way of working.
The material for the base should be quite rigid; you can probably use plywood with a thickness of 10-12 mm. , but I think a 6-8 mm thick MDF board would be better. . The vertical wall and eccentrics are made of dense wood, oak, beech, or, in extreme cases, birch.
In fact, all parts except the base area can be made from 20 mm thick plywood. , but I think eccentrics made of plywood will be worse than those made of oak.
Holes are drilled on the vertical part for the bolt that secures the cams. The holes are made in vertical rows so that the eccentrics can be rearranged in height, depending on the thickness of the part and the template. The hole markings are in the figure. The thickness of the vertical oak part is 16-25 mm. .
When assembling, the parts are twisted with self-tapping screws, you can coat the joints with glue and the caps must be recessed. Here you need to keep in mind that during operation the base area may fall under the cutter, and sooner or later it will have to be changed. As for the vertical part, handles and eccentrics, they should last a long time. The cams are mounted on bolts with a diameter of 5 mm. . Instead of nuts, it is better to use wings so that they can be easily tightened by hand.
The handles hold the platform and the vertical part together; in addition, you use them to hold the device in use. Make such classic curly ones, or use a simpler option, it’s your choice.
Accessories for hand router
For many people, router attachments are like a TV remote that has many buttons and functions, but most people only use a small portion of those buttons because they don't know or understand the buttons' many capabilities. The same position applies to the router. Often this versatile tool is not used to its full potential. Let's look at some of what a hand router can do.
Indispensable assistants for a hand router
Fraser instead of chisel
Usually samples are made with a chisel. But if you have a router, then the selections can be made with a spiral cutter. Install a copying sleeve into the base of the router according to the diameter of your cutter. Attach the template to the workpiece, and then slowly and with the cutter not deeply immersed, moving the router smoothly, make a sample in the workpiece. This is a troublesome matter, it is important that the jig is constantly parallel to the workpiece, and for this, make a device, as shown in the photograph.
Router guide
Usually, ready-made devices are already included with the router. One of them is a set of guide rods and a parallel stop. It serves for making grooves, tenons, adding decorative patterns to the edges of the product and many other purposes. In our case, oval recesses are made on the platband at the same distance from each other, reminiscent in shape of antique columns. The use of this jig is simple and consists of parallel and perpendicular movement of the router on the workpiece. Setting up the jig includes loosening the screws on the stop and router, installing the router in the right place, and tightening the screws. Immerse the cutter to the desired depth and move the router with the stop to make a cut.
Inlay and application of text inscriptions
To write various texts and inlays with a router, you first need to apply marking lines, and then, with a steady hand, mill along the recess lines. One mistake and you have the good fortune to start all over again. Using templates, a cutter with a guide bearing or a guide (copying) sleeve, you eliminate the possibility of deviation from the intended course, as shown in these photos.
Device for cutting out inlay inserts.
Device with letter templates.
Fraser instead of jigsaw
To cut a perfect circle using a router, make a small device on the sheath. The router is mounted on plywood with a “long arm” that rotates around a fixed point, as shown in the photo.
Having a milling machine, cutting round blanks without a jigsaw will not be difficult.
Device for making grooves
The design of the device for making grooves is shown in the photo.
Using this device you can make grooves of the required size.
Calibration templates for cutters
Let's imagine a situation where you need to change a cutter, and then to continue work you need to restore the height of the cutter. Make two calibration templates for the cutters to be replaced.
You can make templates from medium-density chipboard or hardwood. The thickness of the template must correspond to the thickness of the product part and have a length of at least one meter. Next, we insert a cutter into the router to make the first calibration template and do test milling. Once you have a satisfactory result, make a template. Having the first calibration template available, install the second cutter in the router and, placing the first calibration template under it, raise the router to the desired height.
By changing the height of the router up or down, ensure that the router completely matches the contours of the template, as shown in the photo, and fix the height of the router. Check the settings made on a test rack, check the accuracy of the coincidence with each other. If the result is satisfactory, make a second calibration template.
Parallel milling attachment
If you need a large number of dovetail slots or simple slots spaced equally as shown in the picture, then you will need a parallel routing jig.
This fixture saves time when adjusting the distances between slots and will help you achieve more accurate router passes by installing the fixture in the newly created slot. An important parameter in the settings is the production of the first slot; it will ensure the uniform arrangement of all grooves.
The parallel milling device is made of 12 mm thick plywood. Cut the workpiece into a square measuring 200 x 200 mm. In the center of the workpiece, auxiliary base, drill a hole for the cutter. Determine and mark the groove for the runner. The distance from the edge of the cutter to the runner will be the distance between the slots on the product. The runner for the device is made of hardwood.
For dovetail slots, first make the groove with a straight cutter of a smaller diameter, and then use a dovetail cutter to complete the slot.
Stopping milling using a stop block
It happens that you don’t need to mill chamfers or profiles along the entire length of a part, and sometimes you need to stop milling exactly in a certain place. For these purposes, a simple device is used - stop block, which can be installed on any workpiece.
Determine the distance to the point where milling on the workpiece will stop, determine the bearing radius and add it to the extreme point. Install the stop block and press it against the edge of the workpiece as shown in the picture.
Control over small parts when milling
It is difficult to hold small parts in your hands when milling a product; if the hole for the cutter does not correspond to the diameter of the cutter, there is also a possibility that the workpiece will fail and you can damage your fingers with the cutter.
First solution- drill a hole slightly larger than the diameter of the cutter, which will prevent the workpiece from falling into the hole.
Second solution- clamp the workpiece into a clamp. When clamping the workpiece, make sure that it does not have any slopes and that it lies tightly on the milling table.
Narrow edge routing attachment
Narrow edges are very inconvenient to mill with a hand router. To make work easier, make inserts-fixers. They can be made from wood waste. Place the retaining inserts on both sides between the shelves and compress them with clamps. Now you can mill any edge on all shelves.
If the router is not stable on the edges, place additional intermediate inserts inside the box and again clamp firmly with clamps.
Device for marking and selecting grooves and slots
This tool will help you quickly make router settings and mill grooves and slots exactly to size using a straight router bit of any diameter.
This device is made of two parallel strips of plywood or medium-density chipboard 3/4″ thick. The size of the narrow strip is the length from the edge of the router bit to the edge of the router sole.
Lay the strips side by side and connect them with hanging loops. Install a straight cutter of the required diameter into the router. Adjust the immersion depth of the cutter equal to the depth of the groove. Now, on the working surface of the workpiece, use a pencil to mark the beginning line of each groove.
Align the mark and fixture with the folded strip on the workpiece and press firmly with clamps. Turn the strip over and rout the first groove. By installing the devices on the second mark, the milling process will be repeated.
Slider for quick settings
Two guides attached to the runner rail will serve you when you need to restore all settings after changing the cutter on the milling table. Let's assume that a perfectly tuned stop was forced to shift due to the replacement of a cutter. You can easily save time on restoring the settings of the stop and bearing height using this device.
Before making any adjustments, install the slider in the slot on the table, align the movable guides with the stop and tighten the fastening nuts. Then remove the fixture from the table, reposition the fence, and replace the cutter. Install the parts of the device into the slot, adjust the stop to align it with the guides and tighten the stop nuts. If your router table does not have a runner slot, use the front edge of the table top. Place the milled edge of the workpiece on the table, changing the height of the cutter until the cutter matches the pattern on the product.
Methods for adjusting the precise plunge of the cutter
Usually, restoring old settings is a troublesome and thankless task; I offer two quick and easy ways to always accurately adjust the cutting depth on a milling machine.
First way. For settings, you can use drills of different thicknesses and accurately set the depth of immersion of the cutter.
Second way. Make two slats of the same height and equal to the immersion depth of the cutter.
Place the router on the slats and lower the router until it touches the table top, tighten the stop rod on the router.
Insulating tape will increase the width of the groove
Sometimes, the width of the groove may differ slightly from the size of the cutter, and in order to expand the groove, you have to adjust the distances with a fixture or ruler each time. This usually creates big problems. Instead of these adjustments, I suggest adding strips of insulating tape to the edge of the router base. This will move the edge of the cutter slightly away from the edge of the groove and make it possible to increase the width of the groove, if necessary. Four layers of blue tape will be enough.
How to make beautiful oval edges
Sometimes, for various reasons, it can be difficult to keep the base of the router level and without tilting in relation to the product, to create smooth and even edges, as shown in the figure.
An auxiliary stand for the router, secured in any available way, will help you make beautiful oval edges.
How to make beautiful oval corners
Rounding corners on a product using a hand router does not always give a positive result. To get a beautiful, even oval, consider one of the methods, using an oval cutter with a small radius and how to always install it at the same height for milling.
The same radius of the cutter on the milling table can be set using the device shown in the figure.
The device consists of two parts: a wooden corner, the edge of which is beveled to fit a specific cutter, and a supporting block.
The corner and the block are fastened together with a clamp. By changing the height of the cutter above the table, ensure its exact height matches the corner. Then install the fence flush with the routing guide bearing.
Start pin for smooth and safe milling
The rough and unsafe start of freehand routing can be changed by using a starting pin. It will help to smoothly bring the workpiece to the cutter at the beginning of milling.
The starting pin is installed at a distance of 2? from the cutter. It can be made from brass or aluminum rod and securely mounted on the router table.
Prepare the part for milling and place it on the table, pressing one edge against the pin, then slowly turn it towards the cutter with the bearing. When the cutter has completely milled the edge of the workpiece, continue milling the entire workpiece, lightly pressing it against the starting pin.
Use this method for milling small parts.
Enlarging holes in two steps
You may need to make the hole larger or make a blind over the round hole. This method can be used when you need to make a hole larger than the largest Forstner drill bit.
The hole enlargement method is performed in two steps:
Step 1. It is necessary to increase the size of the hole with a cutter to select quarters; the width of the quarter corresponds to the radius of the cutter, minus the radius of the bearing on the cutter. The bearing is in contact with the old edge of the hole.
Step 2. We turn the workpiece upside down and install a straight cutter with a bearing and remove the remaining part of the edge until the bearing comes into contact with the new edge, as shown in the figure.
Parts support block
The support block can be used as a perpendicular, stop and block. It will not only increase the cutting accuracy, but will also help make perpendicular cuts, and will also perform the work of a trimming device.
The dimensions of the support block are shown in the figure.
Attachment for milling complex curves
Templates help to mill not only in a straight line, but also in curved milling. Templates will help you process complex oval shapes on a product, but to do this, the bends of the template must correspond to the radius of the router's copying sleeve.
Shown here is a device that allows you to mill a mirror image of a template onto a workpiece. The template is made of plywood or chipboard 12 mm thick. The size and shape of the roundings of the template are matched to the radius of the copying sleeve. The template is attached to the workpiece in any available way. Then select the cutter you are going to use to make a copy of the template. It can be a straight cutter, an oval cutter, or a combination of cutters.
This picture shows routing using the same template on a door panel. The same template will help you create patterns on the top of the table or tabletop. There is only one requirement: The workpiece must have at least one straight edge to line up the template.
Template for making holes for pins
Drilling holes for shelf pins is a difficult job on any project. Having a template with marked holes, a router with a guide bushing and a drill of the required diameter - getting exact copies of the holes is not a problem. The template is made from a smooth double-sided strip of hardened hardboard 12 mm thick. The width and length of the template is made to match the size of the workpiece and the base of the router. Make markings on the template using lines for future holes. Mark the holes with a slight offset.
For example, the distance between the lines is 75 mm, the distance on the template, to the hole on the line, on one edge will be 1 1/4?, and on the other edge - 1 3/4?, which means the distance to the hole on one side of the workpiece , which we are drilling, will be equal to 1 1/4?, and on the other side, the already drilled holes are located at a distance of 1 3/4? respectively, as shown in the figure.
Then, using a drilling machine, drill holes evenly with a diameter of 3/4?, after finishing drilling, secure the template to the product. Next, install a copying sleeve with a diameter of 3/4? on the base of the router, install a straight cutter 1/4? into your router, set the drilling depth on the router. Insert a guide sleeve into each hole of the template and immerse the drill into the hole until it stops limiting the immersion. Once you've finished drilling a hole, move on to the next hole and repeat until you're done.
Additional mounting plate for router
Mounting fixtures on a router or enlarging the base on a router requires precise placement of the mounting holes.
Remove the smooth plastic cover from the router, copy its dimensions and holes onto 12 mm thick plywood or chipboard. Using a drill of a smaller diameter, following the marks of the holes for the bolts, drill the mounting holes. Check the size of the copy with the base size; if the copy and the original do not match, increase the drill diameter step by step until the holes match exactly. If an exact copy is made, drill holes of the required diameter.
Jointing on a milling table
Thin plastic (laminate) is mounted on the receiving side of the router table fence and works in the same way as the receiving table of a jointer. Adjust the fence with the laminate flush with the cutting edge of the router bit. By pressing the part in the right half of the stop, move it in the direction of the cutter. With your left hand, press the cut piece against the laminate to rout the workpiece.
Pads for routing patterns
Milling the entire edge of a panel with a large router bit in one pass is risky business. Spacers glued to the stop on the milling table will help you gradually, without constant adjustments, obtain a beautiful and accurate pattern on the part. Adjust the fence relative to the router bit so that this is the last routing step. Then make eight spacers from plywood, no more than 5 mm thick, and glue them with double-sided tape on both sides on the stop.
You need to rout all four edges of each panel, then separate a spacer from each side of the fence as shown. Continue routing each panel until all spacers have been removed. The last step is to mill the pieces without spacers on the fence.
Edge removal tool
This device will help you mill the remaining edges on the part without the risk of damaging the workpiece.
Cut out a square base measuring 200 x 200 mm and 18 mm thick. Then, using a circular saw, make a cut in the center of the base, but with a depth of no more than half the thickness of the base. Make a rectangle measuring 100 x 200 mm. The thickness of the workpiece can be increased for stability. Glue it to the base flush with the cut, as shown in the picture.
Drill a hole in the center of the base to match the diameter of the straight cutter you are using. Insert the cutter into the router and set it to a shallow immersion depth. Make sure when test routing that a thin layer of edge remains on the surface. Clamp the workpiece in a vice, turn on the router and trim the overhanging edge of the strip. Remove any residue with a knife blade and sand with sandpaper.
Products made from wood are distinguished by their uniqueness and environmental friendliness, which is why they are so valued. But you won’t be able to make a wooden masterpiece with your own hands without a hand router. In addition, it will need accessories with the help of which the craft takes on a given shape.
You can even make them with your own hands, and no special strength or skills are required. Before working with a router, you must first familiarize yourself with each of these devices, as well as learn how they work. In this article we will look at the most necessary designs for a router.
Device - rip fence
This device, as a rule, is already sold along with the router. Therefore, there is no need to develop and create it independently. For reliable support of the processed material, this element is used. With it, the movement of the cutter becomes rectilinear relative to the base surface, which can be a table guide, slats or straight edge part.
This device makes it possible to quickly mill various grooves and process edges while firmly holding the material.
Guide rail
If you need to make a straight cut with a router, then you cannot do without this device. To make it you will need any flat board, for example, you can use a piece of chipboard.
First you need to find out the distance from the edge of the milling base to the center of rotation, and it is always the same. To do this, you need to screw a guide to the unnecessary part of the material and make a test cut. Then you should measure the gap from the edge of the cut to the tire, to which the radius of the cutter is added. As a result, it will be possible to obtain the required value. For example, it is 59 mm, and the diameter of the groove cutter is 14 mm, that is , its radius is 7 mm.
Then you should draw a line for the cut, from which we retreat a distance of 52 mm (59-7), and draw another one. We fix the guide along it and make the cut.
Circle milling
Compasses are used for such purposes. With their help, the router can move around a circle. The simplest of them is a device consisting of a rod, one end of which is equipped with a screw with a pin, and the other is attached to the base of the tool. Of course, it is better to use a compass equipped with two rods.
In general, there are many proprietary and even homemade devices for a router for cutting circles, which differ from each other in ease of use and dimensions. Quite often, compasses have a mechanism changing the radius of the circle. As a rule, it is a screw with a pin at the end that moves along the groove of the router.
When it is necessary to mill a small circle, the pin should be located under the base of the tool. In these cases, other devices are also used, fixed at the bottom of the device base.
But you don’t have to buy a milling compass to cut out circles. Instead, you can use a rip fence. To do this, the device is attached to a groove on the sole. A screw is screwed into it, which is recommended to be equipped with a sleeve so that its diameter matches the size of the hole. That's it, the compass is done. The radius can be adjusted using the stop.
Devices for replication and copying
To create a series of identical products use:
- Angle lever;
- Copy probes.
There is a scale on the angle lever, the division price of which is 1/10 mm. It allows you to center a stop ring under the cutter, which helps accurately reproduce the shape of the part on the workpiece during copying. It is often equipped with a chip guard and support plate for best edge finishing.
Using copy templates and rings
Copy rings are a round plate with a protruding edge that slides along the base surface along the template. This device provides an accurate path for the cutter to move. Basically, this element is installed on the base of the workbench. At the same time, there is Several methods for attaching it:
- Installation of special antennae in the holes on the sole;
- Screwing the ring into the threaded recess.
Using a template also allows you to achieve more efficient and accurate work. It is attached directly to the workpiece with double-sided tape, and then both parts of the device are pressed to the machine with clamps. Moreover, experienced milling operators advise checking how tightly the ring is pressed to the edge of the template.
In addition, with such a device you can not process the entire edge, but only the corners. Hence, procedure for processing material according to a template- an excellent option for cutting grooves for the product.
Dust removal devices
Professional craftsmen, in order to ensure dust removal, specially buy a technical vacuum cleaner, which is connected through an adapter with a hose to the router. Moreover, it does not interfere with operating the tool, and the markings and place of processing of the product are always open for visual inspection.
It is very difficult to work without a suction unit. But not everyone decides to make such a purchase, since it is too burdensome in terms of money and, moreover, is not always justified. True, there is another solution; you can get rid of dust with a household vacuum cleaner.
Install between the milling machine and the vacuum cleaner hermetically sealed tank. It will catch the bulk of the dust. It is equipped with an additional hose, and a fabric mesh is inserted inside. Moreover, these designs can be purchased ready-made or made with your own hands. By the way, a homemade device will help a household vacuum cleaner to collect even large construction debris and wood dust.
Slot milling device
This device is used for processing longitudinal grooves on posts, balusters and other rotating bodies. The principle of its operation is as follows. A baluster is installed into the body and fixed. Using a locking screw and a disk, the workpiece is secured in a strictly defined position.
After which the carriage is set in motion and the milling a groove along the length of the product. Then the part is unlocked, rotated to the required angle, locked, and the next groove is created.
Instructions for wood carving with a router
Beginning craftsmen may find working with hand tools difficult because the process of operating them seems difficult. That is why, before you start milling, you need to familiarize yourself with the principle of its operation.
Router assembly
The first step is to check the mounting location of the cutter in the machine; as a rule, a collet chuck is used for this. First, you need to select the desired cutter that matches the size of the chuck. If necessary, you can replace it.
But when deep processing is necessary, an option with an extended shank is used, which is inserted into the chuck hole and secured with a key. This must be done carefully without applying force, otherwise you will overcook, which is not the norm for the correct operation of the router. Although it is worth trying to reach a good stop so that the cutter does not wobble. All that remains is to tighten the spindle lock and you can get to work.
After this, the router turns on, you need to get used to the sound and feel the start. It is often because of surprise that many people start getting married.
Depth selection
In addition, you will need to install a milling depth limiter. First, the machine is applied to the product from the edge, while the cutter should not come into contact with the material. You will have to press on it until it reaches the required depth, after which position is fixed.
For a more accurate value, use a phased limiter. You can find out its pitch in the manual for the router. In this case, the regulator is rotated by the required number of degrees.
First of all, the required speed is determined. This is done according to the table in the instructions, based on the diameter of the cutter and the material being processed.
If you have never worked with a router before, then it is better to try your hand at a rough version. In addition, this will help you set the necessary parameters directly in processing mode.
It is also advisable to compare the results after moving the tool clockwise and counterclockwise, toward you and away from you. When milling a product around, the correct direction is counterclockwise, and on the flat side, on the contrary, away from you. Then you can start carving the main workpiece.