How to make a lift for the router itself

Any master will say that the quality of the final product depends not only on the faithfulness of the hand, but also on the accuracy of the tool.

The elevator is designed to raise and lower the working milling cutter.

The hand mill is especially vulnerable in this sense. In order to provide a clearly oriented fixation of the working element with respect to the workpiece being processed, various versions of stationary devices with movable cutters were developed. But factory milling tables are expensive. Therefore, many private masters prefer to do the lift for the router with their own hands.

Why does the router need a lift?

The device for raising and lowering the working cutting head (milling cutter) on a woodworking machine is not a pleasant optional gadget, but an absolutely necessary element. Moreover, on the milling table, he is the main element. From the accuracy of its settings and the degree of stability depends, for example, the production of decorative finishes of furniture panels or various technological grooves and eyelets on wooden products that are so popular today.

Components of the milling table.

When using a manual milling cutter without an appropriate stationary device, the employee's hands quickly get tired. And it is quite understandable, since the weight of not the heaviest of these devices reaches 5 kg. But another problem associated with the operation of this unit manually, even more serious. No matter how hard the hand of the performer, it can not be compared with the accuracy of the router, installed on a special table.

The presence of a wide range of manufactured items, types of decorative finishes and technological processing of wood products has led to the need to ensure the mobility of the cutting element. So, the idea of ​​a special elevator was added to the milling machine turned upside down, which is able to quickly raise or lower the milling head, as well as to keep it above the table surface at a given level.

And thanks to the specified device, there is no need to remove each time and then re-install the manual router on the table. Probably, there is no need to say how much it speeds up and simplifies the production process.

Milling machine elevator: principle of operation and technical requirements

The elevator for a frezer is convenient in work by the fact that the movement of the working cutting part is made without a direct touch of the electric tool by the person. To bring the device in motion, either a knob, or a lever, or another method is used. This technology allows not only to smoothly and accurately expose the dimensions of the cut grooves and other relief grooves on the wood blanks, but also to quickly and easily change the cutters.

Figure 1. Bottom to the tabletop of the milling table is fixed base-support, which is a box made of plywood or chipboard.

Schematically, without detailing the design of an elevator, the principle of its operation is as follows. On the bottom plane of the table top, the corresponding dimensions of the supporting plate made of metal or PCB are mounted, to which two parallel posts are attached. On them the mobile carriage moves freely up and down. On the carriage mounted hand mill. The forward movement on the carriage and on the entire elevator is transmitted from the pushing device.

Taking up the manufacture of this device, you should consider the requirements for milling elevators.

First of all, the entire design of such a device must be sufficiently rigid, which is extremely necessary not only for the accuracy of material processing, the absence of errors in the calculations, but also for the safety of the operator.

The lifting system should be designed so that it guarantees quick removal and installation of the milling power tool and replacement of the milling heads. It is also worthwhile to design a mechanism with a relatively small lift travel (usually, to perform most milling operations, moving the router within 50 mm is sufficient). Finally, in the manufacture of devices it is necessary to provide that the router during operation is rigidly fixed in a predetermined position.

Materials and tools for the production of lift

To make an elevator for a router, it is recommended to prepare the following devices, materials and tools:

• manual mill (without handles);
• electric drill;
• standard auto-jack (for an elevator construction on the basis of a jack);
• square wooden bars;
• plate of metal (PCB);
• plywood sheets and chipboard;
• aluminum profile;
• a set of metal guides;
• threaded rod;
• a set of flat and cross screwdrivers;
• wrenches;
• pliers;
• drill;
• epoxy adhesive;
• nuts, bolts, washers;
• measuring tape (ruler, square).

Lift for a router, do-it-yourself: product examples

Home masters, regularly engaged in milling wooden surfaces, have developed a lot of different sizes, weight and features of the operation of milling elevators. However, it is almost impossible to describe all of them, so let us dwell on two examples based on the most frequently used principles of work.

The first option is a milling elevator with the use of a car jack. Its action is based on the fact that the milling machine operator by twisting the collar (pumping with a lever) on the jack raises or lowers the tip of the router with the cutting head.

Schematically, the process of making a lift for a manual milling cutter with your own hands (Fig. 1) is as follows. Bottom to the tabletop of the milling table is an additional base-support, which is a kind of box, in the manufacture of which fragments of 15 mm plywood or chipboard are used.

Figure 2. Elevator device for router

Two long fragments arranged parallel to each other, by means of metal corners and screws, are fastened with their ends to the lower surface of the table top. A horizontal base is rigidly fastened between them, to which the jack’s support heel will be subsequently fastened. The dimensions of the specified box is determined in such a way that, as a result, a manually selected milling cutter and a car jack fit inside it in height.

Then, the manual router with its working (front) side is fastened to the inner surface of the tabletop with the help of bolts through a special metal sole. This fastening is done in such a way that the router can move up and down freely.

Its bottom (back) part of the router is based on a metal (or textolite) support plate of the carriage, which moves up and down along the two side metal racks. Racks-guides are installed in place of previously taken handles of the router. For more reliable stability of the unit during operation, it is recommended to install thrust springs on the racks.

The second version of the milling elevator is based on the use of a support disk, an axial threaded rod and a flywheel disk (Fig. 2).

To create this design, you first need to cut a wooden circle, which will later rest from below on the hand mill. For its production will go billet thickness of 18-20 mm. Using a Forstner furniture drill with a diameter of 20 mm, a tsekovanie (partial drilling) with a depth of 12 mm is made in the center of the disk. After this, a through central hole is drilled with a diameter of 10 mm.

When the preparation of the support disc is finished, a threaded rod of the same diameter as the hole is inserted into its central hole and secured with a pair of nuts and washers. It should be noted that the stud should be of such length that will provide frezeru free wheeling at least 50 mm.

After that, a flywheel disk is attached to the stud with the help of a flange and an ordinary nut with a washer. Moreover, it should be located slightly above the middle of the axial pin.

From the bottom, the stud will rest on the bottom of plywood, which should be mounted between the legs of the table at a height of 75-80 mm from the floor. The flange nut built into the plywood will serve as a clamp for the lower end of the stud. Regarding this nut, subsequently, when the flywheel is rotated to one side or the other, the stud will move up or down, moving the hand mill.

Using the above, as well as other elevator options, you can start almost serial production of wood products, decorated with various relief cutouts.