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. Main feature, which a copy-milling machine has – 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.

Operating principle

The possibility of significantly accelerating the production process of complex products is determined by the operating features of the copy-milling machine. As with metal processing, woodworking uses cutting tool called "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.

The copy milling machine works as follows: a sample is installed various types, a tracking device is connected to it, which, through certain type the connections transmit 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 their level of automation. 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 yourself

There are a huge number of copy-type woodworking machines, which are known as pantographs, have a CNC system ( universal option, which 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 remaking the usual milling option Do-it-yourself copying is also very difficult, and often it’s 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. Typical option, as a rule, 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; 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.

Both in production and at home, there is often a need to produce a part whose shape and dimensions are completely identical to the original sample. At enterprises, this problem is solved using a device such as a copy-milling machine, which allows you to produce copies of the original part in large series, differs high speed, as well as the quality of the processing performed.

What is the milling process?

Copy-milling machines and any other equipment of the milling group can be found on almost any industrial enterprise. This is explained by the fact that the milling operation is one of the most common methods used to perform machining. This technology allows you to perform a wide range of roughing, semi-finishing and finishing operations with simple and shaped workpieces made of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, and to work on wood and plastic. On modern milling equipment Parts of even the most complex shapes are processed with high precision and productivity.

There are two main types of milling: counter (feed and rotation of the tool are in different directions) and down milling (the tool rotates in the same direction as the feed). The cutting part of tools performing milling is made of various materials, which makes it possible not only to successfully work on wood, but also to carry out processing (including grinding) of even the most hard metals and alloys, artificial and natural stone.

Milling equipment is divided into two types: general purpose and specialized, which includes a copy-milling machine.

Capabilities of copy-milling equipment

The copying machine, which belongs to the milling group, is designed for copying and milling work with flat and three-dimensional parts. In addition, such a device can be used to engrave shaped profiles, apply inscriptions and patterns (even of high complexity) to products, and carry out light milling operations on wood and other materials.

Using tools with cutting parts made of various materials, parts made of cast iron are processed on copy milling machines, different varieties steel and non-ferrous metals. Such devices for producing parts in small and large batches successfully produce turbojet engine blades and steam turbines, propellers for ships, cutting and forging dies, impellers for hydraulic turbines, molds for pressing and casting, compression molds, etc.

A copy-milling machine performs technological operations that are practically inaccessible to universal equipment. The operating principle of such a machine is based on the copying method, for which a special template is used. The use of a template eliminates the human factor when processing even the most complex parts, due to which all finished products have the same shape and geometric dimensions. Conveniently, one template can be used to accurately manufacture a large batch of parts that will be completely identical to each other.

In order to copy the shape and dimensions of the template as accurately as possible, a copier (pantograph for a router) is installed on a copy-milling machine. The purpose of such a device is to accurately transfer all movements from the copy head to the cutting tool.

How does a copy milling machine work?

Copy-milling machines, as mentioned above, are used for planar (processing of profiles) and volumetric (processing of reliefs) milling. They use cutters as a working tool, which, when processing the contour or volumetric surface of a part, repeat the movements of the copier. The connection between the working element and the tracking system in manual machines is ensured by mechanical, pneumatic or hydraulic elements necessary to generate the force transmitted from the copier to the working element of the copy-milling machine.

The template on such machines is a flat contour or spatial model, a standard part or contour drawings, and the element that reads the shape and dimensions of the template is a copying finger or roller, a special probe, or a photocell. To make a template, you can use an aluminum sheet or a sheet of other metal, plastic or wood. The template and the workpiece are located on the rotating work table of the machine.

The working body of copy-milling equipment comes into motion thanks to such structural elements, such as a screw, spool valve, solenoid, differential or magnetic clutch. Relays installed in the amplification devices of copy-milling machines can be electromagnetic, hydraulic or electro-optical.

The quality of the workpiece (surface roughness, accuracy of shape and size) depends on such a parameter as the speed of movement of the tracking device. In this case, you can achieve the following characteristics finished product: roughness – No. 6, profile accuracy – 0.02 mm. The main elements of the executive circuit of such equipment are electric motor and hydraulic cylinder.

A pantograph installed on copy-milling equipment ensures copying at a given scale. The pantograph structure consists of a guide pin, its axis, a tool spindle and a separate axis of rotation. The spindle and guide pin are located on the same rail, the ratio of the arms of which determines the copying scale.

Moving along the contour of the template, the finger sets in motion the rack, which rotates freely on an axis. Accordingly, on the other side of the rack, the machine spindle makes identical movements, processing the workpiece. On do-it-yourself copy-milling machines, such a device will also not be superfluous; its presence significantly increases the functionality of the equipment.

Types of copy-milling machines

The equipment of a copy-milling machine may include various types of drives. Based on this parameter, the following are distinguished:

• equipment with a pantograph (suitable for processing parts in 2–3 dimensions);
• devices with a copier mounted on a rotary rack moving in a vertical plane;
• single and multi-spindle machines equipped with rotary tables round or rectangular shape;
• machines, the feed on which is ensured by mechanical, electrical, hydraulic devices;
• photocopying equipment.

A homemade copying machine can be any of these types (including copying and grinding machines). You just need to find drawings on the Internet and select components.

According to the degree of automation and the method of fixing the workpiece, the following categories of copy-milling machines are distinguished:

• manual or tabletop, on which the workpiece is fixed mechanically(on these devices you can drill holes various shapes according to the template);
• automatic equipment of a stationary type, the workpieces on which are fixed using pneumatic clamps (such machines work with aluminum);
• automatic equipment of a stationary type with pneumatic clamps, on which a three-spindle head is installed (on these copy-milling machines, triple holes are simultaneously drilled, which does not allow the production of units of the two previous types).

How does a copy milling machine work?

As noted above, on a copy-milling machine the workpiece is processed using a master device - a copier. All movements of the copier along the contour or surface of the template are transmitted thanks to a special (copying) device to the working head of the machine in which the cutter is fixed. Thus, the cutting tool exactly repeats all the movements made by the copier used to equip the router.

The movements of the elements of a copy-milling machine during the processing of a part are divided into main (rotation and movement of the spindle when cutting the tool into the workpiece material, movement along the contour of the work table and slide) and auxiliary (movement of the spindle head, slide and table in accelerated mode, as well as installation movements made by the tracer table, the copying finger, the stops and the clamp that fixes the spindle head).

In copy milling machines working on aluminum, two tracking schemes can be implemented: simple action and action with feedback. When implementing the scheme direct action the working part of the machine makes movements due to the fact that it is rigidly connected to the copier. The reverse action scheme does not provide for such a connection and movements from the copier to the working element are transmitted not directly, but through a tracking system.

As mentioned above, contour and volumetric milling is performed on copy milling machines. At contour milling the copier movements occur in a plane parallel or perpendicular to the axis of the tool. In the first case, the movement of the equipment working table can only be longitudinal, and the cutter and copying finger move vertically. In the second case, the table moves both longitudinally and transversely. At volumetric milling the part is processed in stages - thanks to several movements of the table and tool performed in parallel planes.

The direct action scheme can also be implemented through a pantograph, which allows you to reduce the size of finished products in relation to the size of the template used (scale). Most often, such an additional device, which is easy to make yourself, is installed on machines used for engraving and light milling work.

Another variation of a self-made machine

How to make a copy milling machine with your own hands

Many home craftsmen would like to purchase a copy-milling machine to equip their workshop, but the cost of such equipment is quite high. Meanwhile, if you have the desire, and without spending a lot of time, effort and financial resources, you can make such equipment with your own hands.

Naturally, homemade copy-milling equipment cannot be compared with professional ones in terms of power, reliability and functionality, but such machines can also make high-quality copies, work with wood and process workpieces from other materials. Many people try to attach a copying device to an existing one, but this is impractical, since it would require redoing almost the entire machine. As practice shows, it is better to assemble your homemade copy-milling machine from scratch, selecting the appropriate components for this.

The photo below shows an example homemade machine with a video supplement. The creator of the machine narrates the story in English, but in principle everything is quite clear even without translation.

The easiest way to make a copy-milling device with your own hands is by standard scheme, which includes a supporting structure - frame, desktop and milling head. The drive to ensure the rotation of the working tool is an electric motor that transmits movement through a two-stage mechanism, allowing two speeds to be obtained. Desktop of this homemade device can be adjusted in height.

Many of those who have made a copy-milling machine with their own hands note that when changing operating modes, such equipment begins to show a lot of shortcomings. The most common of these shortcomings are vibrations of the machine frame, curvature of the workpiece and its deflection, poor-quality copying, etc. To avoid such problems, it is best to make the copy-milling device highly specialized and immediately configure it to process workpieces of the same type. This is explained by the fact that it is almost impossible to take into account all the shortcomings that will arise in universal equipment when changing operating modes.

Copying equipment always comes to the rescue if you need to produce a specific part according to a template within small batches. Copy-milling machines are used both in enterprises that produce products on a large scale, and in small workshops, and even in household There is always a job for a wood copying machine. Industrial designs copy equipment can produce parts in almost unlimited quantities, but we will focus on models that can be assembled with your own hands and budget machines for small-scale furniture production.

Design of copying and milling machines

A copy-milling machine is a universal device that is designed for making copies of a wide variety of parts. The machine can operate in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional formats. In the first case, copying is made from a template, in the second - from a finished product. The more accurately the machine is made, the more accurate the copy will be, and the accuracy of the machine, as in all means of processing materials, and the rigidity of the power and working structures.

In addition, the copy milling machine can perform template engravings, production decorative elements, and sometimes the device can replace a milling machine.

The simplicity of the device, and at the same time the efficiency of copying, have made copy-milling machines indispensable in the manufacture of curved and complex parts. Another good property of the machines is their independence from the level of professionalism of the operator. The versatility of the machine can be achieved using replaceable elements, attachments and copying heads.

Milling and copying machine, characteristics

The main problem of milling copying machine there may be inaccuracy associated with vibrations and backlash. A do-it-yourself copy-milling machine for wood, assembled at home, is most often susceptible to such shortcomings. The slightest play can affect the quality of the copy, and to avoid it, it is necessary to use rigid structures and strong frames, regardless of the type and thickness of the wooden workpiece.

That is why such machines, assembled at home, cannot always boast of versatility. With a clearly defined scope of work, it is much easier to achieve rigidity and accuracy from the structure. The bed of a copy-milling machine should be as heavy as possible in order to dampen the slightest vibrations that may affect the accuracy of the work.

Therefore, the following characteristics must be mandatory for such equipment:

Only such a machine will work fully and accurately.

CNC copying and milling machine

A CNC machine is a type of copying equipment. Like manual copy-milling machines, they can very accurately copy a given part, and the use of software methods provides many advantages over manually controlled models:

CNC machines are quite complex and functionally rich devices, fully controlled by automation. In addition, it is possible to integrate the control system of a CNC machine into computer system control, which will further increase the functionality and speed of the equipment.

Copy milling machine, price

Copy-milling machines for wood can have a fairly wide price range, which depends on the level of equipment and purpose of the machine. The device can be equipped with a variety of systems, both manual control and electrical tracking systems.

Many models of such machines use high-precision sensors, which can be electrical contact or inductive. Naturally, the equipment affects the prices of the machines. If we take the desktop models we are interested in, the most inexpensive and most popular on the market are YILMAZ, Star, and Duplicarver. IN manual version These models cost about 50 thousand rubles.

Therefore, having carefully thought through your requirements for the machine, it is quite possible to make such a machine yourself using drawings or your own design. Several designs that are presented in the photo may lead to the right decision and another useful and simple machine will appear in your arsenal.

To carry out a full range of woodworking with a hand router or on a milling table, you need not only conventional devices, such as cutters of various sizes, but also additional devices that will help perform more complex work. The tool must have the ability to create a workpiece of the shape that is needed according to the master’s idea.

Some such devices are included with the device, but if they are not available or if you plan to make it yourself, then additional parts can be made manually. As a rule, they are quite simple to manufacture. In addition to various stops, you can also make a copier for the router with your own hands and install the structure on the frame base.

You can build a milling and copying machine yourself using a hand router. The device may be various designs, but he has one task - to convey as clearly as possible the movements of the working head along the profile holder to the device that cuts out the material.

It is not always possible to buy a ready-made machine with a copier, so it is often made independently from improvised means. It is recommended to assemble it first; it is difficult to adapt the copier to a serial device; this requires a deep reworking of it.

Characteristics of the works themselves

Milling cutters equipped with copiers are used for volumetric manipulations and surface processing. They cope with work that uses three-dimensional forms, engraving of various shapes, drawings, patterns, and inscriptions. They can also do simple milling functions. Such designs are distinguished by their simplicity, but at the same time they are capable of producing surprisingly complex patterns and shapes.

Not only wood, but also cast iron, steel, and non-ferrous metals are suitable for working with such a machine; for this purpose, high-speed tools made of hard alloys are used. IN industrial scale Similar units, but of course larger ones, are used to make engine blades for aircraft, ship propellers, hydraulic turbine ridges, various models, metal blanks, stampings, cast and pressed parts.

A self-made copier is used when drilling key holes for bolts. They can make frames, grooves, channels of any size in plastic and metal profiles.

But the most interesting thing is that it can be used to mill curved parts, copying them according to a template. The latter allow you to make an exact copy and exclude such complex work human factor. The parts have an exact, perfectly uniform shape.

Identical parts are made using a template; all subsequent parts can be made according to the sample of the first one. For the clearest and most accurate copying, the router is equipped with a copier; such a device is also called a pantograph.

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Operating principle and device

Briefly, the principle of operation of the copier is this: using a probe, the contours of the original of the copied object or template are traced. The probe is connected to the working plane, at the other end of which the milling cutter is attached, so all movements of the probe are repeated by the milling cutter head.

The machines have a guide system, an electric motor and a chuck for clamping the cutter or router. A simple design is described here.

The standard design consists of:

• working surface and supporting frame;
• milling working head;
• copy probe.

To make a copier with your own hands for a hand router, you will need:

• frame made of wood or metal, if based lathe, then such a machine;
• boards and slats, thick plywood, wooden blocks;
• fasteners (bolts, nuts, screws);
• milling cutter;
• kit wrenches, hacksaw for cutting wooden parts to the required size;
• metal pipe, guides;
• drills for wood and metal;
• belt drive and electric motor (if it is not manual, but automatic).

The working plane is adjusted in height, the head is equipped with an electric drive motor and a two-stage gear mechanism, which creates two speeds for the router shaft. This is for more complex designs.

If you have a lathe and hand router, you can build a very good copying machine that will work according to volumetric workpieces. This requires a minimum of details.

Making a copier with your own hands is not so difficult.

A hand router is used as the main tool. It is installed on a base made of thick plywood (12 mm), its parameters are 500/200 mm.

A hole is made on it for the sole of the router and mounting bolts. A frame and supports are also made from bars, this serves as additional stabilization and fixation of the tool. Two smaller bars are fixed to the plane of the plywood at the edges. The router is mounted between these two bars with pins (bolts or nails) through holes in its base and made in the plywood.

The platform with its far end slides along the pipe along the structure, that is, it is attached to a block that runs along it. You can take a metal pipe of 1 and ¾ inches. It is fixed between two cubic bars; it seems to hang over the machine with the carriage and cutter. In addition, it is folding. These bars are attached with self-tapping screws to the frame. The pipe is aligned as evenly as possible along the axis of the machine; it coincides with its axis. It also has two wooden cubes with matching holes mounted on it to allow for sliding. It is to them that such a carriage is attached.

Another bar is also attached to the front side of the machine frame, but this time it is horizontal, and the profile template is fixed on it. It is fixed to two wooden posts vertically on both sides. Upper part it runs exactly along the axis of the machine. When the copier is no longer needed, it is removed and the router and carriage are folded back. A vertical cross member is attached to the bottom in the middle; it slides along the recesses of the template, copying the relief. This is the copier itself, it is attached with self-tapping screws, in which case it can be removed and replaced or the height adjusted. A template is attached to the block along the façade with self-tapping screws. The platform moves with your hands.

This machine is designed for simple three-dimensional parts such as chair legs, candlesticks, where there are no twisted elements.

All photos from the article

A wood turning and copying machine is a machine that is widely used in factory woodworking for replicating products of a certain configuration that corresponds to a given sample. This equipment allows you to process any parts with high accuracy and speed. However, production machines with their large dimensions will be difficult to locate in a small private workshop.

Copying equipment in woodworking

Many carpentry enthusiasts, gradually expanding their tool base and improving their skills, come to the idea of ​​assembling a wood copy lathe with their own hands. After all, with the help of this device it is possible to make an exact copy of any piece of furniture and carry out restoration work.

Note!
In most cases, of course, the main factor that encourages people to “reinvent the wheel” is the high price of a finished factory product.

The operating principle of a wood copying machine is quite simple:

• The workpiece of the required size is clamped in a horizontal position.
• Starting the device, forcing the workpiece to rotate around its axis.
• In turn, the movable cutter also removes excess wood, turning the blank into a product of the desired shape.

Structurally copier for a wood lathe is a whole series of parts connected to each other, so there will be something to work on.

Personal assembly of equipment at home

Lathe

In order to assemble a small copying machine for wood with your own hands, you will need to make some effort and patience, as well as invest financially (about 7-7.5 thousand rubles). But this is several times less than the costs that await you if you purchase a ready-made option.