I think that those home craftsmen who have a manual router, but do not have a table for a router, have repeatedly thought about buying or making a table for a router. Since using a milling cutter stationary, the convenience of working with it greatly increases, especially when working with small elements. But for a home workshop, a table is often not justified, both for financial reasons, for example, like in my apartment. Therefore, as an option, you can use a small homemade router table that is attached to universal workbench or even to a regular table.

The simplest milling table

You can also make a table from an ordinary piece of chipboard or plywood by screwing a milling cutter to it. But you will need to take a material thick enough to have the necessary rigidity, and thick material will reduce the exit of the cutter and thereby reduce the depth of the grooves being machined. Therefore, all the same, it is worth making a box to the countertop, which will provide rigidity and reduce the thickness of the countertop.

In addition, it is very useful if the table has a side stop with adjustment and with the possibility of attaching a vacuum cleaner. Removing shavings and sawdust with a vacuum cleaner is very important when working in an apartment, and in the workshop, order and cleanliness will not interfere either.

This article describes the manufacture of such a table for a router with your own hands.

Starting with a box

First of all, a table box is made, this will require two pieces of thick plywood 18-21mm, which are glued together with PVA glue and pulled together with clamps. In total, we need 4 blanks.


In one of the blanks, using a hacksaw, we cut two grooves for the clamps. AT this case on the width of the groove we make several cuts with a hacksaw, and remove the remains of plywood between the cuts with a chisel and a hammer.

We make a countertop

It is necessary to cut out the countertop, apply markings (the exit point of the cutter and holes for fasteners) for a specific router. We mark the holes for the screws securing the tabletop to the box.


When everything is marked, we drill all the holes with a drill, and you also need to countersink into the holes for the screws, then the countersunk screw will be deepened, will not protrude beyond the surface of the tabletop and therefore will not interfere when moving workpieces along the surface of the milling table.

Assembling the table

To do this, we need screws and a screwdriver.


Here is the base of the table.


When the table is assembled, two rods need to be twisted into the box through the tabletop. A rod is used on one side of which there is a “thread like a screw”, and on the other, a regular thread for a nut. In the future, at these degrees, with the help of lambs, a side stop for the router will be installed.

We proceed to the manufacture of the side stop. To do this, we need two pieces of plywood. One workpiece will be pressed against the table, and the part being machined by the milling cutter will slide along the second.

We drill holes through which the two workpieces will be combined into a single whole. We zenk them.

We make cutouts for the cutter with a Forstner drill.

With a hacksaw, we refine the cutouts for the cutter and make grooves for the clamping mechanism of the side stop.


Using rectangular plywood blanks, we assemble two blanks of the side stop at 90 degrees. We assemble a box for connecting a vacuum cleaner.


Now you need to embed the nozzle in the dust removal box and screw the box itself to the side stop.


It remains only to press the side stop to the table for manual router with the help of lambs.


Here such an elegant and compact table for a router with their own hands can be made by anyone who knows how to hold a tool in their hands.


And this is a milling cutter in the table in the process of removing a quarter with a straight groove cutter.


In the future, it would be worth making a protective screen for the cutter, spot lighting working area and an emergency stop button.

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

The milling table significantly increases the productivity and efficiency of working with a manual router. It is often unprofitable to purchase a serial model of such a table for your home. It is much more economical to make a milling table with your own hands. It will not take much time and will require very little financial outlay. Any home master can cope with such a task if desired.

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

The factory-made milling table device can be found in the video below. We will try to make it no worse, but in some ways even better and, which is very important, cheaper.

A homemade milling table that you equip your home machine with will give you the opportunity to process not only wooden blanks, but also products that are made of chipboard, MDF, plastic, etc. With the help of such a home-made milling table, you can make grooves and slots, process elements of tongue and groove joints, chamfer and create decorative profiles.

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

Milling table drawings: option number 1

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

Drawings of a homemade table for a manual router (click to enlarge)

Detail dimensions Table in section Two-layer table top Cut-out in the first layer of the table
Marking the cutout of the second layer of the table Gluing both layers Cutting the cutout according to the marking of the second layer Drawing parallel stop
Stop end plate Dust pipe Plexiglas safety guard Comb clamp and locking block

Milling table design

If you wish, you can make a home-made milling table from an ordinary workbench, but it is better to make special design. This is explained by the fact that the machine with the cutter creates strong vibration during operation, so the frame used to fix the cutter must be highly stable and reliable. It should also be taken into account that the milling device is attached to the bottom of the router table top, so there must be enough free space under it.

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

The clamps for the milling machine or the mounting plate must be flush with the table top, for this, the appropriate dimensions are selected in the latter. It is necessary to drill several holes in the plate, some of which are necessary for connecting it to the tabletop using self-tapping screws, and others so that such a plate can be fixed on the router sole. The screws and self-tapping screws that you will use must be countersunk head.

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

Before starting to design a milling coordinate table with your own hands, you need to determine the place where it will be located, and also decide what type milling equipment you want to make. So, you can make an aggregate router with your own hands (the table will be located on the side of the saw equipment, serve as its extension), compact desktop machine, stand-alone stationary equipment.

Opt for compact benchtop equipment for woodworking and other materials if you access it infrequently or often use it outside your workshop. Such a setting, which is distinguished small size, takes up very little space, and if desired, it can be hung on the wall.

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

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

The simplest milling table or table for a drilling machine can be made very quickly. To make such a design, which is easily located on a regular desktop, you will need a chipboard sheet on which the guide elements are fixed. As such a guide, which can be used as a parallel stop for a milling table, an ordinary board of small thickness, which is attached to the table top with bolts, is suitable. If necessary, a second such board can be attached in parallel, which will serve as a limiting stop.

To insert a router into a table in a sheet of chipboard, it will be necessary to make a hole for its placement, and it will be fixed on the tabletop with the help of two clamps. After that, the manufacture of the milling table can be considered complete. To make the use of this design more convenient, simple clamps for a milling machine can be placed on the tabletop.

Manufacturing of the bed and countertop

The bed of a home-made milling machine must have high stability and reliability, since it is on it that the main loads will fall. Structurally, it is a frame with supports on which the tabletop is fixed. As a material for the manufacture of the frame of the frame, metal profiles, chipboard, MDF, wood connected by welding can be used. It is advisable to first prepare the drawings of such a device. On them it is necessary to designate all structural elements and their dimensions, depending on the dimensions of the parts that are planned to be processed on such milling equipment.

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

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

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

You can make a milling table, which is notable for its low price, high reliability, from the countertop of an old kitchen table. Such countertops are usually made of 26 or 36 mm chipboard sheet, covered with wear-resistant plastic. Their surface ensures good sliding of the workpiece, and the chipboard base perfectly dampens the vibrations that occur during the operation of the equipment. If you make a desktop for the machine with your own hands, then MDF and chipboard (LDSP) plates with a thickness of 16 mm or more are suitable for these purposes.

Milling table drawings: option number 2

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

Table of table parts and their dimensions Frame Upper corner of the frame Lower corner of the frame
Sliding guide for drawers
Big drawer Small drawer Small drawer front Table side panels

How to make a mounting plate

Since the tabletop of a homemade milling machine has a fairly large thickness, the mounting plate for mounting the router should have a minimum thickness. This will maximize takeoff. cutting tool. It is clear that such a plate with a minimum thickness should be characterized by high strength and rigidity.

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

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

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

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

Milling table assembly

A universal milling table or begin to assemble by attaching the table top to the finished bed. The mounting plate is applied to the place of the countertop where it should be placed according to the drawing, its outline is drawn with a pencil. This is necessary in order to select a recess for the plate along the indicated contour, for which a hand mill with a tool with a diameter of 6–10 mm is used. The size of this recess should be such that the plate lies in it at the same level with the surface of the countertop.

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

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

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

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

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

Milling table drawings: option number 3

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

computer model Appearance assembly Rear view Front view
Cutter raised, flaps moved apart Cutter lowered, flaps moved Hand router Dust and chip removal hose from a vacuum cleaner
Mounting the router and removing chips Adjusting the rise of the cutter The rise of the cutter is carried out by turning the screw Adjusting the rise of the cutter
Adjusting the cutter projection Plexiglas platform before installing the router Glass precisely fitted to the worktop Router screwed to the support platform

Making the top clamp

Wondering how to do homemade machine safer in operation and ensure the convenience of processing dimensional workpieces on it, it is possible to equip such equipment with an upper clamp. To create this fixture, made on the basis of a roller, it is also necessary to prepare drawings.

A ball bearing of a suitable size is often used as a roller for the pressure device. Mount such a roller on a holding device that allows you to fix it at any distance from the tabletop. With the help of this simple universal device, the workpiece of any thickness will be securely fixed when moving along the surface of the desktop.

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

Drive for homemade milling machine

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

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

The milling table will facilitate your work and help to increase the accuracy of processing workpieces. You can buy a ready-made one, or you can make a router table for a manual router with your own hands, using woodworking skills. We have prepared for you a fairly detailed step-by-step instruction for making a table.

The essence of all designs of a horizontal milling table is the same, the idea is clear - you need to think it over for yourself and execute it, taking into account your capabilities. And in the end, get a machine that allows you to process workpieces much more accurately and perform operations that previously seemed difficult for a manual milling cutter.

Decide on the size of the work surface, starting from the dimensions of the workpieces being processed and the free space in the workshop. Start small by building a simple countertop with upgradeability in mind. Work on it and gradually bring to mind.

Make a tabletop

The simplest table for a milling cutter is a separate work plate, placed on carpentry goats or between cabinets. The device costs a penny and is made in a few hours, but will allow you to perform a significant proportion of the same operations as multifunctional machine. You only need MDF or birch plywood 19-25 mm thick. A plastic-coated panel is better suited, which has less friction resistance, and a plate laminated on both sides will not warp during operation.

Set the exact right angle of the cut on the circular saw, cut the parts according to the dimensions and grind the ends.

Cutting pattern: 1 - main plate; 2 - stop base; 3 - front wall of the stop; 4 - scarf (4 pieces, dimensions for 19 mm plywood); 5 - tsarga (2 pcs.); 6 - side bar; 7 - connecting bar (4 pcs.)

Advice. Before cutting, measure the thickness sheet material often deviating from the standard. Make adjustments to the drawings, eliminating problems during assembly of the structure.

Remove the plastic pad from the sole of the router.

Draw a line in the middle of the slab and mark 235 mm from the edge.

Place the overlay so that the router's main controls are next to the edge of the table. Visually align the center of the lining with the marked point and mark the places for drilling the holes for the mounting screws.

Determine the center location for the sole with equidistant screws.

For a base with asymmetrical screws, measure the diameter of the rubber and the distance from the outer circumference to the cut of the sole.

Draw a line with a pencil in the middle of the beveled side, calculate the distance from it to the center:

• S=D/2-(D-H)

Position the cut perpendicular to the midline and mark the center of the sole.

Mark the mounting screw locations.

Drill mounting holes and under the cutter, countersink the recesses. Mark semicircular cutouts in the base and front wall of the stop.

Cut out the bends with an electric saw. Make auxiliary frequent cuts perpendicular to the edge of the part, slightly leading to the marking line. Then lead the file a little closer to the contour line - the pieces will fall out without interfering with the movement of the canvas. Sand the cutout with sandpaper wrapped around the pipe.

Fasten the connecting strips from the bottom of the tabletop.

Glue all the blanks and fasten with additional screws. Pick up screws longer than the regular ones by the thickness of the plywood and install the router at the bottom of the slab.

1 - side bar for fastening with clamps on the goats; 2 - tsarga; 3 - countersunk guide holes; 4 - front wall of the stop; 5 - self-tapping screw with countersunk head 4.5x42; 6 - scarf; 7 - stop base

Fix the table on the goats with clamps, fix the position of the stop with clamps and get to work.

Build a solid foundation

The worktop can be installed on a frame of low height, sufficient to accommodate the router. A portable table is stored on a rack, and is fixed on a workbench for work. If you often mill and have free space in the workshop, add support pedestals to the table top and get a full-fledged machine.

Cut the cabinet pieces to the dimensions given for the 820mm high table or modify them so that the tabletop is level with other equipment .

Frame details: 1 - outer side panel; 2 - inner panel; 3 - rear panel; 4 - base

Lay the tabletop upside down. Install side panels in sequence and fasten them with screws, pre-drilling pilot holes. Fasten the base, lay the frame face down, align the square corners and install the two back panels.

At the end, attach the wheel supports to the bottom of the hull using roofing screws. Position the wheel mounting pads at least 20 mm from the edges.

1 - side stand; 2 - wheel support; 3 - bottom; 4 - internal rack; 5 - rear panel

Use free space in cabinets to solve the problem of storing tools and consumables.

Insert mounting plate

Get a longer cutter overhang by placing the tool on a 4-6 mm thick plate made of duralumin, getinaks or solid polycarbonate.

Cut out a 300 mm square from the sheet, put it on a workbench. Glue the plastic sole of the router on top double sided tape laying it face up in the middle. With a drill of the same diameter as the fixing screws, drill holes in the plate using the plastic pad as a template. Remove the sole, make recesses for the caps with a countersink or a large drill.

Screw the plate to the disconnected router, insert an 8 mm drill into the collet. Lower the body of the tool until the drill touches the surface and rotate the chuck, marking the center. Unscrew the plate and make a hole according to the mark with a hole saw.

Place the plate on the tabletop and trace the outline. Draw and cut the cutout by inserting the jigsaw blade through drilled hole. Trim the ends with a file and sand with sandpaper.

Fix the thin boards around the marked contour with clamps.

Clamp the copy cutter with bearing in the collet, set the milling depth according to the thickness of the mounting plate. Carry out the milling in several passes, then add 0.5 mm with the micrometer regulator of the router and make the final pass.

Drill through holes for the screws and widen them from the back of the worktop with a 11 mm drill bit for self-locking nuts. Clean the surfaces and install the nuts on the epoxy, leveling with the screwed bolts.

Fit the mounting plate to the cutout, lay it in place, drill the fixing holes and countersink with front side. Attach the part to the sole of the router, insert the tool into the tabletop and tighten the screws. Check that the plate is flush with the tabletop plane, if necessary, compensate for errors with washers.

Improve your focus

For faster and more convenient setup of the machine, modify the parallel side stop and complete the machine with a rotary stop, which helps to process the ends of narrow parts. The latter can be taken from a stationary circular saw. Cut aluminum guides with a T-profile into the surface of the plate. To make cutouts in the countertop, use a router or circular saw with groove disc.

Lightly round the top corners of the grooves with sandpaper. Cut the profile to size, drill holes according to the diameter of the screws, process them with a countersink. Insert the parts into the grooves, make thin holes and tighten the countersunk screws.

Drill 7mm holes in the base of the stop, pick up hex bolts and plastic handwheels with nuts.

Install the guide profile in the front plate of the stop to secure the clamps, auxiliary pads and protective devices.

Cut a plywood cover with a hole in the center, fasten it to the scarves located near the cutout longitudinal stop. Connect the adapter and connect the vacuum cleaner when working on the milling table.

Add a safety shield to the stop, made from plywood trim and a strip of plexiglass.

To make oblong cuts, drill 7 mm holes at the indicated points, connect them tangentially and make cuts with a jigsaw.

Make homemade clamps and clamps needed for milling small elements.

A comb press can be made from maple wood, choosing a straight-grained area. Make the gaps between the ridges on a circular machine:

1. Set the cutting height to 50 mm.
2. Set the cutting width to 2mm.
3. Make a cut.
4. Pull the workpiece back with the manual pusher.
5. Turn the board 180°, saw through the other side.
6. Move the stop by 5 mm, repeat the operations.
7. Move the fence back again and make cuts all over the workpiece.

Secure the clamps to the rail with bolts and wing nuts.

1 - stopper; 2 - clamp-comb; 3 - protective shield; 4 - aluminum guide; 5 - nozzle for a vacuum cleaner

Sand the surfaces of parts, especially in places where workpieces will pass during the milling process. Clean the machine from dust and coat with oil.

1 - drawer for cutters; 2 - trapezoidal groove for stop

Summing up the project

Materials needed:

1. Plywood 19x1525x1525 mm - 2 sheets.
2. Plastic 4x30x30 mm.
3. Several dozen screws.
4. Aluminum guides - 2.3 m.
5. Wheel support with brake — 4 pcs.
6. Glue joiner's and epoxy.
7. Bolts M6 with nuts.

The ability to take your time and think through every step, accurately mark and cut blanks, or the desire to learn this, came in handy. The result is a solid milling table for little money. In the future, it is worth thinking about equipping the machine with a switch and a milling height adjustment mechanism.

Joiners treat their milling table with respect. And there is a good reason for this, as such designs allow you to increase the productivity and efficiency of the workflow. Now it's not a problem to find suitable models tables for a manual router, but they are expensive to obscene. But to make a milling machine with your own hands, without spending a lot of money on a branded table or buying a cheap Chinese analogue and throwing money away, every economic person can do it. This requires an electric motor of suitable power, a guide structure and a table.

Purpose of the milling table

Working with a manual milling cutter consists in performing operations to move the machine along a rigidly fixed surface of the workpiece being processed. It is not always convenient. And therefore, they often do the opposite: the milling cutter is fixed stationary, and the workpiece moves. In this case, they are already talking about a design called a “milling table”, and not just about a “manual router” tool.

Milling tables quite often provide the opportunity to achieve results that were previously only available to furniture professional workshops that had milling machines. With their help, cutting of figured holes, cutting of grooves, making connections, processing and profiling edges, as well as cutting of figured holes is done accurately, easily and safely.

The big advantage of this design is that with the help of a milling table for a manual router, it is possible to process various materials such as wood, chipboard, MDF, plastic, etc., in wooden details make slots and grooves, connect parts on tongues and studs, create decorative profiles and chamfer.

The milling table can also be easily used as a woodworking machine. Just for this you need to fix the tool on a workbench or in an electric drill stand. It comes as no surprise that a large number of firms rushed to satisfy the indomitable appetite of carpenters, producing a fairly wide range of milling tables, as well as accessories for them. Homemade milling tables, however, are sometimes not inferior to branded ones in their own characteristics.

Milling table design

You can use the surface of a workbench to install a manual router, or you can make a separate table. The table has a rigid structure and is well stable, because the milling machine causes quite a lot of vibration during operation. It must also be taken into account that the router is attached to the bottom of the tabletop, and it is important that nothing interfere with it. Therefore, there are no additional elements in this part.

The mounting plate is used to fasten the router to the table, it is made of durable and quality materials. For this, textolite, metal sheet or plywood is used. Usually exist on the sole itself threaded connections, for secure fastening of plastic masonry.

The selection for the plate is present on top of the tabletop, so that the latter is recessed flush. The plate is fixed with self-tapping screws that have a countersunk head to the countertop. A hole is drilled to attach the sole, and a plate hole is duplicated in the table top. The router is attached to the table with countersunk screws. If there are no holes in the sole for attaching the plate, they are drilled independently, and clamps can also be used.

A button is fixed on the table, which is used for the convenience of turning on the router, it is also possible to install an emergency mushroom button for your own safety. For more comfortable work and fixation of larger workpieces, the table for a hand mill can be equipped with upper clamping devices. Also, for the convenience of measurement, it is customary to fix the ruler.

Beginning of work

It is best to start the process of manufacturing a structure for a manual router by determining the place of the future table in the workshop. A clear idea should be, first of all, about what kind of milling table you need: which is a side extension of the saw table (aggregate), desktop (portable) or separate (stationary).

If you have to work, using the router table only occasionally, or outside the workshop, you need to think about a portable option, it can be hung on the wall to save space or removed. If there is enough space, then a free-standing router table will provide maximum convenience, it can be put on wheels and then placed where it is convenient. A portable or free-standing milling table can be set up to perform an operation and left for a while, and it will not interfere with other tools, devices and machines.

Can be as simple device build a low structure that can be placed on a regular table. You can take a sheet of chipboard and fix the guide on it. According to the drawings of the table for a manual router, it can be an ordinary piece of a board of not very large thickness. Next, you need to fix it on bolted connections.

To do this, you need to take two clamps. You need to make a hole for the cutter. That's all. If the milling machine is your main tool, then you need to make a solid and convenient milling table, because you will have to spend a lot of time behind it.

Bed and tabletop

The bed of any milling table is a stationary part, that is, it is a frame on supports, which has a tabletop on top. What to make the frame from does not matter: welded steel structure, MDF, chipboard, wood. Main and main task is to ensure its stability and rigidity during operation. Also, the dimensions of the frame are not critical, and should be selected depending on the dimensions of the workpiece.

So that the machine operator does not stumble over parts of the structure, it is necessary lower part deepen the beds (like a furniture plinth) by 100-200 millimeters relative to the front overhang of the tabletop used. For processing door linings and ends of facade blanks for the frame of a home-made table for a manual milling machine, you can advise following sizes in millimeters: height - 900, depth - 500, width - 1500.

An important parameter, perhaps, is the height, it should be in the range of 850-900 millimeters, since such a height is optimal for standing work. It is quite good when the bed has adjustable supports, with the help of such supports you can compensate for uneven floors, and also, if necessary, change the height of the table.

Inexpensive and good option do-it-yourself milling table top is a kitchen ordinary worktop based on chipboard 26 or 36 millimeters thick, which is covered with wear-resistant plastic. The workpiece glides well on the surface of hard plastic, the standard depth of the kitchen worktop is 600 millimeters in operation, and chipboard dampens vibrations quite well. For countertops, in extreme cases, MDF or laminated chipboard (chipboard) from 16 millimeters is suitable.

Table mounting plate

Due to the rather large thickness of the kitchen countertop (at least 26 millimeters), and in order to maintain the entire amplitude of the cutter overhang, the design of the router provides for the use of a mounting plate near the place where the router sole is attached to the table. This part, with a small thickness, is characterized by a rather high strength.

The plate is often made of metal, but in processing it is still more convenient and not inferior in strength to fiberglass (textolite). The textolite mounting plate is a rectangular part 4-8 mm thick, with a side of 150-300 mm, in which a hole is made in the center with the same diameter as the hole in the router sole.

The sole of the router usually has regular threaded holes that are designed to attach a plastic lining. By means of them, fastening to the mounting plate of the router is carried out. If suddenly there are no holes, you need to make these holes yourself, or fix the router in another way, for example, using metal clamps. It is necessary to drill four holes closer to the corners of the plate to fix the plate on the tabletop.

Milling table assembly

First of all, a tabletop is temporarily attached to the finished bed, as shown in the video about tables for a manual router. A mounting plate is placed on a previously verified place on the tabletop, and its exact location is marked with a pencil along the contour. Using a hand router with a small cutter diameter of 6-10 millimeters in the worktop, choose for the mounting plate seat, such that it lies flush, that is, ideally with the top surface of the countertop.

Also, we must not forget that the seat of our plate will not have right angles, but rounded ones, which means that it will be necessary to round the corners with the help of a file with the same radius of the textolite mounting plate. After the mounting plate has been seated, it is necessary to use a milling cutter with a straight cutter of greater thickness than the tabletop to cut through the hole in the tabletop according to the shape of this router sole.

Such an operation does not require special precision. But you need to be prepared for additional sampling from the bottom of the worktop material, for example, for the dust collector casing and various other devices.

Now everything remains to be connected together. We start the milling cutter from below, screwing it to the plate, and then using self-tapping screws we fasten the plate to the tabletop. We make sure that the caps of the fastening elements are securely recessed, and they should not cling to the workpiece when it slides on the tabletop. We finally screw the tabletop to the frame.

Top clamp

For additional safety and convenience, it is possible to equip the design, according to the drawings of the table for a hand mill, with an upper clamping device made on the basis of a roller. This is especially necessary when working with dimensional workpieces, such as door linings. Very simple clamp design.

A ball bearing of suitable dimensions, for example, can serve as a roller. Mount the bearing in the holding device, it can be rigidly fixed from the surface of the countertop at the desired distance. This will ensure that the workpiece is always firmly pressed against the worktop when the workpiece passes under the roller.

Drive for homemade machine

If you are going to design a simple homemade milling machine, you should turn your attention to the electric drive. An important factor is its power. For a machine with a shallow cut of wood blanks, a 500 watt motor may even be suitable. Still, such a machine will often stall, so it will not justify either the time or the money saved on the purchase of a low-power engine.

Through observations, it is clear that the best option is a motor with a power of 1100 watts. A motor with a power of 1-2 kilowatts will allow you to process wood in the usual mode, as well as use any type of milling cutter. Electric motors, both stationary and drives, are suitable here. hand power tools, such as hand cutters, drill, grinder.

Another important factor is turnover. The higher the number of revolutions, the smoother and cleaner the cut will be. If the engine is designed for a regular household network of 220 volts, then there will be no connection problems. And now three-phase asynchronous motor you need to connect according to a special scheme - a star-delta, which guarantees the maximum possible output in this situation, as well as a smooth start. If a three-phase electric motor is connected to a single-phase network, then efficiency in the amount of 30 - 50% will be lost.

Security questions

After making a table for a manual router, it is necessary to say in conclusion about the main thing, that is, about safety. We strongly recommend to make a protective screen for the cutter according to the type of samples for industrial milling tables. It is also necessary to equip the machine with the so-called "fungus", that is, an emergency stop button, placing this button in an easily accessible place, and also to exclude accidental pressing of the start button.

After that, it is recommended to illuminate the working area, since the most dangerous place is around the cutter. It makes sense with a fairly frequent change in the height level of the overhang of the cutter to think about automatic or manual device lowering and raising the router. The design of a home-made milling machine can be improved a lot and for a long time, depending on the tasks to be solved and the imagination of the designer.