“Labels are not important, consumer properties, convenience and reliability are important. At the same time, the most important reliability is the reliability of your supplier.” © (经验丰富的圣人)*

Preface.

One good man said: “My, purely personal opinion, any lift on a milling table is a beautiful, but not necessary, “lotion.” Much more important is the possibility of very quick installation(removing) the router onto the table (from the table). To do this, I only need to unscrew one “lamb.” Perhaps someone enjoys and finds it convenient to carry a router from the table to and from the table. Just as it is probably convenient to inflate a wheel, having the pleasure of removing a wheel from a car is also convenient. But there are other opinions about what a milling lift is and what a convenient milling table is in general.

A milling elevator is not a pretty gadget, but an extremely useful and easy-to-use design, device and tool. Best models milling elevators help to very quickly raise and lower the router in the table, quickly change the cutter and quickly, simply and very accurately set working height cutters. In this case, there is no need to remove the router from the table at all, except for cases when you use one router for all occasions. But the lift has nothing to do with removing and installing the router into the table. Although I can’t help but notice here that having one set of wheels for two cars will probably also seem convenient to someone.

What is a milling table?

Milling table(or table for a router) is a structure consisting of a table base and a tabletop (table surface) with a router installed in it. In this case, the router, in most cases, is located vertically, that is, the collet with the router is facing upward, although there are designs of milling tables with a horizontal position of the router and tables with the ability to tilt the router. Here we look at a milling table with a vertical router in it.

It is quite possible to make a table for a router with your own hands, but it is advisable to know about existing ready-made solutions. Making a router table with your own hands does not at all mean that you have to make a router yourself or rack your brains over how to make a lift for the router yourself. There are both ready-made accessories for the router and ready-made components from which you can assemble your own milling table.

A complete set of accessories that make up a milling table with a vertical router can consist of:

1. Router table base
2. Surfaces of the milling table (so-called tabletops)
3. Profile with two T-slots for attaching accessories to the router table
4. Milling elevator
5. A milling cutter of sufficiently high power suitable for this elevator
6. Set of collets for router
7. kit (they close big hole lift plates, leaving a hole for the cutter
8. A table guide with two movable halves (possibly used as a guide)
9. (height of the cutter relative to the table surface)
10. Workpiece clamps in 2 planes
11. Angle stop
12. Movable table
13. Milling table power supply systems

All of the listed elements will be described in detail below in the article.

Router table base

The milling table base can be purchased from us or can be made by the user himself. This is the simplest part of the design allowing for a wide range of personal creativity.

The base of the milling table can be a simple homemade design, for example, from plywood, aluminum or steel profiles. We invite you to consider ordering from us a milling table base made using carpentry technology. It will be beautiful table with many drawers, with an integrated tabletop, the table will be able to move on wheels. People who have already seen these tables said that this is not a milling table for a workshop, but an object beautiful furniture. Being confident that it is more pleasant to work in a beautiful environment, beautiful instruments produce better results. beautiful products, we recommend paying attention to this solution. The design of such a table can be edited based on your wishes, but, in principle, it will be beautiful, well made, mainly from solid wood.

The surface of the milling table (table top) can be made of aluminum, steel, cast iron, laminated MDF or reinforced carbolite. There are solutions based on artificial or natural stone. Each of these materials has its own advantages. The best in terms of all its characteristics is glass fiber reinforced carbolite - the material is stable, even, durable, with a smooth surface.

If you buy a ready-made countertop and intend to install a milling lift into it, you need to keep in mind that the milling lift you choose must match the cutout in the countertop.

The advantages of a finished countertop are:

• a ready-made solution that allows you to immediately assemble the milling table and start working
• high quality tabletop manufacturing and materials

If you prefer to make your own countertop, then the simplest option would be an MDF sheet, preferably HDF, 35-40 mm thick, laminated with plastic. The tabletop can also be made of stone or wood. The advantages of a homemade countertop are:

• free choice of milling table top size
• free choice of it color scheme
• free choice of tabletop material

If you prefer self-production tabletops or order this production, then pay attention to the possibility of installation on a tabletop - even if you don’t have one yet, this is not excluded in the future.

In a homemade tabletop, on its upper plane, it will be necessary to make a recess in the shape of a milling elevator plate. We offer our customers a milling table kit to use the template for free to make a sample or make a copy of this template for further independent use.

We recommend and offer ready-made countertops made of laminated MDF or reinforced carbolite in sizes 600 x 800 mm and 700 x 1100 mm (dimensions are approximate, exact dimensions can be found when ordering). These countertops will already have a sample made to exactly match the plate of the milling lifts we offer. These worktops will also already have three profiles installed: two for attaching the guide and one for attaching routing accessories.

T-slot profile

In both cases, you get the opportunity to accurately align two halves of the guide in one plane, the ability to extend one half relative to the other, for example, for jointing. In both cases, you get aluminum profile guides with parallel movement of the guide halves,

When using a positioner, you get the opportunity for absolutely accurate, precision, smooth, repeatable movement and positioning of the guide with significantly greater functionality. You can read more about this solution.

Cutter reach height indicator

If you decide to purchase a milling table for yourself, then initially define the goal as acquisition complete set for a milling table, then - means and methods - buy everything at once or step by step, starting with the essentials so that you can start working, then purchasing additional additions to obtain a fully functional set. We recommend that you choose this path from the very beginning.

If you decide to purchase a router table kit with our help, we will do the job with pleasure and responsibly. With pleasure - because we are pleased that the “shelf” of users quality instrument arrived.

The purchasing procedure with our help is very simple:

1. We come to a decision on the necessary kit
2. We calculate the total price including all expenses
3. You pay us this amount
4. We will organize everything necessary for purchase/payment/checking and delivery to Russia
5. We inform you about the arrival of the goods
6. If necessary, we send the goods to your city.

Buyers interested in this article also expressed interest in the following information:

*Note.

The original literally says “Clothes and jewelry are nonsense and tinsel, what matters is how much you need the thing (service, advice), how it is useful to you and how long it will serve you. The most important thing is that you chose this thing (or service) after hearing a cry rogue or did you listen to the advice of a sage? Only a sage will advise you what will not cause you troubles and problems.” © (经验丰富的圣人)

Evgeniy Fuks

To everyone who has hand router, sooner or later the idea comes to mind to make a table for him in order to turn him into a full-fledged stationary machine, with which you can implement all the functions contained in it. I too once had this thought. I will not dwell on the details of making the table; there is plenty of information on this topic on the Internet for every taste and budget. I would like to bring to your attention my version of a lift for raising and lowering the router relative to the table surface. The design is as low-cost as possible, you don’t need to buy anything, everything you need for manufacturing is available in every home workshop.

So, what do we need:
- wooden slats capable of supporting the weight of the router
-bolt with a diameter of 10-12 mm
Metal rod with a diameter of 5-7mm and a length of 100-120mm
-any kind of hinge (door hinge) according to the size of the slats
- old hand drill

The tools you will need are a tap, a die, an angle grinder, a screwdriver, self-tapping screws, drills, etc.
First we will make a nut. Let's cut off the part from the bolt that doesn't have threads, and make the length to match the width of the rail. In the middle of this workpiece, on the side surface, we drill a hole slightly smaller in diameter than the size of the rod (taking into account the subsequent cutting of threads on the rod and in the hole).

We cut a thread along the entire length of the rod, and make a corresponding thread in the body of the workpiece cut off from the bolt. As a result, we got a homemade guide screw pair.

After this, we drill a hole in the rail for our homemade nut (the nut should move freely in the hole, but not dangle in it). Perpendicular to this hole, we drill another one, along the diameter of the rod (a little more is possible). At the other end of the rail we attach a suitable loop (hinge).

Now we insert our nut into the rail, screw a threaded rod into it, clamp the rod into the drill chuck, and fix the drill at the bottom of the table front side. We fix the other end of the rail with a hinge to opposite side. As a result of all manipulations, a structure should be obtained that moves the router vertically when the drill handle is rotated. I don’t indicate any sizes, because... all this is attached, as they say, “in the right place, as you ask for it”

As illustrations, I provide photographs of how I did this. The dimensions can be any, I want to believe, the design principle is clear.

Thank you for your attention.

A lift for a router, which can be purchased in a serial version or made by hand, is a device that allows you to improve both the quality and accuracy of processing performed with hand-held power tools. The results of the latter strongly depend on how accurately and confidently the user manipulates such a device. In order to minimize the influence of the human factor on the results of processing performed with a manual milling cutter, special devices were developed.

Homemade elevator for a manual router, made of plywood and timber

One of them is mechanized lifting device for milling power tools, which, in full accordance with its functionality, is called an elevator. As mentioned above, such a device can be purchased in a serial version, but it will not be cheap, so many home craftsmen successfully make it with their own hands.

Why is such a device needed?

A lift for the router, which ensures precise movement of the machine mounted on it hand power tools in the vertical plane, necessary in many situations. Situations in which the quality and precision of processing of wood products are of no small importance include decorative finishing. furniture panels, making technological grooves and lugs on elements furniture designs. The quality of processing in such cases will not depend on the experience of the master performing it and the firmness of his hands, but only on the accuracy of the device settings and the degree of its stability.

Even a person with good physical fitness gets tired when working with a hand router, the weight of which can be 5 kg or even more. This directly affects the accuracy and quality of work. In addition, the precision of processing that a manual milling machine mounted on an elevator can provide cannot be achieved when manipulating a power tool manually.

To the necessity of inventing such useful device, which is a lift for a router, has led to the fact that the variety of types of decorative finishing of wood products has expanded significantly, and processing techniques have become more complex of this material, and the requirements for the accuracy of its implementation have also increased. All of the above factors require that manual milling electrical equipment combine high mobility of its working body, as well as the accuracy of the movements it makes. It is these requirements that are fully met by a lift for a router, with the help of which the power tool in use quickly rises and lowers to the required height above the workbench, and is also held at a given level for the required amount of time.

The convenience of using a milling elevator also lies in the fact that it is not necessary to install a power tool on such a device each time. This contributes to both simplification production process, and increase its productivity.

On what principle does the lift for a router work?

In order to raise or lower a manual router using a router lift, you can use a crank, lever, or any other lifting mechanism of a suitable design. Such functionality, which the lift for the router has, is ensured by:

• quick and accurate setting of the dimensions of grooves and other relief elements cut out on the surface wooden blank;
• Possibility of quickly replacing tools in the milling cutter chuck.

If we summarize the design options for the most used models of milling elevators, we can describe the operating principle of such a device as follows:

1. A support plate for the router, which is made of a sheet of metal or textolite, is mounted on a work table or workbench.
2. Two racks arranged in parallel are fixed to the support plate.
3. The manual router itself is mounted on a special carriage, which has the ability to move freely up and down along the racks installed on the support plate.
4. The carriage with the milling power tool installed on it and the entire elevator move to the required distance due to the fact that they are acted upon by a special pushing device.

Let's consider the basic requirements that should be followed when planning to upgrade the router with your own hands using a lift.

• The frame for placing the router and all other structural elements of such a device must have high rigidity. Compliance with this requirement will not only improve processing accuracy, but also make the user’s work safer.
• The lifting system with which such a device is equipped must be designed in such a way that it can ensure not only quick removal and installation of the router used, but also prompt replacement milling heads on it.
• The working stroke of the milling elevator should not be made too large; it is quite enough if the working head of the power tool moves within 50 mm. This is quite enough for high-quality execution most technological operations.
• When developing drawings, it should be ensured that the working head of the power tool used can be rigidly fixed in a given spatial position.

What is needed to make a milling elevator

In order to make your own milling lift, you must prepare the following kit consumables, tools and technical devices:

1. directly the manual router itself, from which it is necessary to remove the handles;
2. electric drill;
3. standard car jack (if lifting mechanism the device will be of the jack type);
4. sheet of metal or textolite;
5. wooden blocks square section;
6. aluminum profile;
7. sheets of plywood and chipboard;
8. guides made of metal;
9. threaded rod;
10. screwdriver set various types and size, wrenches and pliers;
11. drills various diameters;
12. bolts, screws, nuts and washers of various sizes;
13. epoxy glue;
14. square, ruler, measuring tape.

Possible design options for the device

Today, home craftsmen have developed many designs of milling elevators, but the most popular and, accordingly, worthy of attention are two options for manufacturing such a device:

• a lift for a hand router, driven by a car jack;
• device, structural elements which consists of a support disk, a threaded rod and a flywheel disk.

Option one. Elevator from a jack

The operating principle of a jack milling elevator is based on the fact that the working head of a manual router mounted on a support plate is raised and lowered by controlling a jack built into the structure.

A do-it-yourself jacking router is made as follows:

• A box made of 15 mm plywood or chipboard is attached to the bottom of the desktop, which will simultaneously perform the functions support device and a protective casing for the entire device.
• In the inner part of such a box, the dimensions of which should be pre-calculated, both a jack and a hand router connected to its moving part are placed. The jack, when placed in the box, is screwed with its sole to the underside of the support casing, and a manual router is connected through a special metal sole with its top part With inner surface workbench table tops. In this case, a through hole is made in the tabletop, through which the working head of the router with the tool fixed in it should freely pass.
• A sheet of textolite or metal of the appropriate size is used as a support plate for installing the router, which, under the influence of force from the jack, moves in the vertical direction along two fixed racks.

Option two. Threaded rod lift

The manufacturing diagram of the device using a support disk, a threaded rod and a flywheel is as follows:

• A circle is cut out of a board 18–20 mm thick, which will act as a support platform for a hand router.
• A hole with a diameter of 10 mm is drilled in the central part of the support disk, into which a threaded rod of the same diameter is inserted. The length of the pin, which is connected to the support platform using two nuts and washers, must be selected in such a way as to provide the router with a working stroke of at least 50 mm.
• The lower part of the pin, passed through the plywood bottom, fixed between the legs of the work table, is connected to the disc flywheel. It should be borne in mind that the hole in the bottom through which bottom part studs, a flange nut must be built-in. It will ensure the operation of the lifting mechanism.

Using milling elevators in conjunction with mechanisms that will additionally provide lateral movement of power tools, you can make an even more functional device that will turn your manual equipment into a full-fledged 3D milling machine.

Option three. Chain drive elevator

Making this milling elevator will take much longer, but as a result you will get a clearly working system for raising and lowering the tool.

Any craftsman 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 cutter.

A hand router is especially vulnerable in this sense. To ensure clearly oriented fixation of the working element in relation to the workpiece being processed, different options stationary devices with movable cutters. But factory milling tables are not cheap. Therefore, many private craftsmen prefer to make a lift for the router with their own hands.

Why does a router need a lift?

A device for raising and lowering the working cutting head (mill) on a woodworking machine is not some nice optional gadget, but a completely necessary element. Moreover, on the milling table it is the main element. For example, the production of such popular devices today depends on the accuracy of its settings and the degree of stability. decorative finishes furniture panels or various technological grooves and lugs on wooden products.

When using a hand router without the appropriate stationary device The worker's hands get tired quickly. And this is quite understandable, since the weight of not the heaviest of these devices reaches 5 kg. But another problem associated with operating this unit manually is even more serious. No matter how steady the performer’s hand is, it cannot compare with the accuracy of a router mounted on a special table.

The presence of a wide range of manufactured items, types of decorative finishes and technological treatments of wood products has led to the need to ensure the mobility of the cutting element. So, to the upside-down router, the idea of ​​a special elevator was added, which is capable of quickly raising or lowering the milling head, as well as holding it above the table surface at a given level.

Moreover, thanks to this device, there is no need to remove and then reinstall the manual router on the table each time. There is probably no need to say how much this speeds up and simplifies the production process.

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Elevator for a router: operating principle and technical requirements

The lift for the router is convenient to use because the working cutting part moves without direct contact with the power tool by a person. To set the device in motion, either a crank, a lever, or another method is used. This technology allows not only to smoothly and accurately set the dimensions of cut grooves and other relief recesses on wood preparations, but also change cutters quickly and without problems.

Figure 1. A support base, which is a box made of plywood or chipboard, is attached to the bottom of the table top of the milling table.

Schematically, without detailing the design of a particular elevator, the principle of its operation is as follows. On the lower plane of the tabletop, a support plate made of metal or textolite of appropriate dimensions is mounted, to which two parallel racks are attached. The mobile carriage moves freely up and down along them. A manual router is attached to the carriage. The forward motion to the carriage and to the entire elevator is transmitted from the pushing device.

When starting to manufacture this device, you should take into account the requirements for milling elevators.

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

The lifting system should be designed to allow quick removal and installation of power milling tools and replacement of milling heads. It is also worth designing a mechanism with a relatively small lift stroke (usually moving the router within 50 mm is sufficient to perform most milling operations). Finally, when manufacturing the device, it is necessary to ensure that the milling cutter is rigidly fixed in a given position during operation.

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Materials and tools for the production of the lift

• manual router (without handles);
• electric drill;
• standard autojack (for a lift structure based on a jack);
• square wooden blocks;
• metal plate (textolite);
• plywood sheets and chipboard;
• aluminum profile;
• set of metal guides;
• threaded rod;
• a set of flat and Phillips screwdrivers;
• wrenches;
• pliers;
• drills;
• epoxy glue;
• nuts, bolts, washers;
• measuring tape (ruler, square).

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Do-it-yourself lift for a router: examples of products

Home craftsmen who regularly do milling wooden surfaces, have developed a lot of milling elevators of different sizes, weights and functional features. However, it is almost impossible to describe them all, so we will focus on two examples based on the most commonly used operating principles.

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

Schematically, the process of making a lift for a manual router with your own hands (Fig. 1) looks like this. An additional base-support is attached to the bottom of the milling table top, 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 the router

Two long fragments located parallel to each other, by means of metal corners and screws are attached with their ends to the lower surface of the tabletop. From below, a horizontal base is rigidly attached between them, to which the supporting heel of the jack will subsequently be screwed. The dimensions of the specified box are determined in such a way that, as a result, a manual milling cutter and a car jack selected in advance will fit inside it.

Then the manual router with its working (front) side is attached to the inner surface of the tabletop through a special metal sole using bolts. This mount is made in such a way that the router can move freely up and down.

With its lower (rear) part, the router rests on a metal (or textolite) support plate of the carriage, which moves up and down along two side metal stands. The guide posts are pre-installed in place removed handles milling cutter. 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 out a wooden circle, which will then rest against the hand router from below. It will be produced using a blank 18-20 mm thick. Center the disc using furniture drill Forstner with a diameter of 20 mm is counterbored (partially drilled) to a depth of 12 mm. After this, a through central hole is drilled, the diameter of which is 10 mm.

When the support disk preparation is complete, 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 is worth noting that the stud should have a length that will provide the router with a free play of at least 50 mm.

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

From below, the pin will rest on a plywood bottom, which should be mounted between the table legs at a height of 75-80 mm from the floor. A flange nut built into the plywood will serve as a retainer for the lower end of the stud. With respect to this nut, subsequently, when the flywheel rotates in one direction or another, the pin will move up or down, moving the hand router.

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

Project from Victor Traveller. The milling table is shown in the first photo, but in this article we will not talk about it, but about its component - milling elevator- it is mounted under the tabletop

The elevator material is plywood with a piece of laminated chipboard, a hairpin, several nuts of the appropriate size, and several self-tapping screws.

A small box is assembled from pieces of plywood. A plywood “cube” is mounted in it with a nut pressed into it and cylinders (a piece of wire) protruding from it on both sides.

The driver is made from a piece of laminated chipboard, into the center of which a driving nut and a handle are pressed.

Bottom view of the support mechanism. In it we also see a nut with a washer. Now let's move on to the router itself (Interskol FM 32/1900E). It is fixed on the tabletop as standard (for example, I did it). A kind of rocker arm is attached to the wall. It is fixed to one wall with a pair of corners. The rocker itself is represented by a pair of parallel bars connected to each other by a smooth jumper (a piece of laminated parquet) with recessed screws.

Another view from the front. Pay attention to the recess between the “legs” of the rocker arm (under the lower nut of the elevator box).

We lift the rocker arm (together with the head of the router) and place a lift under its legs, placing them on the protrusions of the “cube”. In this case, the width of the legs corresponds to the gap between the inner surface of the box and the outer surface of the cube.

That is, when the gate rotates, the cube does not rotate, but rises through rotation, raising the “yoke”.

The advantage of this elevator is that it is moved beyond the plane of the router itself, closer to the user. (another closer photo)

I'm thinking about making one myself.