Band mill Router Plane

Kbeitz · January 25, 2018, 01:09:09 PM

I found a neat chunk of metal at the junkyard yesterday that got me started
on my homemade router plane. I'm going to use my mill bed as part of the
machine. My bed is plenty long enough that I can just leave it at the far end
when I'm not using it.

This first picture is a machine trolley that came off some kind of knitting machine.
It's upside down from the way I'm going to use it. You can see the track wheels
touching the floor.

I'm going to mount this shaper spindle on the side of the trolley facing up.

I'm drilling a 2" hole in a 1/2" steel plate to mount the spindle in.

Finishing up the hole with a boring bar. The hole needs to be 3" dia.

Machining a collar to help hold the spindle

Now I need to bolt the plate to the bottom of the trolley.

Got my track wheels for the sawmill carriage.

Ljohnsaw · January 25, 2018, 01:17:40 PM

So is this going to hang from and travel across your current sawmill head (so you have the Z-motion) or are you building another "head"?

Crusarius · January 25, 2018, 02:05:37 PM

I am liking this. I never thought about just making a router hang from the carriage. But I like the idea of a lighter carriage for the router.

Kbeitz · January 25, 2018, 03:07:47 PM

Quote from: ljohnsaw on January 25, 2018, 01:17:40 PM
So is this going to hang from and travel across your current sawmill head (so you have the Z-motion) or are you building another "head"?

Yes there will be a second carriage.

Kbeitz · January 25, 2018, 03:11:12 PM

I drilled and taped the plate for a router if I ever want to use one.
It's easier to do it now than later.

Plate is mounted...

21incher · January 25, 2018, 03:35:01 PM

Nice. I have been wanting to make one for some time now run by an arduino. Infinity makes a nice planer bit for sleds.

starmac · January 25, 2018, 03:53:10 PM

That looks like you will have all the hardware there to build a nice set up.
I have a question, it may not matter, but I have even wondered the same about the four post mills. Is there anything to keep it from riding up, like maybe hitting a hard knot, or does gravity do the trick?

Kbeitz · January 25, 2018, 04:47:23 PM

My unit is going to be heavy. Maybe it's a good thing if it can ride up
but I was thinking to put a second set of wheels under the track so it
can't ride up. I'm going to try it first without. maybe I'll just add more
weight. Open for ideas.

Kbeitz · January 25, 2018, 05:08:32 PM

I got some E-bay parts coming...

Ljohnsaw · January 25, 2018, 05:15:24 PM

K,
How much travel do you think you are going to need? Maybe 18"? You should have gotten 4 nuts so you could make it a 4-poster. Then you could do fine adjust with chain on sprockets to get the spindle perfectly plump to the wood. I can see it now, you are going to have a CNC milling machine before too long!

Crusarius · January 25, 2018, 05:37:44 PM

I think for surfacing I would want a backup set of wheels on the bottom. it would be way to easy for it to start to lift when the bit gets dull.

Kbeitz · January 25, 2018, 07:32:19 PM

It might be a four poster and it's going to be chain drive but I only
need two screw rods to lift it. It's going to be around 40" wide and
I want at least 24" in height and I'll have around 24 feet of travel.

Larry · January 25, 2018, 09:06:52 PM

I'm surprised that you didn't grind a tool to make your own acme mounting nuts on the lathe. Delrin might be perfect for this application if not too much weight.....you said heavy so maybe brass would be best.

8 tpi would make it easy to keep track of the depth of cut.

Just harassing a bit, your idea looks great.

Ianab · January 26, 2018, 12:06:10 AM

I don't think rising up is going to be a problem, unless the bit gets horribly blunt and you try taking a too big a bite. Guys using simple router bridges just have their routers sitting in a U channel and run them by hand. Worst case, if it did ride up, you have to go over it again, and take that final 1/16" off. You can't cut lower than your base line.

I have a similar setup with a big Makita router that I can clamp to my old mill carriage and rails. It's basically just a plywood box the router bolts into. Then you have the height and side adjust, and travel of the original mill carriage. Final adjustment to the cut height can be done with the fine adjust of the routers plunge function. Obviously you don't need anything that big, as you might only need 4" of height adjust. But I had the old mill frame, so why not use it.

So anyway, from experience, what you are building will work. Slab will come out perfectly flat, maybe with some faint lines and swirls from the router bit, but those are things that can easily be sanded out. The important thing will be that it's FLAT, and "smooth-ish"

Kbeitz · January 26, 2018, 06:16:08 AM

I wanted a lot of height so I could do the tops of log benches.

I got the equipment to make my own acme rod and nuts
but it's a long processes and it doesn't cost much today
so I just bought it.

I bought single start thread 10 tpi so one turn of the rod
will give me 1/10th of an inch.

coalsmok · January 26, 2018, 07:30:12 AM

I know you already bought some but, over on the home machinist forum some years back there was a post on making no low machining derlin leadscrew nuts. The guy took two blocks of derlin and squeezed them around the lead screw as he heated the screw just enough to allow the plastic to deform into the screw. This made a almost zero backlash nut for the machine in question.

Kbeitz · January 26, 2018, 07:58:35 AM

Quote from: coalsmok on January 26, 2018, 07:30:12 AM
I know you already bought some but, over on the home machinist forum some years back there was a post on making no low machining derlin leadscrew nuts. The guy took two blocks of derlin and squeezed them around the lead screw as he heated the screw just enough to allow the plastic to deform into the screw. This made a almost zero backlash nut for the machine in question.

Sounds like a neat way to make new nuts. I don't think I have worked with derlin.

Jemclimber · January 26, 2018, 10:03:02 AM

Delrin is polyformaldehyde. If you heat it up, do it outside or a well ventilated area. It's bound to breakdown a little in the process and formaldehyde fumes are not good to breathe.

Kbeitz · January 26, 2018, 05:31:43 PM

I'm guessing this weights just a little over 100 lbs. My scale only goes
up to 100 lbs and I'm getting an overload. This part is all but done.
I'm waiting for a belt to come. I have around 1000 belts but nothing
in a L2 1/4" grove. Next I need to make the second trolley that travels
down the carriage. Again as you see it it is upside down.

Kbeitz · January 30, 2018, 11:40:39 AM

I finished up this part today. The next carriage will need to wait
till spring gets here. I keep watchen for the first Robin.

SlowJoeCrow · January 31, 2018, 09:28:03 AM

Here he goes again! Looks nice K and I am sure it will work well.

Kbeitz · January 31, 2018, 03:32:57 PM

I got some E-bay parts in today so I started on the upper carriage...

Kbeitz · January 31, 2018, 03:56:43 PM

What I'm trying to make...

Kbeitz · February 02, 2018, 04:27:25 PM

Temporary mock setup in my basement.
The bottom is sitting on channel iron the same width as my mill.
The gray rails on the bottom are there only temporary.
The wood saw horses is just holding the top rails up
till I get the other parts made. Looks like I will have
around 32" of travel to play with.