A router is often used in conjunction with accessories to accurately complete a planned job. Various additional devices for such electric tools are available on the market. One of them is the rip fence for the router. Read on and find out the purpose of such a device, how it is modernized for milling a curved surface. Let's also consider options for professionally manufacturing a wooden rip fence. Let's talk more about frequently used factory models.
One of the variants of a proprietary parallel stop for milling tools Source 220-volt.ru
General information
A hand-held electric router is one of the most useful tools used in wood processing. Carpenters and joiners understand this well. They are one of the first to purchase it when equipping their workshops. After all, it replaces a large number of hand tools, including saws, chisels and planes.
In carpentry and carpentry workshops, this electric tool is usually used together with a template for a router. This addition makes the process of controlling the mechanism easier. The use of auxiliary devices makes surface processing easier. With their help, it is performed most accurately and accurately.
Masters use additional devices when necessary:
- make a hole in the product;
- cut out a figured part;
- process the edge of the workpiece.
Setting a stop for processing a wooden part Source ita.tools
Milling itself is used to create patterns and ornaments. It is widely used during the installation of hinges, locks, and corner profiles. Power milling tools make the chamfering process easier. It allows you to quickly round the edges of various workpieces. To ensure that each of these operations is performed in the most convenient conditions, auxiliary devices are used.
On a note! The router allows you to process wood, plastic, and aluminum. To work with each material, the required speed mode is pre-selected, and additional equipment is used depending on the tasks. For example, wood router templates are often used during the production of furniture items.
Template with clamps for inserting locks into wooden doors Source express-novosti.ru
Milling devices for processing bodies of revolution
Many accessories for manual milling machines, made by users to suit their needs, do not have serial analogues. One of these devices, the need for which arises quite often, is a device that facilitates the process of cutting grooves in rotating bodies. Using such a device, in particular, you can easily and accurately cut longitudinal grooves on posts, balusters and other wood products of a similar configuration.
Device for cutting flutes in balusters
Milling cutter and frame assembly
Router carriage
Dividing disc
The design of this device is:
- frame;
- mobile milling carriage;
- a disk used to set the rotation angle;
- screws that secure the workpiece being processed;
- locking screw
If such a device is additionally equipped with a simple drive, which can be used as a conventional drill or screwdriver, then milling on it can successfully replace processing performed on a lathe.
Description and purpose of the rip fence for an electric router
It would be more correct to call such an additional device an auxiliary device for a milling table. It is usually always available in workshops where work is performed by real professionals. However, the fence can be used not only on the router table. It can be used on any base surface. That is why many milling cutter models initially include a parallel stop, which makes it possible not to purchase it separately. Although on the market such add-ons are presented in different versions from various manufacturers of power tools, including world-famous companies.
The rip fence is an auxiliary device for making straight cuts. The base surface for it can be not only a specially designed and manufactured table from one of the brands. When performing work, it is often used as the side edge of the workpiece being processed or even slats, which are guides for the router.
Option for using a metal guide Source mebpilot.ru
Important! A rip fence is a bar that is used when milling edges and processing grooves on parts.
In the standard version, the router stop device consists of the following parts:
- two metal rods with a round cross-section, which are fixed in special holes in the milling power tool;
- screw for fixing the rod in the required position;
- support elements, which are pads for resting the device on the base (manufacturers produce modifications of parallel stops with the ability to adjust the gap between these pads);
- a screw to fine-tune the location of the cutter axis relative to the base flat support - more often in the workshops of highly qualified joiners and carpenters, the surface of a milling table is used as this support.
The design of a factory rip fence often includes a fine-tuning screw Source ftool.ru
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A stop device for a hand router, which is manufactured in a factory, is first prepared for use, and only then used for its intended purpose. Such an additional device cannot be used immediately as soon as it is removed from the package. To use it, you must do the following:
- insert the rods into the holes specially designed for them in the base of the electric milling tool;
- secure the rods in the desired position using a locking screw element;
- loosen the stopper;
- adjust the gap between the reference plane and the axis of the cutting blades of the cutter by turning the fine adjustment screw.
This is interesting! Experienced craftsmen equip the persistent factory fixture with an additional element of a simple design. With sufficient experience, it allows you to use a rip fence to quickly perform not only high-quality straight cuts, but also precise curved cuts in wooden workpieces.
Once modified, the rip fence can be used to make curved cuts Source amazon.com
An addition to the factory milling tool fence is a block of wood. Its craftsmen make it with one straight side edge. On its second side, a recess is created, which can have an angular or round shape. This block is placed between the curved surface of a wooden blank and the supporting overhead elements of the factory fixture.
This addition is installed in such a way that its straight, even edge rests against the lining of the straight stop, and the side with a round or angular recess is in contact with the curved plane of the workpiece. At the same time, experts note that it is necessary to work with the improved stop device as carefully as possible due to the unstable position of the milling hand-held power tool. For this reason, milling rounds or corners of various wooden parts is entrusted exclusively to experienced craftsmen.
Milling roundness is entrusted only to an experienced craftsman Source klasstrueda.ru
Devices for fast and high-quality milling of grooves on narrow surfaces
Any home craftsman can answer the question of how to make grooves for door hinges or a lock. For these purposes, as a rule, a drill and an ordinary chisel are used. Meanwhile, you can perform this procedure much faster and with less labor if you take a milling cutter equipped with a special device for this purpose. The design of such a device, with the help of which grooves of various widths can be created on narrow surfaces, is a flat base fixed to the base of the router. On the base, which can have either a round or rectangular shape, two pins are installed, the task of which is to ensure the straight movement of the router during processing.
The main requirement that the attachment to a milling cutter of the design described above must meet is that the axes of the guide pins must be in line with the center of the cutter used for processing wood. If this condition is met, then the groove made at the end of the workpiece will be located strictly in its center. To move the groove to one side, just put a sleeve of the appropriate size on one of the guide pins. When using a similar attachment on a hand router, you need to ensure that the guide pins are pressed against the side surfaces of the workpiece during processing.
Grooving tool (click to enlarge)
It is possible to ensure the stability of the router when processing narrow surfaces without special devices. This problem is solved using two boards, which are attached to both sides of the workpiece in such a way as to form one plane with the surface on which the groove is made. When using this technological technique, the router itself is positioned using a parallel stop.
Professional manufacturing of rip fence for milling power tools
Craftsmen who professionally perform carpentry and carpentry work sometimes make a stop for the router themselves. The reasons for this may be different. In some cases, craftsmen do not have the opportunity to buy a device in a specialized store, since it simply is not nearby, and the work needs to be completed urgently. In other situations, some woodworkers and carpenters find that making them themselves produces a better rip fence. With its help, it will be possible to carry out the specific work for which it was created as conveniently as possible.
Experienced specialists in carpentry are able to quickly produce a stop device for a router. They begin its creation by preparing a base with a flat surface. This part is located parallel to the cutting line of the blades of the milling power tool. Any oblong object is used as a thrust element.
A professional can quickly produce a rip fence Source zone-outillage.fr
On a note! The design of a rip fence for an electric router may include one or two rods. Experienced craftsmen usually choose the second version of the device because it is more reliable. After this, they thoroughly think through the strong fastening of the rods.
Custom router jigs are often made from lumber. Typically, when creating parts for a thrust device, craftsmen use bars, MDF, plywood or chipboard. A common wooden rip fence design consists of the following parts:
- base 20 mm thick – 1 pc.;
- vertically fixed part 254*70*25 mm – 1 pc.;
- screw size 4.2*38 with a countersunk head – 2 pcs.;
- metal rods with a diameter of 8 mm – 2 pcs.;
- furniture bolt class M8 with a length of 75 mm – 1 pc.;
- bottom strip with recesses for two steel rods – 1 pc.:
- washer 8 mm – 1 pc.;
- top bar with recesses for metal rods – 1 pc.;
- flywheel nut size M8 – 1 pc.
Manufacturing drawing of a wooden parallel stop for an electric milling tool Source orgstanki.ru
On a note! A hole with a diameter of 8 mm is made in the center of the lower and upper planks, which allows them to be connected to each other using a furniture bolt and a flywheel nut.
To make a fixture for a wood router, a slightly different pattern can be used. In this case, to create it use:
- plywood measuring 900*125 mm;
- melanin, the dimensions of which are 900*125 mm;
- another piece of plywood 900*75 mm.
Melanin is used as a lining. The rail is placed on it in the same way as fixing the guide to the table surface. The plywood is then joined together using adhesive and nails. Then, using a special attachment for a screwdriver or electric drill, one through hole is made through three workpieces at once. Its diameter should correspond to the same size of the vacuum cleaner port. Next, this element from the vacuum cleaner is placed in the hole made. Its fixation is also carried out using an adhesive composition.
Factory rip fences
Not a single qualified craftsman refuses the opportunity to buy a parallel fence. Nowadays, many manufacturers manufacture additional devices for routers, some of which are well known to builders, carpenters and other craftsmen. Popular brands include Bosch, Makita, Kreg, Interskol and so on. Let's look at some commonly used models.
Keepwork 800Х110 mm
This model is a side support with an anodized aluminum base. Aluminum corners are used to fix it on the milling table. Exactly in the center of the device there is a hole created specifically for the operation of the cutter. Chips are still removed through it. The design also contains brushes. For their manufacture, the manufacturer used MDF. The brushes have holes through which they are attached to the thrust device. This parallel fence is sold together with a connection for connecting the dust extraction hose.
Video description
By watching this video, you can find out how a master refines parallel factory stops for milling power tools:
Kreg PRS1015
This universal model is installed on a milling table with a tabletop with a thickness of no more than 38 mm. For its manufacture, the manufacturer used anodized aluminum. The device allows you to adjust the right angle. It is secured using two clamps. The device is precisely positioned relative to the cutter axis due to the presence of a dimensional scale. The design also has movable pads. It is against them that the workpiece is pressed during milling.
DeWalt DE6913-XJ
This metal universal model is equipped with micro-adjustment. Due to its presence, good accuracy is ensured during milling. The design also includes a dust removal system. Therefore, the chips do not fall on the master and do not interfere with the work. This 1.62 kg model is specifically designed for DeWALT routers.
Briefly about the main thing
The parallel stop for a manual electric router is designed for precise execution of straight cuts. It simplifies the processing of edges of wooden workpieces and facilitates the creation of grooves in parts. A stop fixture for an electric router is produced by many tool manufacturers. Craftsmen often use models such as Kreg PRS1015, DeWalt DE6913-XJ, Keepwork 800X110 mm.
Carpentry specialists often make stops for a hand router for a specific type of work. They are created mainly from wooden parts. Metal elements are also used, but in smaller quantities. So that a stop device for a manual router can be used to process curved surfaces, it is supplemented with a wooden block with a recess that is shaped to fit the plane being processed.
Tenon milling device
A tenon-cutting device for a router allows high-precision processing of parts connected using the tongue-and-groove principle. The most versatile of these devices allow you to mill various types of tenons (dovetail and straight). The operation of such a device involves a copying ring, which, moving along a groove in a special template, ensures precise movement of the cutter in a given direction. To make such a copying machine with your own hands, you must first select the groove patterns for which it will be used.
