Manual milling cutter from a drill with your own hands. We make a milling machine from a conventional drill. How to make a router from a drill with your own hands

Fans of making something at home often ask themselves the question: “Is it possible to assemble a router from a drill with your own hands?”. This idea has a fairly solid foundation in the form of the high cost of a professional profile tool. The price of a modern milling machine can seriously hit the home budget, and you will not have to use it so often. It turns out that it is quite possible to make such a device on your own.

Most often, such a tool is very useful when cottage house renovation or building a private cottage. With such a unit, complex woodworking work can be carried out right at home. You will have access to:

  • milling of wooden parts;
  • edge formation;
  • creation of special connecting parts;
  • other woodworking;

A large number of advantages do not always outweigh the inflated price of the tool, which, at the end of the repair, will gather dust in the pantry. Therefore, a homemade manual router is gaining more and more popularity among homeowners.

Device manufacturing

Before proceeding directly to the assembly procedure, you need to take care of a special stand - milling table. This element can be assembled from thick plywood or chipboard panels.

Get the right parts:

  • sheets of plywood or chipboard with a thickness of at least twelve millimeters;
  • four support bars;
  • clamp for fixing the drill on the table;

Let's start the assembly process. Make holes for the bolts in the main vertical wall and fix the guide clamp.

After that, make a round hole in the middle of the thrust sheet. Professionals advise using for these purposes electric jigsaw, but a simple hacksaw will do. The final stage is the connection of all parts into a single structure using self-tapping screws or superglue. The table is ready, the most important thing left is to make the router itself.

Main elements of the device

At the heart of a good milling machine is electric drive. Its power should not be lower than 500 watts. Calculate this figure depending on the thickness of the wooden parts that you plan to process. The most suitable option is a drill, hammer drill or grinder with a power of 500 to 1100 watts. The best choice, in terms of price and reliability, is a drill.

When buying, you should pay special attention to the quality characteristics of the drill, because later it can be used for its intended purpose.

To assemble the entire system, you will need the following components:

  • good electric drill;

  • cutter - an element that is purchased separately in a specialized store;

  • special cartridge for fixing.

The last part is connected to the drill by means of adapter, which will have to be selected separately, depending on the type of cutter. Installing such an adapter is problematic, but it is quite possible at home.

Assembly sequence

When making a milling machine, you must follow some guidelines that will help you avoid mistakes. Particular attention should be paid to lift to adjust- it is fixed on the table top to compensate for the force of revolutions. For the manufacture of this part, dense plywood is used.

It is very important to achieve solidity in the design, avoid the use of straps, cables, small nails and rails. The cutter itself is then mounted on the motor shaft. As a result, the elevator will include:

  • carriages;
  • body, which will bear the main load;
  • threaded axle;
  • fastening for fixing;
  • sliding type skids.

When the threaded axis rotates, the carriage moves along with the motor. It moves it up or down along the axis line. The skids are designed to limit and guide movement.

Height restrictions must be set in advance while the device is stationary. By fixing the fixing elements in the required position, you will protect yourself and your work.

It is extremely important to follow smooth movement of the carriage. Achieve the most stable position in order to exclude the occurrence of marriage and irregularities in the processing of wood. Experienced craftsmen make special gears and rotary levers, which are then included in the overall control system.

So, following simple tips, you can assemble a router from an ordinary drill. Carefully customize the details and use only high-quality materials. Do not try to save money on a drill, remember when the construction is over, you can disassemble the machine and use it for its intended purpose. Do not rush to throw away the table and the elevator after - they can be disassembled into separate elements and compactly packed in a box until the next repair. That is why professionals use only construction screws for connection.

The need to manufacture a home-made router is explained by the high price of this equipment; for one-time work or with minor requirements for accuracy, it is more advisable to use hand-held devices from drills or self-assembled stationary machines. For these purposes, an electric tool, fixed in a vertical position, is best suited, there is no need to change the kinematic diagram or complex drawings.

The main purpose of the milling cutter is the curly processing of edges, the creation of grooves and the drilling of holes, with a conventional electric drill it is united by the principle of operation, namely, the rotation of a securely fixed working tool in the chuck. The differences are manifested in the load vector (the milling cutter is designed for continuous operation with significant transverse forces), the presence of a bed (thrust plate) in the simplest design and the ability to control the depth of cut in a more complex one. For obvious reasons, the drill does not have any movement limiters, they need to be made and attached by yourself.

Another difference between milling machines is a wider range of speeds of the working shaft of the spindle. For a standard electric drill, it rarely exceeds 0-3000 rpm; not all models have the ability to adjust. With a router, it reaches 30,000 rpm, the difference between these values ​​\u200b\u200band its consequences are obvious even to a non-specialist. It is for this reason that a household drill is considered unsuitable for creating a milling machine: even with the purchase of special tools for a drill, it will be inferior in processing accuracy and, most importantly, will have lower performance compared to professional models. However, homemade products are successfully used when performing simple operations: edging, preparing holes for locks and hinges, laying grooves or boring.

Materials and tools

To assemble the simplest homemade router you will need:

  • Pieces of laminated board, thick plywood or sheet metal for the base of the router. Their dimensions are selected based on the dimensions of the electric drill itself; a pre-drawn drawing is used to cut the supports, vertical and horizontal parts. When choosing wooden materials for the assembly of the base, the recommended thickness of the slab or sheet is 20 mm, otherwise the support will not be rigid enough.
  • Clamp for fixing a hand drill and bolts for screwing it.
  • Self-tapping screws and similar fasteners.
  • Electric jigsaw or crown with ᴓ40 mm to get a smooth hole for the cutter, other plumbing tools.
  • Directly an electric drill with a power of at least 0.5 kW, with the highest possible speed, ideally with the ability to adjust them. Preference is given to models with a solid body, the risks of deformation under lateral loads of such homemade products are quite high.

In the collet chuck of the drill, any cutter is securely fixed, provided that the cross section and the cylindrical shape of the shank match. If desired, nozzles for such a hand tool can also be made on your own: from plywood and pieces of sandpaper, a turned dowel, a wheel from a lighter and other improvised materials. A number of cutters are installed on an electric drill only if there is an appropriate adapter, these points should be clarified in advance. When it is necessary to work with hard materials, including metal, nozzles such as cutters (boring holes at different angles) and countersinks (allowing for rough surface treatment or forming recesses) are used.

A more complex design of a homemade router implies the possibility of free movement of the drill in the vertical direction in order to change the depth of cut. To assemble the microlift, you will need 2 metal pipes or racks that act as guides, a threaded axle and a nut, and fasteners. In most cases, it is possible to freely extract the electric drill in order to use it for its intended purpose, it is for this reason that the fastening clamps are made collapsible. The resulting wooden or metal structures are recommended to be placed on a stable base.

Do-it-yourself step-by-step technology for assembling a router from a drill

Work begins with measuring the dimensions of the tool and drawing up the simplest base scheme, taking into account the need for a 40 mm hole on the horizontal part, with the center point coinciding with its working axis, leaving free space for the trigger button and marking the location of the clamp (or several when planning the displacement of the drill) . Then they are conducted in the following sequence:

  1. All wooden parts are sawn with a jigsaw or saw, the place for screwing in the screws is marked, a round hole is prepared on the sole of the hand mill. 40 mm in diameter is enough to ensure free access of the cutter to the processing area.
  2. The main parts are screwed with self-tapping screws.
  3. On the vertical side of the base, 1 or more clamps for an electric drill are fixed.
  4. The design is checked for stability, if necessary, it is reinforced with a wooden stop in the upper part.

Tips and Alternatives

When working with a mini-milling machine from a conventional drill, it should be remembered that the bearings of its shaft are designed for other loads, the tool is protected from overheating. When processing wood (not to mention harder materials), excessive cutter pressure, continuous switching modes, body deformation or armature distortions in the equipment motor stator are avoided. Technological breaks help to reduce the risks, they are advised to be done after 1-3 passes of the rotating nozzle or other signs of overheating of the electric drill are detected.

When assembling the router on your own, to increase its reliability and performance, it is recommended:

  • Take the switch out of the holding base of the electric drill.
  • Use specialized nozzles, adapters and cutters with a cylindrical shank.
  • Provide good directional lighting for a homemade milling machine.
  • Track the center of gravity of the tool, if necessary, compensate for it by stuffing bars on the base. Highly vibrating models need to be secured to a stationary table, workbench, or similar stable base.
  • Organize the collection or removal of sawdust and shavings.

You can also make a homemade milling machine using an engine from an old washing machine or by reworking a grinder. In the first case, the design is most often stationary, the adapter for the collet clamping the cutter is made using turning equipment. It is easier to make a small tool from a grinder, fixed on the sole, with a collet or a chuck screwed onto the spindle. If you doubt your abilities or with increased requirements for sampling accuracy, you should buy a milling nozzle for a drill, in particular, it is successfully used in preparing blind holes for furniture hinges or in similar carpentry work. Some types of these devices have outlets for connecting to a vacuum cleaner, the only drawback of such devices is the high price.

Often there are situations when you need to make a groove, carefully trim the edge of the board or make a part of a complex shape. Usually such work is performed using a milling cutter. The well-equipped workshop has all the necessary tools and machines at hand.

But what if, for example, instead of a workshop, a garage, and only a drill is available. You can solve the problem in the nearest power tool store. But, as usual, everything depends either on finances, or on the fact that the milling tool is only needed for a while, and then it will simply gather dust on the shelf. As you know, there is a way out of any situation, and specifically from this one - a do-it-yourself milling cutter from a drill.

The drill acts as a drive. A cutting tool (cutter or drill) is clamped into the chuck and processed. In this case, the body of the electric drill is mounted on some kind of base or mechanism that provides the necessary location of the cutting part relative to the workpiece or part.

The principle of operation is similar to the factory options for milling cutters. The design of the mechanical part is also similar or completely repeats the elements of a non-handicraft device. The exceptions are the details of fastening the drill. In addition, the design of the mechanism depends on the material of manufacture.

The milling device can be simple and contain a minimum of parts and assemblies, but if necessary, nothing prevents you from “expanding” the capabilities of the electric drill by constructing a rather complex structure. It all depends on your own capabilities and requirements for the functionality of a homemade tool.

You can make a router with your own hands from a drill using any materials at hand. The main requirement: the design must be durable, the presence of backlashes and distortions is not allowed, the electric drill must be securely fixed.

For the manufacture of parts, you can use:

  • Chipboard or multi-layer plywood with a thickness of 12 mm or more;
  • cutting boards of suitable thickness;
  • wooden bars.

It is also possible to use other materials. For example, you can use metal. A good idea is a base made of thick plexiglass or acrylic. Through such material the processed surface will be visible.

Parts are connected with self-tapping screws. For reliability, all fixed joints can be glued with any suitable glue (carpentry, PVA, etc.).

Bolts or studs may be required to secure moving parts. diameter 6 – 8 mm. They will need nuts, both regular and wing nuts. Some connections may require washers. It is possible to use furniture fittings: guide mechanisms, various fasteners, and so on.

In everyday life, a vertical hand mill is often used. It has the easiest design to repeat. It is enough to make a stand with a mount for an electric drill, and the device for performing simple operations is ready. An example of such a homemade unit is in the photo below.

The manufacturing process of such a base is quite simple:

  • The first detail to start with is the base (sole). It is necessary to cut the workpiece of a round or oval shape.
  • Next, make a hole for the cutter. It must have an offset relative to the center of the part, taking into account the thickness of the side post.
  • Depending on the dimensions of the electric drill, a rack of the required size is made and fastened to the base with self-tapping screws or furniture confirmations.
  • The rigidity of the fastening is provided by a spacer (kerchief). The inner sides of this part must have an angle of strictly 90 °.
  • The next element is the drill mount. You can use a pipe clamp, as in the photo, or make a clamp out of wood or plywood and secure it with self-tapping screws.
  • As an additional fixation, an emphasis is placed above the drill.

This option is suitable for doing rough work or will serve as a temporary alternative to a full-fledged tool. To perform more accurate operations, you will have to develop a more complex design.

Nothing prevents you from equipping your “home-made” with adjustable cutter overhang or the ability to change the angle of inclination. It is possible to use a drill in a desktop milling machine. To do this, the electric drill is installed vertically under the work surface.

Making a router with your own hands from a drill is not the most difficult task. Difficulties are manifested in the use of such a device. It should be borne in mind that the power tool is not designed for this method of use and working with it will have some features and even disadvantages.

The first thing to consider is rotation speed. The milling machine motor can run up to 20,000 rpm. For an electric drill, this indicator is around 3000 . It follows that you will have to limit yourself to using cutters designed to work at low speeds, and the rotation speed regulator should be in the maximum position.

The situation is similar with power. The engine of a simple electric drill consumes about 500 - 600 watts. The power of the cutter is 1 - 2 kW. This means that a homemade milling machine will cope with the processing of not too hard materials (wood, plywood, plastic).

The milling accuracy is also not perfect. There are no gears or gearboxes in the design of the factory milling cutter. In electric drills, gears are used to transmit rotation from the engine to the chuck. Because of this, backlashes are possible, and therefore, beating and vibration may occur, which will negatively affect the quality of work.

Video: Bosch drill cutter

A simple design, most likely, will not provide for adjusting the depth of cut. You can set the cutter or drill by holding the shank in the chuck at the required height.

Also, do not forget about safety. The cartridge is not the most ideal option for mounting the cutter. At high speeds, vibration can cause a poorly tightened chuck to spin.

The power button for a homemade router will be located in an inconvenient place. Hold the device securely with your hands during operation.

Of course, there are enough shortcomings in a home-made milling cutter from a drill, but there are also positive aspects. Try drilling a wall with a regular router. Theoretically, this is possible, but it is more convenient to do this with an electric drill. To do this, just remove it from the mount and apply it for its intended purpose.

The very high price of factory-made equipment is compensated by craftsmen through the creation of home-made equipment. An example of this is a wood milling device made from an electric drill with your own hands, which will cost almost nothing. To the machine you only need to purchase a set of cutters.

Structure and purpose

In simple words, the structure of the milling machine can be described as follows: the electric motor of the unit communicates rotation to the shaft on which the cutter is located (a specialized nozzle).

When arranging a manual fixture, the cutter is placed in a special chuck, cam or collet.

The key task of the fixture is the processing of plastic, iron, wood, glass, ceramics or organic glass.

An example is the preparation of technological holes for a door lock in a wooden sheet.

In addition, it can be the processing of the edges of parts or threading, milling cavities and grooves.

Rotation is provided by an electric motor operating from an alternating electric current. Nozzles can be used in a variety of ways based on the material to be processed.

The simplest material for milling is wood, therefore, in general, milling cutters for its processing will be especially common and inexpensive. For metals of different levels of strength and toughness, nozzles should be used that differ in their properties depending on the characteristics of the milled material itself.

Of course, cutters for metals or wood are not suitable for processing ceramics or glass, for such materials it is required to select a cutting tool with other parameters.

Materials and tools

To assemble the fixture, You will need the following materials and tools:

  • a motor operating from the mains;
  • electric jigsaw (in the absence of a hand saw);
  • drill;
  • screws, locknuts, self-tapping screws, clamp;
  • cutter;

  • cartridge;
  • 4 bars of wood;
  • quick clamps;
  • Chipboard - for the base of the unit.

You don't need to be an expert to use these tools. Pre-check the performance of electrical tools and take care of compliance with safety regulations.

We collect the base

First of all, consider the structure of the desktop and the layout of the router on it. You can not get hung up on the lid, but purchase it in a special store, only this is relatively expensive. To make it yourself, use the drawings. A high-quality table guarantees comfort and will make it possible to speed up the process of working with a router. The basis is a plate of strong plastic or chipboard with a thickness of at least 12 centimeters. Dampness is not terrible for plastic, however, it is easier and faster to make a cover from chipboard.

The cover is arranged on guides. Provide the ability to adjust them to customize the position of the table for you. Also keep in mind that the area around the work area must be fenced off. This is of great importance when working with a manual router. In addition, a clamping device is required for workpieces.

We create an adjusting elevator and mount a drill

Cut out a small panel from chipboard and make 4 support bars for it. The materials used must be of high quality and durable. On the table top, cut a semicircular hole with an electric saw or a jigsaw. Make slots for the thrust sheet and clamps. Attach the panel to the motor using bolts or special fasteners. The milling cutter must be fixed on the table with the help of bearing assemblies. In order to increase the quality of fixing the electric drill in a vertical position, you need to grow a block of wood in the upper part of the rack. He will play the role of an emphasis for an electric drill. At the final stage of creating a router, sand all its wooden surfaces with sandpaper. The work platform must be on a solid and durable base.

Fixture work

Making a milling cutter from an electric drill is easy; nevertheless, you need to understand the principle of operation of such equipment. I must say that it is quite simple. The basic component is a motor that, while rotating, communicates this rotation to a shaft made of a strong material. A nozzle is put on this element - a cutter. It processes the parts laid on the frame of the device. It should be noted that when talking about a manual device, the workpiece will be fixed not to the shaft, but in the chuck. Based on the material being processed, the cutter also changes. Especially if you want to process brass. To work with glass, you will need to buy a cutter made of first-class and hard alloy.

Application features

Of course, just mounting a milling cutter from an electric drill is not enough - you need to properly care for it so that it functions for a long time. The experts make the following recommendations.

  • All wood surfaces must not only be well treated with sandpaper, but also treated with a protective coating in order to increase the ability to resist various adverse external influences.
  • The control system of the device should be carefully worked out so that it is extremely comfortable.
  • Certain additions can be made, such as a system for cleaning the work area from chips. For example, install a small pipe that you can attach to a hose from a simple vacuum cleaner.

Advantages and disadvantages of a milling cutter from an electric drill

The self-made design has obvious advantages, key among which are the following:

  • a home-made machine will cost an order of magnitude cheaper than a factory one;
  • a milling cutter from an electric drill makes it possible to work with surfaces of various types;
  • it is quite easy to assemble the device, apart from the moment of wiring;
  • ease of use;
  • ease of maintenance.

There are few significant shortcomings in home-made equipment. The main shortcomings include the following points.

  • A hand mill made from improvised materials is not durable.
  • The processing speed is too slow.
  • The resources of an electric motor taken from an old household appliance are not enough to operate with difficult materials and surfaces, in particular, with metal. This defect can be eliminated. To do this, it is desirable to take a high-speed electric motor from a rotary hammer. This will allow you to adjust the number of revolutions for different materials.

So, following simple tips, you can mount a router from an ordinary electric drill. Thoroughly customize the elements and use only high-quality materials. Do not try to profit on an electric drill, remember: when the device loses its relevance, you can dismantle the machine and use it for its true purpose. Do not rush to throw out the table and the elevator - they can also be dismantled and compactly placed in a box until the next time.

How to make a router from a drill with your own hands, see the following video.

Like from a drill make a cutter with your own hands?

Hi all! This article will discuss how from a drill do milling cutter hands with the help of available materials. There are situations when you need to do a certain specific job, but it requires a tool that is quite expensive to do it. Buying it for one or two times is somehow reluctant. We figure out how to make a wind generator with your own hands. The principle of operation of a wind generator and types of windmills. Then you think about how to replace it with what you have.

All home craftsmen have such a tool as a drill. How to make and connect a regulator with your own hands. Therefore, they are trying to adapt it to various needs, and not just for drilling. People use it with the help of various devices as lathes, drills, grinders, grinders, mixers and much more. So you can also make a cutter out of it. how to do it yourself how to do something yourself, with your own hands And you will need very inexpensive materials for this.

But it is worth mentioning one moment. How to make a trimmer with your own hands from a grinder. No drill can fully replace a milling cutter. This is due, firstly, to the fact that its revolutions are only about 3,000 per minute, while router develops them up to 30,000. This means that it will also not work cleanly to process the surface. And, secondly, its gearbox is not designed for such loads, which will lead to its rapid wear if it works in this mode for a long time.

Often there are situations when you need to make a groove, carefully trim the edge of the board or make a part of a complex shape. Usually such work is performed using a milling cutter. The well-equipped workshop has all the necessary tools and machines at hand.

But what if, for example, instead of a workshop, a garage, and only a drill is available. You can solve the problem in the nearest power tool store. But, as usual, everything depends either on finances, or on the fact that the milling tool is only needed for a while, and then it will simply gather dust on the shelf. As you know, there is a way out of any situation, and specifically from this one - a do-it-yourself milling cutter from a drill.

What is a drill cutter

The drill acts as a drive. A cutting tool (cutter or drill) is clamped into the chuck and processed. In this case, the body of the electric drill is mounted on some kind of base or mechanism that provides the necessary location of the cutting part relative to the workpiece or part.

The principle of operation is similar to the factory options for milling cutters. The design of the mechanical part is also similar or completely repeats the elements of a non-handicraft device. The exceptions are the details of fastening the drill. In addition, the design of the mechanism depends on the material of manufacture.

The milling device can be simple and contain a minimum of parts and assemblies, but if necessary, nothing prevents you from “expanding” the capabilities of the electric drill by constructing a rather complex structure. It all depends on your own capabilities and requirements for the functionality of a homemade tool.

What you need to make

You can make a router with your own hands from a drill using any materials at hand. The main requirement: the design must be durable, the presence of backlashes and distortions is not allowed, the electric drill must be securely fixed.

For the manufacture of parts, you can use:

  • Chipboard or multi-layer plywood with a thickness of 12 mm or more;
  • cutting boards of suitable thickness;
  • wooden bars.

It is also possible to use other materials. For example, you can use metal. A good idea is a base made of thick plexiglass or acrylic. Through such material the processed surface will be visible.

Parts are connected with self-tapping screws. For reliability, all fixed joints can be glued with any suitable glue (carpentry, PVA, etc.).

Bolts or studs may be required to secure moving parts. diameter 6 – 8 mm. They will need nuts, both regular and wing nuts. Some connections may require washers. It is possible to use furniture fittings: guide mechanisms, various fasteners, and so on.

Manufacturing process

In everyday life, a vertical hand mill is often used. It has the easiest design to repeat. It is enough to make a stand with a mount for an electric drill, and the device for performing simple operations is ready. An example of such a homemade unit is in the photo below.

The manufacturing process of such a base is quite simple:

  • The first detail to start with is the base (sole). It is necessary to cut the workpiece of a round or oval shape.
  • Next, make a hole for the cutter. It must have an offset relative to the center of the part, taking into account the thickness of the side post.
  • Depending on the dimensions of the electric drill, a rack of the required size is made and fastened to the base with self-tapping screws or furniture confirmations.
  • The rigidity of the fastening is provided by a spacer (kerchief). The inner sides of this part must have an angle of strictly 90 °.
  • The next element is the drill mount. You can use a pipe clamp, as in the photo, or make a clamp out of wood or plywood and secure it with self-tapping screws.
  • As an additional fixation, an emphasis is placed above the drill.

This option is suitable for doing rough work or will serve as a temporary alternative to a full-fledged tool. To perform more accurate operations, you will have to develop a more complex design.

Nothing prevents you from equipping your “home-made” with adjustable cutter overhang or the ability to change the angle of inclination. It is possible to use a drill in a desktop milling machine. To do this, the electric drill is installed vertically under the work surface.

Features of work with a homemade milling device

Making a router with your own hands from a drill is not the most difficult task. Difficulties are manifested in the use of such a device. It should be borne in mind that the power tool is not designed for this method of use and working with it will have some features and even disadvantages.

The first thing to consider is rotation speed. The milling machine motor can have up to 20,000 rpm. For an electric drill, this indicator is around 3000 . It follows that you will have to limit yourself to using cutters designed to work at low speeds, and the rotation speed regulator should be in the maximum position.

The situation is similar with power. The engine of a simple electric drill consumes about 500 - 600 watts. The power of the milling cutter is 1 - 2 kW. This means that a homemade milling machine will cope with the processing of not too hard materials (wood, plywood, plastic).

The milling accuracy is also not perfect. There are no gears or gearboxes in the design of the factory milling cutter. In electric drills, gears are used to transmit rotation from the engine to the chuck. Because of this, backlashes are possible, and therefore, beating and vibration may occur, which will negatively affect the quality of work.

Video: Bosch drill cutter

A simple design, most likely, will not provide for adjusting the depth of cut. You can set the cutter or drill by holding the shank in the chuck at the required height.

Also, do not forget about safety. The cartridge is not the most ideal option for mounting the cutter. At high speeds, vibration can cause a poorly tightened chuck to spin.

The power button for a homemade router will be located in an inconvenient place. Hold the device securely with your hands during operation.

Of course, there are enough shortcomings in a home-made milling cutter from a drill, but there are also positive aspects. Try drilling a wall with a regular router. Theoretically, this is possible, but it is more convenient to do this with an electric drill. To do this, just remove it from the mount and apply it for its intended purpose.

How to make a router from a drill with your own hands? Many people ask this question. This device is very convenient and will help to solve many technological problems. However, not every owner can purchase such a device, since the cost is quite high. That is why many resort to the manufacture of homemade equipment.

General description of the router

It is worth saying that a drill cutter will be an indispensable assistant when performing such tasks as, for example, construction or repair work, the manufacture of a wide variety of wood products and other operations. Such a device will be an indispensable assistant, if necessary, to apply a complex pattern to an already finished structure made of the same tree.

Using a milling cutter, which has the necessary working tool, you can not only successfully carry out the operation of milling wood products, but also successfully process finished goods. The tool will be a great help if you need to form edges on the structure.

Hand device

It happens that a place for a large-sized machine cannot be found. In such situations, a manual milling cutter from a drill comes to the rescue. Almost anyone who is willing to spend several hours studying the drawing and familiarizing himself with the materials can make it, and then set aside time for assembly. However, here it is necessary to understand that a home-made model is not able to replace the serial one by 100%. There is one significant difference here. A drill cutter involves the use of a conventional electrical device, the chuck of which can reach a speed of up to a maximum of 3000 rpm. Factory models of machines are capable of gaining speed up to 30,000 rpm, the difference is obvious. It is also worth considering that the gearbox of a conventional drill is rather weak and it is not designed for long and intensive work. You can operate it in this way, but this will lead to its rapid wear.

Vertical device

The simplest model in terms of assembly is a wood router from a drill. It is possible to make it with your own hands. Its use will help to solve most household problems. In order to successfully assemble a milling machine from equipment such as an electric drill, it is necessary that tools and materials such as:

  • pieces of thick plywood or chipboard;
  • a clamp is used as a fixing part that holds the drill in a vertical position;
  • bolts, self-tapping screws, nails are needed as fasteners;
  • you need a feather drill or a drill bit 40 mm in diameter;
  • of the tools you will need a regular locksmith-type set.

Product assembly

Do-it-yourself manual milling cutter from a drill is made according to the following plan:

  • Prepared sheets of chipboard or plywood are used to assemble the base. It is necessary to assemble a horizontal frame on which the vertical parts will be successfully fixed. They will serve as clamps for an electric drill. As for all sizes of plywood or chipboard sheets, they are individual. It is worth calculating their dimensions based on the size of the drill itself, which will be used as a working tool.
  • A hole with a diameter of 40 mm must be made in the horizontal frame. It will provide tool access to the workpiece.
  • The clamp must be attached to the vertical rack with bolts. An electric drill will be fixed in it, and therefore it must be fixed very firmly. The drill itself should be positioned so that the lower end of its chuck is only a few millimeters from the horizontal base of the router.
  • In order to improve the quality of fixing the drill in a vertical position, it is necessary to add a wooden block to the top of the rack. It will play the role of an emphasis for the drill.

In order to change the depth of cut during the operation of such a model of a router from a drill, it is necessary to adjust its position in the clamp.

Additions to the device

There are several devices that can be added to make this device more convenient to use, as well as slightly expand its functionality. For example, you can add a device such as a microlift that will move the drill in a vertical direction. If everything became clear with how to make a wood router from a drill, then few people know how to make a microlift, and therefore here is a brief instruction:

  • Guides are needed. As them, you can use two metal rods.
  • To fix an electric drill, you must use a platform that will be made of the same plywood or chipboard.
  • An element such as a threaded axle and a nut will be responsible for moving the electrical device in the vertical direction.
  • It is necessary to use suitable devices that can hold the drill in the selected position.

Device operation

It is not difficult to make a milling cutter from a drill, but you should still know the principle of operation of such equipment. It should be noted that it is quite simple. The main element is a motor that rotates and transfers this rotation to a spindle made of durable material. A nozzle is put on this part - a cutter. It can be designed to work not only with wood, but also with metal. The cutter processes workpieces that are stacked on the frame of the device. It is worth paying attention to the fact that if we are talking about a manual router, then the element for processing will not be attached to the spindle, but to the chuck. Depending on the material being processed, the type of cutter itself also changes. As for working with wood, the simplest models will do. Strength requirements are not too high, and RPMs can be low. For metal, you will have to use already reinforced models, especially if you need to process brass. To work with glass, you will have to purchase a part made of high-quality and hard alloy.

Features of using a manual model

Naturally, just assembling a router from a drill is not enough, you need to properly care for it so that it serves for a long time. Here are some tips from experts:

  • All wooden surfaces must not only be well sanded, but also coated with protective agents in order to increase resistance to any negative influences from outside.
  • It is worth working out the device control system well so that it is as convenient as possible.
  • You can make some additions, such as a system for cleaning the working area from small chips, for example. You can make a small pipe that can be connected to a hose from a conventional vacuum cleaner, for example.

Positive and negative qualities

A homemade device has several undeniable positive qualities. The first is, of course, the minimum amount of material costs for assembly, especially compared to buying a finished model. Naturally, the ease of assembly is also one of the biggest pluses. It is always possible to easily turn an already assembled hand router into a full-fledged machine, if necessary. You can process not only wood, but also other materials, if you choose the right cutter.

However, homemade products also have some disadvantages that should also be taken into account. The processing speed of such a cutter will be much lower than that of the factory one. The margin of safety of such a tool will also be much lower than that of an industrial unit.

It is safe to say that if there is no need to perform complex operations, then a drill router is an excellent solution.