Working with various materials requires the use of high-quality cutting tools. Most of the required types have standard parameters and are freely sold in stores, but some samples have specific sizes or shapes. They are not produced or are extremely rare. To a greater extent, the question concerns cutters that have many profile options, varieties or types of design.

Finding the right type can take too much time, so sometimes there are no other options other than making a cutter at home.

How to make a cutter

Milling cutter is a general name for a wide group of cutting tools. There are two main types:

• on wood;
• on metal.

There are many types of cutter designs used to perform different technological operations:

• Whole.
• Composite (prefabricated).
• End.
• End
• Shaped.
• With replaceable plates and others.

The production of cutting tools is a high-tech process that is demanding on the quality of the material. For example, the production of end mills consists of several stages:

• Turning of a workpiece (shaping).
• Milling teeth.
• Processing of cutting edges (sharpening and backfilling).
• Heat treatment of the material (hardening, tempering, other operations resulting in a high-quality metal structure).

To manufacture other varieties, similar or other operations are performed, determined by the type and design of the tool. Homemade cutters are only modifications of ready-made samples.

Attention! The manufacturing technology of cutting tools is complex and requires the use of precise equipment. At home, production “from scratch” is impossible; only processing of the finished tool, changing its shape or size is available.

The need to use one type or another, to obtain a certain profile or size of the cutting organ, forces you to decide the issue yourself. Let's look at how to make a cutter with your own hands at home.

Homemade wood cutters

Making a wood cutter with your own hands is possible if you have the appropriate workpiece and a machine where it will be installed. At home, an electric drill or a hand-held milling machine is usually used. The most affordable option is to change the shape of a regular metal drill, but other methods can also be used.

Let's look at how to make a wood cutter from a drill. Depending on the purpose of the tool, you will need a workpiece (metal drill) of a certain size. If you plan to manufacture a shaped cutter, then the diameter of the workpiece must be equal to the maximum diameter of the final product. Manufacturing consists of two stages:

• Giving a profile.
• Creating a shank.

Both operations require the use of industrial equipment. In any case, a lathe will be required to make the shank. The hand router collet is designed for a diameter of 8 mm (there are options for 6 and 7 mm). Therefore, for large drill diameters, the shank should be prepared before creating the profile. This will eliminate beating, which is dangerous when processing wood. The easiest way to create a profile is by grinding. First you need to make a template, according to which you need to constantly check the status of the profile. To work, you will need a grinding machine (emery), a grinder or a cutting wheel mounted in the chuck of an electric drill.

To create replacement plates for the milling head, either ready-made samples are used, which are given the desired shape, or blanks made of high-quality metal. The profile is created by grinding on a machine at hand.

The final operation is backing. This is the process of setting a specific cutting edge angle to ensure that the back of the edge does not contact the workpiece.

Important! Backing is a rather labor-intensive process, but necessary; it is the only thing that gives the cutter the ability to work normally.

DIY metal cutter

Making cutters for metal at home is limited to regrinding existing tools, changing the profile or diameter of the cutting part. More active intervention will require the use of industrial equipment, as it will be necessary to perform complex procedures:

• Tempering of metal (a procedure reverse to hardening).
• Machining, including shaping, sharpening, backing).
• Hardening the cutter.

It is almost impossible to carry out these actions efficiently at home. In addition, work of this kind requires considerable professional training and experience, which not everyone has. Therefore, they are limited to only available procedures that involve minor intervention in the original state of the workpiece.

Making cutting tools at home requires the necessary equipment and suitable workpieces. In addition, you must have skills and experience, otherwise you can end up with a very dangerous product that can ruin the surface being processed and harm the craftsman himself. It is not recommended for an untrained person to carry out such work; it is better to seek help from a specialist.

Before making a router with your own hands, it is recommended to prepare a drawing. The diagram shows the main elements of the tool.

A milling cutter from a drill can be made quickly, but is used to a limited extent.

Design features

A homemade wood router is used for chamfering, shaping edges, and creating decorative carvings. A similar device for metal is equipped with special cutters and is designed to work with soft metal. If necessary, you can make a router for working with plastic, plexiglass and other materials.

The main elements of the tool are the spindle, motor and cutter. Rotation from the motor is transmitted to the spindle with the working cutter. Some metal and wood routers operate on single-phase AC power. You can make handheld routers with your own hands using a small DC motor.

For this, various cutters are used. The choice of element depends on the purpose of the future tool and the material being processed. Simple models are designed for wood processing. Such units are characterized by low speed. It is more difficult to make a metal milling cutter with your own hands, since this material has a high degree of rigidity and strength.

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Operating principle and classification

To manufacture the spindle, hard metal is used, which must meet certain requirements for rigidity and hardness. The operating principle of any milling cutter is as follows: the rotor is connected to a spindle onto which the cutter is fixed. When the tool is plugged in, the spindle begins to rotate. The material is cut with sharp knives.

The accuracy of the work performed depends on the rotation speed.

The stand for the router is also cut out from a piece of chipboard.

Since the number of revolutions depends on the density of the raw material, it is recommended to equip a homemade tool with a regulator.

• lamellar - makes grooves;
• upper - used to perform any woodwork;
• edging - makes edges and chamfers.

The top router is classified into the following types:

• fixed – rigid motor mount;
• submersible - the motor moves with the cutter.

Narrow-profile tools are subdivided taking into account the material and parts to which it is applied:

• tenon cutting machine;
• for drywall;
• to obtain a groove, etc.

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Self-production

A hand tool, represented by a motor that rotates a cutter, can be made with your own hands. To do this you will need a cutter, an electric motor and a chuck. The motor can be taken from any working electrical appliance. The cartridge can be taken from a hammer drill, since this part can withstand greater power.

The base for the motor is PVC or standard chipboard sheets. The base is cut out and fixed to the motor. The cartridge is connected to the engine using a special adapter. This will require the help of a specialist. Appropriate milling cutters are selected for the resulting material. The tool is ready for use.

The resulting hand-held device can be turned into a machine. To do this, you will need to equip a frame of suitable dimensions and make holes in the appropriate places. Such a universal machine made at home will not be able to provide sufficient speed to carry out high-quality work. It can be used for "rough" woodworking.

You can make a CNC machine at home. It is intended for the production of a product designed on a computer. The device with numerical control allows you to perform the following work:

1. Milling.
2. Laser cutting.
3. Engraving.
4. Drilling.

A homemade machine must be multifunctional. To make it you will need an MDF board measuring 1.5 x 1.5 m and fittings. The parts are cut out with a jigsaw and drill. To prevent chips from scattering during operation, a dust extractor is installed. The resulting tool is not used for metal processing. It can be used on aluminum, bronze, foam and plastic.

A CNC machine is made by hand using an aluminum profile with a cross-section of 80x40x4 mm. Beams are cut from it:

• 2 pcs. 1300 mm each;
• 4 things. 460 mm each.

Guides are inserted into 2 channels with a cross section of 50x30x4 mm. The legs of the machine are made from similar elements of the sofa. The base frame is ready. This multifunctional tool is based on stepper motors.

The main elements of a hand router are the motor and the cutter. The remaining parts of the device act as an intermediary, ensuring uninterrupted operation of the device. Therefore, when making a hand router, it is recommended to take into account the parameters of the motor and the cutter.

A homemade hand tool has the following advantages:

• low price;
• processing of various surfaces;
• simple structure assembly and maintenance;
• easy operation.

Experts attribute the low speed of material processing to the disadvantages of homemade devices. If the device is equipped with a standard motor, which is equipped with modern household appliances, then there will not be enough revolutions to process complex elements and surfaces. To eliminate this disadvantage, high-speed motors are used. They can be removed from a modern hammer drill. The powerful unit will allow you to adjust the speed to perform carpentry work of any complexity.

Homemade milling tools have low rigidity and strength, as they are made from scrap materials. The above advantages and disadvantages should be taken into account when manufacturing and working with a hand-held homemade device.

When making wood products, various tools are used, which significantly speed up the process and reduce the amount of effort expended. These include a router, but it is completely useless without additions. It is impossible to hold it with your hands on the desired trajectory. For this purpose, add-ons for wood cutters are used; you can easily make them yourself.

Additions for a router should solve one problem - to hold the tool in the desired position when processing material. When purchasing an expensive machine, frequently used milling accessories are included in the kit. But for cheaper or highly specialized options, you have to buy them separately. The design of such additions is quite simple and does not require a drawing for self-production.

This addition allows for straight cuts and is often used when working with wood. It allows you to work on any surface, not just your desktop. The grooves are cut with its help.

The design of the add-on consists of:

• Rods that are attached to the body of the instrument.
• A fine adjustment screw is used to adjust the gap between the cutter and the surface.
• A locking screw, with its help, the rods are secured in the desired position.
• Overlays, on which the tool is placed.

The design of the base is quite simple and you can make it yourself.

To prepare an addition to the work you need:

• Install the rods into the holes of the tool body and secure them with a screw.
• Set the required distance between the surface and the cutter.

Additionally, by placing a specially treated block (with one rounded edge), you can significantly increase functionality and make cuts along a curve. This part is installed between the tool and the surface. Due to its unstable position, it must be handled very carefully.

The addition is used to move the tool over the working surface at any angle, which is different from the rip fence. The design makes it easier to mill holes located at a distance from each other. Special clamps hold the device on the surface being treated. If they were not included in the delivery set, then clamps are used. Some options are equipped with an adapter to adjust the direction of movement of the tool.

The design is best used together with a power tool whose support platform is adjustable. This will help eliminate the problem when the tire and the cutter are located in different planes, which happens when the tool and the workpiece are close.

The design is quite simple, but very effective. If you have minimal skills in working with the tool, it can be easily done at home. To do this, just take a block, which is attached to the surface to be treated using a clamp. If you fix the structure on two or more bars at the same time, you can make a groove in one go. The main disadvantage is the difficulty of accurately fixing the structure in relation to the future cut. But the following additions lack this.

The first fixture consists of a sheet of plywood and a guide connected together. It is used to work with blades of the same size.

When you need to use cutters of different diameters, a different device is suitable. Its main advantage is that the tool is in contact with the entire lower part of the material. The guide has a board (folding) that holds the power tool in the desired position to the material.

Very often, when working with wood, the material is milled against the grain, resulting in chips. To reduce this phenomenon, an addition is used that presses the wood at the entry point of the cutter, which prevents it from splitting off. The device consists of two guides connected at an angle of 90°. And another type is assembled from two parts in the shape of the letter L, which are attached to the material using clamps. It is often used for cutting grooves.

The copying sleeve runs along the edge of the template and thereby sets the blade in the desired direction. The addition is attached to the bottom of the instrument using screws or special antennae. Using a copy sleeve for a router is quite simple, but you need to ensure that the size of the cutting blade and the ring are the same, and they should not touch during operation.

The template is fixed to the material using tape or clamps. The rings should lie tightly on the workpiece. Using this device, the corners of the parts are rounded and the edges are cut out. To improve convenience, bearings or rings are installed on the templates. But there are several conditions: their diameter must match or an additional limiter must be installed that will keep the template at a distance from the workpiece. And for figure milling, flexible templates are used.

Before you make a template for the router, you need to decide on the grooves that it will cut. For its manufacture, it is best to use hardboard with a thickness of at least 6 mm. And to increase durability, they use birch: it has the best characteristics.

Jig routing is often used by furniture installers when large numbers of holes and grooves need to be cut. This allows you to significantly reduce installation time and also increase the quality of work.

To get a good result from using the template, you need to consider several points:

• The front is set to full depth.
• The most precise displacement of parts can be achieved using two additional rods.
• Tenon parts made using a template do not require additional fixation with glue.

To cut grooves in the shape of an ellipse or circle, circular devices are used. A simple compass for a router can be made from a rod, the end of which is connected to the base of the tool, and the second is equipped with a pin or screw. To obtain a circle, the rod is inserted into the hole, which serves as the center, and then a groove is formed along the contour. To change the diameter of the circle, you need to move the tool closer to the other end. A more convenient version of this compass uses two rods instead of one.

Such equipment is quite common and often comes complete with a router. With its help it is convenient to cut shaped grooves with different radii. And when it is necessary to obtain holes of small diameter, other equipment is used. Its peculiarity is that the pin, which is installed in the center of the workpiece, is located under the tool.

The design of such a compass includes:

• A base that is fixed to the material being processed using screws or vacuum suction cups.
• Two rods.
• Two shoes that fit onto the guides.
• Bracket connecting the router and fixture.

Using the holes in the bracket, the support plate of the equipment is easily aligned with the tool. If a circle is being milled, then only one shoe is used, but for an oval, both are used. Cuts made with this addition are of a higher quality than those made with a band saw or jigsaw. This occurs due to the characteristics of the tool, which rotates at a very high speed.

The home handyman is often faced with the need to cut grooves for a door lock or hinges. As a rule, a chisel and a drill were used for this. But this procedure can be carried out much faster and easier if you use a milling cutter with special equipment. This design allows you to easily create grooves on narrow surfaces and is a flat base that is mounted on the tool. And also two pins are additionally installed, which ensure the movement of the cutter in a straight line.

The main requirement for this design: the pins must be located in the center of the material being processed. If this condition has been met, then the groove will be located strictly in the middle. To shift the direction of processing, it is enough to put a sleeve of the required size on one of the pins. When using such an attachment, you must ensure that its edges are pressed tightly to the sides during processing.

If you need to cut a groove on a narrow surface, but there is no necessary equipment, then this problem is solved with the help of two boards. They are attached on both sides of the product in one plane. And the power tool itself is fixed with a parallel stop.

The use of such an attachment for a door hinge router allows you to:

• Make the most accurate notch without spending a lot of effort.
• Minimize the possibility of an error, the probability of which is very high without using a template.

Many craftsmen make equipment for a router based on their needs, since the range of serial analogues is quite limited. One such device is the addition for carving on rotating bodies. Using this addition, you can make a cutout on poles and other products of a similar shape.

The design of such equipment consists of:

• Cases.
• A disk that sets the angle of rotation.
• Movable milling carriage.
• Screws that secure the material.
• Locking screws.

If you additionally install a drive, you don’t have to use a lathe for processing.

The tenon cutter is designed for cutting tongue-and-groove connections on parts. There are special tools that cut most types of tenons. In its work, the addition uses a ring that moves along the template, thereby ensuring the movement of the tool in the desired direction.

Before making the template, you need to decide on the grooves for which it will be used. In its manufacture, durable materials that are resistant to wear should be used, since over time they wear off and the accuracy of the parts decreases. The use of textolite and multi-layer plywood has proven itself well.

To get good results when working with wood, you should follow safety rules. You need to make sure:

• The cutter is fixed in a collet.
• The accessory corresponds to the power of the power tool.
• When using an edge router, you must ensure that the bearing or guide ring is installed.
• The correct insertion depth is set (when using a submersible device, this can be seen on a special limiter).
• The workpiece must have support.
• To reduce the amount of dust when working, use a vacuum cleaner.

The use of attachments specially designed for the material being processed can significantly improve the result. And depending on the angle of their use, a different cut is obtained. Experienced craftsmen often make such attachments themselves. To do this, the cutting edge is sharpened at the required angle. But if you don’t want to waste time on homemade cutters, then you can easily buy them; the range in stores is quite wide.

It is quite easy to make accessories for a wood router with your own hands, and their benefits are great. This option is suitable for those who do not want to spend a lot when buying a tool or when the necessary equipment is not on sale. And the use of a router with furniture templates significantly reduces assembly time, and also improves the quality of work and prevents mistakes.

The question of how a wood cutter can be made with your own hands worries not only home craftsmen who do their own carpentry and modeling, but also professional finishers. And the main thing here is not only the desire to save money, but the fact that serial tools for woodworking, which today are easy to purchase in specialized stores or on construction markets, often do not have the required configuration of the working part. That is why specialists and home craftsmen who use such a tool have to modify its serial models or make it from scratch, using cylindrical steel blanks.

A homemade cutter has limitations on the materials that can be processed with its help. Making cutters for your own needs, as a rule, involves working with soft grade steel. That is why such a homemade tool is capable of cutting wood quite effectively, but when processing harder materials it quickly becomes dull.

In order to make their own milling tools, craftsmen use scraps of steel rods or reinforcement. If reinforcement is used as a workpiece, its ribbed surface is leveled using a lathe.

The technology for making a homemade wood cutter from such a blank is as follows:

• On the part of the cylindrical workpiece where the cutting part of the homemade tool will be formed, half the diameter is cut off.
• A smooth transition is formed between parts of the workpiece with different diameters.
• Another quarter of the diameter is removed from the treated section of the workpiece; such a section of the workpiece is also connected with a smooth transition to the untreated part of the rod.
• The processed part of the workpiece is given a rectangular shape, for which its lower part is cut off. The thickness of the part of the workpiece on which the working part of the woodworking tool will be formed should be 2–5 mm.

A homemade cutter can be used to process wood, but its internal angle must coincide with the center of rotation.

In order for a home-made wood cutter to be used for effective processing, the following recommendations must be followed when making it.

• The cutting edge must be sharpened at an angle of 7–10°. If you make it sharper, it will hold an edge poorly and have low cutting properties.
• To give the cutting part of the tool the required configuration, diamond-coated needle files or angle grinders with discs specially designed for metal work are used.
• If a homemade wood cutter must have a complex configuration, then it can be bent or flattened.

With a small thickness of the cutting part, a hand-made milling tool has a fairly short working life. To slightly increase the service life of such a wood cutter, the corner on the bottom of the tool, located opposite its cutting edge, can be slightly rounded.

A homemade cutter cannot immediately cope with a large volume of wood removed from the surface of the workpiece, so processing is carried out in several passes.

Cone cutters

Wood cutters, the working part of which has a conical configuration, are used for processing surfaces of complex terrain. In particular, with the help of such cutters, finishing of grooves in elements of furniture structures is performed. To manufacture such wood cutters in production conditions, complex-shaped workpieces are used, which are problematic to process at home. Such a cutter can be made with your own hands from a drill, the working part of which is given the required configuration.

Due to the fact that a homemade wood cutter is used to process fairly soft material in several passes, there is no need to further strengthen the structure of the material from which such a tool is made.

Types of homemade cutters for wood processing

Cone cutters, processed at medium and high speeds, are used to remove excess wood from the end elements of the workpiece. The best option for making a tool of this type on your own is a cutter from a drill. This cutter from a drill is made at home as follows: the tool is cut closer to its shank (from half to a quarter of its length), then each cutting edge of the cut drill is ground down by 1/2 – 1/3 of its diameter. If the cutting edges are ground down to a large amount, then not only will its body be exposed, but it will also lose its cutting properties. It is difficult to restore the cutting edges of homemade wood cutters, which have a spiral shape, with your own hands.

An end-type wood cutter can also be made from a thin-walled tube. How to make a cutter from such a blank? The following recommendations should be followed.

1. A piece of pipe is taken as a workpiece, the length of which is 15–20 cm.
2. From the side of the future cutting edge (at a distance of 2–3 cm from it), oval-shaped grooves are made on both sides of the pipe.
3. The future cutting part of the wood cutter is given a conical shape, and it is ground at an angle of 2–3°.
4. Having clamped the workpiece in a vice, a cross-shaped cut is made on its end part, for which an angle grinder is used.
5. From the side of the cutting part, grooves are cut on the workpiece - up to oval holes.

All photos from the article

Wood milling is a technological processing process using rotating cutters that allow part of the chips to be separated. Moreover, this operation can be applied to both profile and flat surfaces of various parts. All kinds of connecting holes and sockets can be formed at the ends of the elements.

Initial information about the process

Before building homemade wood milling machines, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with this processing method in more detail. The main element in this case is a special nozzle with a large number of teeth.

Depending on its type, one or another milling method can be performed:

• End machining is primarily aimed at making a groove or groove of a certain size in a part.
• Shaped technology involves working with profile elements such as baguettes, gears, and window frames.
• The end milling technique is generally applicable to the largest possible surfaces.

Addition! Quite often, specialized cutters are used that allow making a shaped cut. With this option, you can easily cut the material with additional processing of the edge part.

Components of the device

To make a homemade stationary wood milling machine with your own hands, you need to familiarize yourself with the main components of this mechanism. Self-manufacturing of such a processing device will help you save money, since the price of the finished product is relatively high.

Drive mechanism

At the design stage, the novice master must decide what power the engine will be used. If during operation it is not intended to carry out deep wood sampling, then you can get by with a motor with a power of no more than 500 W. However, in practice, such machines very often stall.

The best option is to use a motor whose power ranges from 1-2 kW. If you have such a unit, you can use almost any type of cutter, processing wood in a standard mode.

Both hand tools, such as a drill or grinder, may be suitable for carrying out the work.

When choosing an engine, the number of revolutions produced per minute plays a significant role. The higher the indicator, the more uniform and cleaner the cut will be. It is best if the motor is designed for connection to a household network with a voltage of 220 volts.

Adjustment elevator

When making a homemade wood router, some attention should be paid to this device. An elevator usually consists of a body, sliding skids, a carriage, a threaded axle, and a screw for fixation.

When you turn on the device, the carriage should move up or down. The runners serve as protective stops. A locking screw allows you to secure the carriage in one position after selecting a specific height. As for the body, it completely holds the entire structure.

Such a device provides regulation of the output of the replaceable nozzle directly above the table surface. For convenience, the elevator is equipped with special gears.

Support structure

If you don’t have a ready-made table, you can easily make one from wood. Although this material is afraid of moisture, it makes quite durable and reliable structures. During the work, various types of wood boards can be used to create the main plane.

Before the main work, drawings of a homemade wood milling table should be drawn up, on which the most important places should be highlighted. When planning, we must not forget about safety precautions. It is imperative to close the space around the rotating cutter.

Making the nozzle

If necessary, a homemade wood cutter can be used to carry out simple work.

Detailed instructions for making such a nozzle are given below. The part will be made directly from the cutter blade in stages.

1. First, a hole is made exactly in the central part. For this, a drill made of hard alloys is used. Burrs and other defects are removed using a diamond file.
2. Next, the disk is centered. Using a simple pencil, the outline is clearly outlined. The outer edges are trimmed on a machine with a grinding wheel installed.
3. Next, the cloves are made using a cutting wheel. Their number is usually about 20 pieces. The angle of inclination of the slots should correspond to 30 degrees.
4. At the final stage, the prepared attachment is installed directly on the machine. For testing, you can use an unnecessary piece of wood. Wood sampling should occur evenly.