New router mount for Carve King

[rcferguson]

So, since day one I've had a problem tramming my Carve King. The existing router bracket is just not secure enough, and impossible to tram perfectly. This isn't a problem working with wood, since a few thousandths here and there shouldn't be a big deal, but working with aluminum it is very hard to get a flat surface without perfect tram. Also, the existing mount moves sometimes if I crash or even try to take too big a bite out of my work, meaning I have to try and tram it all over again. I've been meaning to do this for months, but now that I'm working on molds again it is critical to get better precision, and so I've spent a few hours working out a new design. It's not perfect, but it is designed so the router clamp is separate from the, oh, I'll call it the Z Stage. That way I can use shims under the corners to adjust the tram.The stage is made of 2 pieces of 1 inch aluminum and uses all 8 mounting holes in the Z Plate (may be overkill). I've cut away a lot of excess material, so hopefully it won't be too much heavier than the original bracket. If it is too heavy, I can probably remove even more material and it should still be pretty strong.

     

[rcferguson]

One last-minute change before I start cutting... decided to give the bracket 3 anchor points on the router to make sure the router doesn't wobble.

[aquanub]

very cool take on tramming. I too am chasing tramming issues (cutting al) on my PR and am browsing for ideas!

machine works great on wood but not so much on aluminum until I can figure out the best way to adjust tram aside from being at the mercy of the holes the mount bolts into.

[jms]

maybe an adjustable gib like on a lathe and milling machine is another solution. Just trammed my milling machine and adjusted gibs on my tables so I could make low profile clamps, haven't trued everything in a while.

[rcferguson]

Making progress. I finished the router bracket, except for the holes in the side... I don't think I have enough Z to do them on the Carve King, so I'll just do them by hand. Working on the two parts of the stage now.

   

[ttabbal]

Interesting idea, I'm curious to see how it works out.

I don't think a gib would help here. Those are generally to adjust the force required to move the moving parts. They can help with overshooting though.

My ideal setup would be something like the Bridgeport head adjustments for tilt and nod. Threaded adjustments with locking bolts. Getting that to fit in the space available and not weigh a ton is a bit more difficult than a simpler shim based setup like this though. I'd like to do something as well, as I'm doing more with aluminum these days and have a few things I wouldn't mind in steel. It doesn't help that aluminum loves to get stuck in the flutes and break my end mills. It happens on the manual tools too, but it's easier to stop the cut and clean them out on those.

[Bruce]

Would it be possible to make the motor clamp a compression fitting that would tighten on the motor when you bolt the two sections of the mount together?

[rcferguson]

Nov 3, 2019 0:40:26 GMT Bruce said:

Would it be possible to make the motor clamp a compression fitting that would tighten on the motor when you bolt the two sections of the mount together?

Sure, but I am trying to keep the number of parts to a minimum..if this doesn't work out I can redo the router bracket easily enough. In this case, I made the clamp just barely larger than the router body...it is a very tight fit, and I will probably need to tap it into place with a rubber mallet, so it should be pretty secure even before I tighten the screws.

[rcferguson]

Miscalculated a bit on the top side of the mount... the top of the router clamp is too close to the bottom V-wheel screws, so couldn't quite get it in there. I milled off a couple millimeters from the top of the stage, and filed the caps of the two m5 screws down a little bit so they'd clear the V-wheel screws and nuts.

The router fit perfectly into the clamp, just had to twist it a bit to get it into position, then tightened the three locking screws.

Took a few minutes to tram using a sheet of glass on a pre-milled surface, good thing I have a box of various thickness shim stock. Tram is good all around, within .001" at the limit of my micrometer which should be acceptable...heck the router bearing allows several thousandths of play anyway.

Feels very sturdy, I used all eight mounting holes on the stage to mount it to the Z plate, so it shouldn't move!

Will give it a try in the morning.

   

[Bruce]

Looks really nice Rob. Great work! You are an aluminum work master.

[VGCustomShop]

Looks terrific!