Shop Built Pin/Overarm Router...seeking thoughts
Years ago I made a quick, nothing fancy pin router for one piece that I was working on. Now, I'm ready to build it RIGHT to use frequently in the shop. I'm seeking thoughts, ideas, suggestions, etc, from anyone who's ever built one of these tools or has given thought to doing so.
Here's the basics. I have a 1960's era Craftsman RAS, minus the saw. I have completely restored the vertical support, the arm and the carriage from which the saw hung. In my original one that I made years ago I simply made a box that mounted to the plate (carriage) that slides horizontally underneath the arm. A router was mounted into that box. It worked perfectly for that one job.
This time around I want to rig it a bit differently. I'll be hanging the fixed base of a Bosch 1617EVSPK from the carriage. I can get one of those fixed bases cheap from the auction site. They're always on there. What I'm considering doing, and here's where your thoughts and suggestions may prove to be helpful, is to take the fixed base to a machine shop and have them cut off the bottom portion of the base. I want to leave enough of the base to hold the router and have the raising and lowering mechanism still be functional. In other words, I want to be able to fine tune it more than just with the lift of the RAS. But, I don't want the bottom of the base to be in my way. I'll figure out someway to hook up some DC.
The question is: What are some thoughts for building a device to hang the fixed base from the carriage. I would like to have built in adjustments on this device so that I can make sure that the router bits are perfectly 90 degrees to the table underneath.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Perhaps someone has already done this before, in which case no need to reinvent the wheel!
Thanks!
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Here's a pic of what I have so far.....
Attachment 104570
Thanks for the replies fellas, I 'preciatte it. As you can see, here's what's left of the old RAS after I cleaned it up earlier this year. The wooden box that I used years ago that was bolted to the metal plate that rolls along the carriage is history, long gone. Even though that worked for the one particular project that I built it for, I want to build this thing differently this time...more versatile and more accurate. Since I started coming to the Creek, I've learned that lots of things CAN be done! My skills and my knowledge have grown in leaps and bounds from reading threads and posts here, and from contacts that I've made through SMC. I can only say Thank You to so many of you who willingly share your knowledge.
In my prior post in the beginning of this thread I explained that I want to hang the fixed base of a Bosch 1617EVSPK from that plate that rolls along the carriage. As Paul Harvey would say....here's the rest of the story!
I'm going to build a router station 60-72 inches in length. As you're facing the table, the right end of it will be a conventional router table setup. The left end of the table will be the pin router. When the pinrouter is not in use the arm swings to the right, over the table and out of the way, against the wall.
A miter track will run the entire length of the table, just like in a conventional table. Two sets of T-Tracks will be installed in the table to accomodate two fences, one for the undertable router and some kind of fence for the pin router whatchacall it in case I ever wanted to use that with a thin fence for various tasks that would be suitable (and safe!) for it.
Though this picture doesn't show it, the bottom of the white painted housing around the round steel shaft that goes up and down, is a flat steel plate. In the center of that plate is a round hole through which protrudes the bolt end of the threaded rod which makes the arm go up and down. I THINK that I want to completely remove the green painted supports that once supported the table for a RAS and mount the vertical shaft directly to the table top (posssibly reinforced with steel in the table top where that mounts.) There's enough room on the bottom of the steel plate to drill 4 holes to bolt the whole mess to the table top. I realize that I'd have to make a recess for the bolt that protrudes through that plate so that it would indeed mount firmly and flat to the reinforced portion of the table top where it would be mounted. My reasoning for that is this:
A 1 1/2 inch thick table top mounted on top of the existing green steel table supports gives the following clearances from the top of the table to the bottom of the metal plate that rides on the carriage:
Arm fully in the up position:clearance =16"
Arm fully in the down position:clearance =9"
IF.....I remove the green painted steel table supports and mount the vertical shaft directly to the table top I would then have the following clearances from the top of the table to the bottom of the metal plate that rides on the carriage:
Arm fully in the up position:clearance =20 3/4"
Arm fully in the down position:clearance =13 3/4"
Option number 2 significantly increases the clearances and the options.
Speaking of options and now that I'm on a roll, here's another possibility for your consideration and suggestions:
This fixture that will hold the router base to the rolling plate (what's left of the base when we get through "fixin" it!) would be be very cool if it could rotate backwards 90 degrees so that the bit would then be parallel with the table top. Then, with an auxillary table and fence that attaches to the main router table, we could have a "horizontal router" set up.
Thanks for your patience in reading my explaination. I know it's a bit wordy but I don't know how else to explain it. I KNOW that this can be done. I just don't know how to design or make the "missing link", the part that hold the fixed base of the router to the plate that slides along the carriage. Any and all thoughts are welcomed and appreciated, with the exception of suggestions that "It can't be done!". I know that there's enough brains and collective experience here at SMC to help me work this out.
Again, thanks for your help.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to ALL!