# Adding a plunge router to a mini-drill ** V2 **



## Sportique (26 Apr 2010)

There have been a couple of posts recently asking about router attachments for mini-drills.

I have one of the "Lidl" mini-drills - excellent value for money. I cannot claim any originality for this design, but thought it might be of some interest.

A few bits of scrap and some hardware:

Cut a hole the diameter of your drill - in this case 54mm












Clean up using drum sander






Drill two 8mm holes edge-wise through the frame






Cut this half using thin kerf saw (bandsaw?) - you may need to adjust the mating edges slightly so that when fitted it holds the drill body firmly without undue stress on the drill.






Make a suitable base for the attachment - I used a piece of 12mm MDF with one side (underside) formica covered. Then clamp this to the body frame and drill two 8mm holes right through - these must be accurate and vertical - they will house the plunge shafts.






Fit threaded inserts in the underside of the baseplate - again these must be fitted accurately, then mount everything together - I used 8mm threaded rod for the plunge guides and locked the base plate with nuts.
Wing nuts were fitted to the top of the rods for plunge adjustment. (This picture also shows a fence temporarily clamped to the base for edge routing)






Adjust the depth by using the wingnuts and lock in place using nuts on the underside of the top frame.

Here is the completed attachment in use on my bnech I-beam (very useful for routing etc as it enables easy clamping)






Here's the first couple of grooves:






Final pic:






I have already decided that v2 is required - I shall add plunge compression springs and hopefully remove the upper locking nuts - this will give more convenient plunge adjustment.

Thanks for looking. I hope someone finds this of interest

Dave


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## xy mosian (26 Apr 2010)

Ingenious! Well done.  

Does the collet pass through the mdf base to give maximum depth of cut?

xy


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## ByronBlack (26 Apr 2010)

Very handy, I have a spare b&q cheapo mini drill that would be perfect for this, thanks for posting.


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## Sportique (27 Apr 2010)

Thanks for the comments.

xy - yes collets pass through easily giving maximum depth of cut.

Here is Version 2  

First I pressed in a couple of steel bushes into the upper frame - so that the threaded rod would slide more easily. I used a couple of old 8mm sockets and drilled them out.

Then I added extra nuts/washers and springs on the rods to make the plunge mechanism more useful.

At this stage I realised I needed a depth stop! :idea: 

So I added a "bed bolt" fitted to the upper frame. Fortunately the length is perfect, and with a locknut the depth of plunge is easily set. 1 full turn of the bed nut is a fraction more than 1mm of plunge: 5 turns = 6mm :evil: 











Thanks for looking

Dave


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## mike-reid (10 Jun 2010)

you know, if you out a clear perspext bottom on this you could use it for detailed 'carving' and such like. 'tuit list! its getting too big and i only have a handfull of posts!
brill idea, thanks


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## Sportique (10 Jun 2010)

Mike,

a "see-thru" base would also be very useful for routing - thanks for the idea - I can feel V3 coming up 8) :lol: 

Dave


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## RussianRouter (10 Jun 2010)

Here'syour next assignment.

Use the same drill to make a mini lathe,you could use craft knife blades for chisels in their respective holders,even shap nails will scribe twirls in small wood.

Dolls houses just won't be the same.


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## Sportique (11 Jun 2010)

Hey George - I don't need to as I use a watch-maker's lathe for turning small items in wood!






:lol: :lol: 

Dave


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## RussianRouter (11 Jun 2010)

Sportique":y0dm4zk3 said:


> Hey George - I don't need to as I use a watch-maker's lathe for turning small items in wood!
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Neat,How much did you pay for that? the beauty of having one of those lathes is you can machine broken small parts in machine tools and anything mechanical.

Want to flog it?


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## Sportique (11 Jun 2010)

Inherited from my watch-maker father-in-law :shock: :lol: 

but there are plenty of them about.

Here's a starting point: 

http://www.mini-lathe.com/Default.htm

Dave


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## RussianRouter (11 Jun 2010)

When I done my engineering course,through it I spent me dinner hours making up the parts for constructing a mini lathe,alas near the end of the course some bleeder nicked all the parts from me locker.

They were all chromed as well from the platers in the next complex.


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