pantorouter : Template Routing Machine
High School Senior Project
Spring 2012
During the last semester of our senior year in high school, Collegiate gives its students the option of dropping one course and using the time to pursue and independent project. I decided to build a template routing machine based on Matthais Wandel’s "pantorouter" and document the building process for my project.
A pantorouter is a template routing machine used for efficient, accurate, and repeatable joinery. It is based on a one-half scale pantograph mechanism. The joint template is traced by the guide bearing, which translates the movement at one-half scale to the router which cuts the joint into the workpiece mounted on the table. By downscaling the movement, the pantorouter produces joints that are twice as accurate as the template. I used birch plywood for the pantograph mechanism because the thin, alternating-grain-orientation layers reduce warping and humidity expansion. Linear slides were out of my budget, so I modified telescopic drawer slides for the depth adjustment mechanism. I designed an extendable table clamp so I could cut a wider range of materials.
GLUING UP ROUTER MOUNT
TEST FITTING ROUTER TO MOUNT
PANTOGRAPH MECHANISM
CAM TO OFFSET ROUTER MASS
After using the pantorouter for the first time to cut a tenon, I realized that making custom machines was not only possible but practical for me. Building the pantorouter was my first experience with custom tool making. I still use the pantorouter for joinery in my woodworking projects.