One of the blows woodworkers get from the metalworking crowd is that the materials they choose are a little… Compliant. The measurement only needs to be about 1 / 16 inch, or about 1 mm, depending on which side of the Atlantic you are on. If you feel a little sick? Don’t worry, that’s what sandpaper is for.
This electronic router elevator aims to narrow the accuracy gap and reduce the subjectivity of carpentry. [gavinl]’s construction instructions are obviously aimed at carpenters who are not involved in the field of arduinos and stepper motors. He has done admirable work in solving the hesitation that this group may feel when building. Fortunately, many of the mechanical aspects of the project can be solved through a commercial router elevator, which is connected to a plug-in router installed on the table, allowing fine-tuning the height of the tool from the table.
The rest is to add a NEMA 23 stepper to drive the router elevator, and an Arduino to control it. [gavinl] proposed some good functions, such as fast jog control, fine-tuning encoder, and the ability to send tools up or down quickly. Another very good touch sensor is the contact sensor, which is a pair of magnetic probes temporarily connected to the tool, and an altimeter to indicate touch. Check out the video below to see how it actually works.
We have a question about the setting of [gavinl], that is, the amount of dust the stepper will bear. He may need to change into a dust treadmill as soon as possible. Even so, we think he has done a good job in bridging the gap between mechatronics and carpentry – Matthias Wandel has also done a lot of work in this regard.