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How to Build a Copy Machine for Milling

A copy machine for milling is very similar to wood duplicators or replicators used to make multiple wooden decoys, for example, from a single finished one. A contour gauge follows the shape of the finished item, and the milling head mimics the form, cutting it into an adjacent piece of material. Modern replicators use a two-axis guide system similar to those found in CNC or computer numeric-controlled applications. The milling head can come from a variety of sources. It is essentially a drill or a rotary tool with a milling bit capable of cutting sideways, not just plunging into material.

Things You'll Need

Rectangular tube steel
1/8-inch steel plate
MIG welder
Steel hinge
Circular saw with metal cutting blade
1/4-inch steel rod
Router motor
Large hose clamp

Instructions

- 1
  Cut two rectangular tube steel rails, each 2 feet long. Tack weld them with a few trigger pulls of a MIG welder, attaching them parallel to one another on a 2-foot-by-2-foot steel plate. The plate will serve as your work surface. Once the rails are positioned with tack welds, run a weld bead attaching them strongly and permanently to the plate. The assembly that holds the milling head and copying arm will roll back and forth along these rails, providing the copier one axis of its movement.
- 2
  Cut a 2-foot tube steel crossbar to span from rail to rail. Weld two metal strips of steel plate 1-inch by 6-inches to each end of the crossbar -- one at the very ends, the other 2 inches in from the ends. These will serve as guides so the crossbar will slide along the rails, perpendicularly.
- 3
  Weld a steel hinge to the side of the crossbar, right in the center of the bar, 1 foot from either end.
- 4
  Fabricate a V-shaped armature. Cut two pieces of tube steel each 1 foot long. Lay them flat, and form a "V" at a 22.5-degree angle. Scribe and miter the ends with a circular saw. Tack weld the joint together where the two pieces form a "V." Run a weld bead along the joint.
- 5
  Weld the V-shaped end of the armature to the hinge, starting with several tack welds to hold it in place, then finishing by running a weld bead around the perimeter of the armature.
- 6
  Mount a contour guide to one end of the V-shaped armature. The gauge should be approximately pencil-shaped -- 1/4 inch in diameter and 6 inches long. The end of the gauge should be tapered like a crochet needle, not to a sharp point. Drill a 1/4-inch hole, vertically, through the top, then another at the bottom of the armature's end. Make the holes 3/4 inch from the end of the armature. With a cut-off wheel, cut slots from the end of the armature to the edge of the top and bottom hole. Drill a 1/4-inch hole, horizontally, through one side and out the other, 1/4 inch from the end of the armature. Slide a 1/4-inch bolt through the holes and fasten it with a wing nut. Slide the contour guide vertically through the holes, then clamp it in place by tightening the wing nut.
- 7
  Mount a router motor to the end of the other side of the V-shaped armature using a hose clamp-style fastener. Drill holes in the sides of the armature corresponding to the bolts in the sheet metal clamp. Place the router motor in the clamp, and tighten the bolts, snugging the motor in place.
- 8
  Insert a milling bit into the colette of the router motor. Adjust the height of the router motor or the contour gauge so they are the same height from the work deck. You can reproduce anything the contour gauge can follow in any material mounted adjacent to it on the work deck.

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