Every specialist who manipulates wooden material with a hand mill should be aware of the various nozzles and the nuances of their application in practice. With the proper level of skills, milling does not have any special restrictions in terms of the possibilities for processing workpieces. Theoretical knowledge will help in the formation of edges, grooves and grooves with certain parameters. Wood cutters, in turn, can vary in design, blade type, size or shape.
What work is performed by the tool
Basically, the master is tasked with processing lumber or other flat surfaces. The device allows you to create grooves, grooves and indentations in the tree. The design features of the devices imply the exclusive use of various milling cutters in certain works. The woodworking machine makes it possible to install furniture fittings such as hinges and any decorative elements of complex volumetric shape. There is a special nozzle for wood splicing, the master applies it in the case when you need to combine several workpieces through grooves.
Milling people use these or those options in strictly outlined scenarios. When working with any nozzle, the master requires elementary skills in handling wood and using electric tools. It is also important to observe safety precautions, the rules of which are considered general regardless of the nozzle used.
Standard shank diameters
The method of fastening is the first moment that you will have to consider before starting work. Shank diameter can be measured in millimeters or inches. This is influenced by the collet-sleeves included with the milling cutter. The shank is clamped precisely in them. For millimeter measurement, the standard version of the cutter is 8 mm. For wood milling cutters, dimensions of 6 and 12 mm are also allowed. There are only two inch sizes in the standard - a quarter and a half inch.
Some may already have noted that some units can be converted to others using the SI system. Thus, a quarter and a half inch will make 6.35 and 12.7 mm, respectively. However, these dimensions are not at all compatible with the standards of 6 and 12 mm. Such discrepancies will cause damage to the tool, because the shaft of the milling machine rotates at a fairly high speed, sometimes approaching 25 thousand revolutions per minute.
End nozzles
The uniqueness of this variety lies in the fact that the work is carried out not only due to axial load, but also through the use of side edges. Thus, when using this type of milling cutter, the cutting element in the tree is able to move within the reference area. So the master makes very accurate samples in the material. The cleanliness of the treatment is primarily affected by the number of edges. The design of such nozzles is usually monolithic, but crowned is also sometimes used in drills.
Among the subspecies of the end nozzles, it is possible to distinguish spiral, conical, spherical, end, profile and burrs. Some of these options have a fairly narrow specialization. For example, end end nozzles are used in the formation of ordinary grooves or groove-spike. The profile variety is suitable for processing ends, decorative decoration of wood ornaments and other complex works. Burrs, in turn, are used to make holes of a given shape during intermediate processing of the material.
Edge nozzles
This group is quite extensive and is used by masters in many situations. In particular, using this set of wood milling cutters, wooden edges are created for the hand tool. Experts advise you to immediately get a ready-made set of such nozzles than to look for them individually. The widespread use among home masters in this case is explained by the fact that these devices form the basis of almost any store kit that comes with the tool.
The list of edge nozzles is presented in the list below:
- figured to create panels;
- profile, used in the processing of edges of complex shape;
- folded, allowing to remove a quarter in the edge parts;
- conical for chamfering;
- fillet wood, used in the manufacture of grooves;
- molding or shaped, used for rounding edges;
- disk for the formation of grooves.
Features of working with edge nozzles
These types of cutters, as a rule, come with bearings. The latter are needed to manually limit the stroke of the tool, which will not allow you to go too deep into the surface of the processed material. However, an important point is the fact that the cutting edge itself will not be located at the same level as the limit bearing. The reference platform, in turn, allows you to adjust the immersion depth of the cutter in the tree.
In some cases, the nozzle begins to create excessively large cuts. Then the master is forced to carry out the procedure sequentially, step by step. At each stage, the milling cutter for the tree must go deeper into the material until the desired configuration is obtained. Separately, it is worth mentioning the figurine nozzle. She has very impressive indicators of weight and diameter.
Groove nozzles
By name, it is easy to guess the purpose of this variety of cutters. They serve to create grooves in various wooden products. The main varieties of such nozzles are presented in the list below:
- tapered for applying thread to a flat surface;
- T-shaped, which create a pattern of the corresponding shape;
- grooving straight milling cutters for wood, necessary for working with cylindrical parts;
- fillet for creating grooves in the form of a semicircle;
- shaped nozzles;
- combined milling cutters for joining large wooden shields to each other;
- the so-called "dovetails".
Efficiency of work can be increased many times if you purchase a kit with a different configuration of cutters in all its diversity. This will help, for example, in situations where it is necessary to make grooves with different angles of inclination.
Types of milling cutters for CNC machines
For tools with numerical program control, there are five main varieties of nozzles:
- End for work with material on all axes, having two cutting edges. Usually made in the form of diamond milling cutters on wood. The CNC machines on which they are used are characterized by increased precision in machining parts.
- Angled nozzles are required when processing edges. They also have a pair of cutting edges located at different angles relative to each other.
- Circular milling cutters form grooves and various recesses in the material. The tasks performed by such a nozzle are many, and their number depends on the number and location of the cutting edges.
- End nozzles are used to work with cylindrical shapes. Most often, masters cut sheet materials using this variety.
- Shaped cutters are very specific and allow you to make complex shapes on wood. They are usually used already at the finishing processing of the material, making all elements as accurate, accurate and accurate as possible.
Mastering a manual milling machine
The first hours of work with the tool is recommended to be carried out at low and medium speeds. However, for the future it is also necessary to remember the fact that higher speeds imply a better final quality of work, regardless of the woodwork milling cutters used. In any project, there are the most critical areas that need to be processed as accurately as possible, because they will always remain in the public eye. It is on such structural elements that increased revolutions should be used, but this should be done only after a sufficient development of the master’s skills.
The tool is adjusted using the knob and the scale for adjusting the milling depth. The change step is a tenth of a millimeter. Also, this setting should be combined with a specific rotational speed of the cutter. Other controls include the on-off and lock buttons. Observance of safety measures during the work means a clear memorization of the location of all parts that regulate the tool. For convenience, a special parallel emphasis is provided on the housing, which is fixed either rigidly or with the possibility of shear within the working area.
The optimal set of cutters
There are the most common nozzles that help in almost any situation. You can create your own set of cutters. For wood milling, the following elements must be included:
- Edge milling cutters. Without them, it will not be possible to properly culture the end surfaces of the material. It is also allowed to create studs and recesses for connecting parts.
- Grooving cutters. Various varieties of such nozzles come in handy. Spiral are suitable for cutting technical grooves. Fillet will serve as a tool for finishing a wooden surface, obtaining grooves of a certain depth and shape. Shaped grooving cutters will help to carry out decorative work with the material. And the "dovetail" can be used to form grooves, hidden or openly connecting several parts into one.
The main rules when working
A well-completed task and a safe outcome entirely depend not only on the skills of the master, but also on his observance of certain rules when working with a manual mill on a tree:
- The material must first be rigidly installed in the machine and re-checked the quality of such fastening. Without this procedure, normal operation should not be expected.
- The tool used must be sharpened sharply. The quality of the surface treatment will certainly suffer with a blunt cutter. In addition, the tool motor will begin to overheat, which can lead to premature failure of the device.
- Before the master decides to replace one cutter with another, he will completely turn off and de-energize the device. Not only pressing the power button, but also removing the plug from the outlet.
- Layers of a tree of great depth need to be removed in several passes. Trying to do everything in one go will increase the load on the cutter and tool motor. Thus, the processing speed and the final quality of the finished product will decrease.
Edging a pattern
The use of templates is especially necessary for those craftsmen who are still new to working with manual wood milling. Edge processing is carried out either with one bearing at the end of the cutting part, or with one at its beginning. It is allowed to carry out the procedure without a template if the master has enough honed skills in using the tool.
As a sample, a previously processed board or some other object with a flat surface is suitable. It should be noted that the length of the template must exceed the length of the workpiece from both ends. The thickness should also not be greater than the clearance between the cutting part and the bearing.
The width of the part is less than the length of the cutting part.
Beginners should pay particular attention to the selected tool. A wood cutter is best taken with an average length of the cutting part. If this parameter is too high, then it will become very difficult to work with the workpiece. First you need to firmly fix the template on a table or other surface. The milling cutter and the roller are set so that they move easily along the surface of the sample. Preparatory work is underway to fix and distribute all the instruments relative to each other.
Next, the milling cutter is placed in the working position so that it can move along the workpiece. Only now the power button is pressed and the unit begins to move. The speed of movement of the device for the most part will depend on the depth of surface treatment. In this case, a different influence of the master on the tool is allowed. It is more convenient for someone to push the milling cutter, and for someone - to pull it.
The width of the part is greater than the length of the cutting part
A very common case. Masters often come across the fact that the length of the cutter for a tree is somewhat smaller than the width of the workpiece. You need to do as follows. After the first pass, the template needs to be removed and another pass made, only the already processed part will appear as the template. The bearing should be directed along the surface so that the cutting part is sufficient. Otherwise, you will need to repeat all the steps described in the next pass.