Homemade machines - how to make useful devices

If you like to make something useful with your own hands (in a small workshop or garage), you have probably already thought about purchasing various auxiliary equipment for work.

But not everyone has the opportunity to buy branded tools and equipment for a home workshop - the prices are quite significant. And delivery in some cases is also expensive.

However, many home-made craftsmen, as you know, do not look for easy ways, and can always use an alternative option.

For example, you can bet on homemade machines for the garage and workshop, which will not be difficult to make yourself from inexpensive and accessible materials.

Even simple “handicraft” devices can greatly simplify and speed up the processing of metal and wood workpieces.

If you need to save money, homemade machines are perhaps the best option. All the necessary diagrams and drawings can be found on the Internet, including on our website.

Using homemade machines in the workshop

The work that is performed in the workshop affects the equipment of the room with special devices. Typically, equipment is placed if the free area is at least 3 m2.

Workshops are often set up in small rooms, outbuildings, and garages. The best place is a separate building. In this case, the noise from the work being performed will not disturb other residents of the house.

Universal workshops are often set up to perform various jobs. If a person is engaged in the production of any products, then specific homemade tools and devices are made. Often workshops are equipped with machines for carpentry and processing of metal blanks. Often, premises for the repair of wheeled vehicles are also set up.

Basically the workshop is equipped with:

• devices that allow you to prepare tools, facilitate labor and mechanize operations;
• homemade products for processing metal parts;
• workbenches.

A workbench made of wooden elements Source skilljob.ru
It is also necessary to install shelves in the room where various tools will be stored. At the same time, they ensure unhindered access to them and compliance with fire safety rules.

Do-it-yourself knife sharpening device: drawings and nuances

To make a sharpener from a washing machine engine with your own hands, you can take parts from old Soviet appliances. To build a sharpening machine you will need the following parts:

• tube for turning flanges;
• grindstone;
• special nuts;
• steel elements for the construction of protective casings;
• cable cord;
• launching device;
• a block of wood or a metal corner.

Homemade unit for sharpening knives

The flange section must match the dimensions of the bushing. A sharpening stone will also be placed on this element. This part will also have a special thread. In this case, the flange is pressed onto the motor shaft. Fastening is carried out by welding or bolting.

The working winding is fixed to the cable. Moreover, it has a resistance of 12 ohms, which can be calculated using a multimeter. A frame is also made, for which a metal corner is taken.

Workbench for a carpenter

This type of equipment is a table. It is distinguished by its high strength and the presence of 2 vices on the tabletop. The table is also equipped with clamps that clamp the workpieces during planing. In addition, the workbench may still have places where other homemade devices, such as a router, will be attached.

A special table must have a comfortable height. She matches the height of the master. The minimum length of the workbench is 1000 mm. Often it is equal to 1700 mm or even 2000 mm. The standard width is 800 mm.

Before making a workbench for carpentry, get acquainted with its main parts Source infourok.ru

A workbench table is created as follows:

• The table surface is created - this is a shield, which is made from oak, beech or hornbeam boards with a minimum thickness of 55 mm. They are tightly fitted to each other. The boards used are impregnated with drying oil before joining. To create a rigid structure, a 50 mm block is used. It is fixed around the perimeter of the working surface.
• The supporting elements of the workbench are made. To do this, use linden or pine timber. Its size is 120*120 mm or 150*150 mm, and its length is approximately 1200 mm. The supports are connected by jumpers in the horizontal plane. To do this, take boards that are fixed at a distance of 300 mm from the floor.
• Make homemade devices to accommodate the tool. These are shelves located under the countertop. When they are open, they are often replaced with bedside tables.
• Attach a vice.

If a stationary workbench is created, its supporting elements are fixed to the floor. Depending on the specifics of the work being performed, mobile and collapsible tables are also manufactured.

Mobile workbench on wheels Source foamin.ru

Carpenter's workbench vice

This homemade tool is made using a screw rod. Its thread length must be at least 160 mm. In this case, the diameter of the rod itself must be 20 mm. For the vice you will also need wooden blocks and metal pins. The manufacturing sequence is as follows:

1. Prepare a block of 200*300 mm. Its minimum thickness should be 50 mm. This will be one of the sponges. A hole for a screw is drilled in the center of the workpiece. On the sides of it, two more holes are made for the studs.
2. A second movable jaw 200*180 mm is cut out and similar holes are drilled in it.
3. A threaded pin is inserted into the workpiece. A handle is installed at one end. To prevent the jaws from moving, pins with a cross section of 10 mm are passed through other holes.

Wooden vice for a carpenter Source infradom.ru

Choosing a location for a workshop: good advice

Place for building a workshop

When determining a location for a future carpentry workshop, it is necessary to take into account some axioms of its placement:

1. As far as possible from residential areas and buildings with domestic animals, if any. The noise produced by work equipment will have an adverse effect on the nervous system of your household.
2. It is advisable to choose an open space. The absence of shadows will allow you to save a little on heating the workshop in winter and on lighting throughout the year. Solar radiation will heat and illuminate the room.
3. To avoid flooding of the building during rains and snowmelt, there is no need to build it in places with a low general level. This can lead to problems with the building itself and even to emergency situations, such as electrical short circuits.
4. It is advisable to ensure ease of access in all weather conditions in order to avoid constant snow clearing in winter, and to prevent flooding of the building during spring snowmelt.
5. A plot of soil not suitable for farming will be an excellent place for a future builder

Metal workbench for a mechanic

All useful homemade products and devices simplify the processing of workpieces. Such devices include a workbench for a mechanic. Its minimum dimensions are:

• length – 1800 mm;
• width – 700 mm;
• height – 900 mm.

The table is created in the following sequence:

• frame assembly;
• installation of 2 cabinets, covered with metal;
• securing a working surface consisting of a wooden base in the form of a shield, on which a sheet of metal of a suitable size is placed on top;
• assembly and installation of a rack at the back of the workbench to strengthen the entire structure and accommodate tools.

When assembling a bench, use:

• beams as racks - four corrugated pipes 40*60 mm with a wall thickness of at least 2 mm;
• three beams 50*40 mm to connect the racks and ensure longitudinal rigidity of the structure;
• corrugated pipe 40*30 mm with a wall of at least 1 mm in the amount of 9 pieces to create the frame of the cabinets;
• metal corner 50*50 mm for the manufacture of shelving racks, the height of which will be a maximum of 2000 mm;
• board 50 mm thick for the tabletop panel;
• a sheet of metal no thinner than 6 mm to cover the top surface of the workbench.

Sheet metal Source glavmetall.com
See also: Catalog of construction companies that have their own production of materials and components for the construction of houses

Wood lathe for lathe

There are various homemade machines and machines for the workshop. They all make the job easier. These include a lathe. Its structural elements are:

• Durable frame made of metal angle or pipe. Sometimes it is created from wooden blocks. The bed is fixed to the floor, and its lower part is weighted.
• A support, which is a supporting element for the cutters. This part of the machine must provide reliable fixation and allow the workpiece to move to the side. For this purpose, the design provides a screw rod.
• The clamping spindle, also called the headstock. The head of a powerful electric drill is often used as it.

The head of an electric drill is often used as a headstock. Source woodtoolsimg.ru

• Tailstock used for longitudinal movement of the workpiece. It is recommended to use the factory spindle, which has four cams.
• Electric drive providing rotation of 1500 rpm. Its power should be from 250 to 400 W. Often a washing machine motor is used as an electric motor. The design also includes a belt drive. This is a transmission, for the operation of which it is necessary to install pulleys on the shafts.

The electric motor of washing machines is often used as a drive for a lathe. Source dobro-teh.ru

Cutters for the machine

It is recommended to equip homemade devices with factory cutters. After all, they are sharpened with high quality using special equipment. As a last resort, for production use:

• old files without significant defects;
• steel square reinforcement is the optimal material for making cutters;
• square or rectangular spring from the car.

Subsequently, the existing workpieces are sharpened. Creates a semi-circular cutting edge for roughing wood parts. Finish turning work is carried out with a cutter that has a straight blade.

After sharpening, the cutting elements are hardened. During this process, the cutters are first heated and then placed in machine oil.

Wood boring tools for a lathe Source 24aul.ru

Direct drive or belt drive

There are several ways to transfer rotation to the workpiece. The simplest is direct drive. In this case, the workpiece is attached directly to the motor shaft. A distinctive feature of this design is its simplicity. With all this, direct drive has a number of significant disadvantages.

First of all, a direct drive machine does not allow you to adjust the rotation speed, which is critical when working with hard material. It is also worth considering the load on the electric motor, especially when working with large workpieces. No matter how well it is centered, it cannot do without vibration. Motor bearings are not designed to withstand longitudinal loads and will often fail.

To protect the engine from damage and provide the ability to adjust the speed of rotation of the workpiece, it is worth considering a belt drive. In this case, the engine is located away from the axis of rotation of the workpiece, and torque is transmitted through pulleys. Using pulley blocks of different diameters, it is easy to change the speed within a fairly wide range.

It is advisable to equip a machine for your home with pulleys with three or more grooves, which will allow you to process wood of any species with equal success, and, if necessary, work with soft alloys.

Stationary circulation saw

The stationary circular saw is placed on a sturdy table. Its working surface is usually made of metal sheet. It is reinforced with stiffening ribs. For their manufacture, a steel angle is used.

On the working surface there are usually:

• stops;
• guides;
• elements for adjustment;
• cutting disc.

On a note! The circular saw is powered by an electric motor. Its power should be approximately 800 W, and its rotation should be 1700 rpm. The electric motor of the angle grinder corresponds to these characteristics.

Angle grinder for a stationary circular saw Source tdrim.ru
Before making a device for sawing wooden parts, prepare a working angle grinder with the necessary characteristics. Further actions are performed in the following order:

1. Assembling the frame.
2. Prepare a worktop in which a slot is made for the cutting disc.
3. Two wooden blocks are fastened in parallel. They will be used as stops.
4. Set the scale necessary to control the cutting of wooden parts.
5. Clamps are installed so that workpieces and guides can be fixed.
6. The grinder is secured by first installing the disk into the previously created slot in the table top. The power tool is fixed from below the working surface.

Drilling machine

Interesting homemade products and devices often help craftsmen out when making various products in the workshop. One such device is a drilling machine. Its main parts include:

• electric drill;
• base made of metal parts with the ability to secure the workpiece;
• a stand for fixing an electric drill, which is created using chipboard with a thickness of 20 to 25 mm or an old photographic enlarger;
• a unit that supplies the drilling tool.

The drill press stand must have guide rails. They are necessary for the electric drill to move strictly in a vertical direction. There are different options for feeding an electric tool, but the most common design is a lever with a spring. It is manually controlled by simply pressing. The design of the machine also includes stops. They are needed to adjust the depth of the hole created in the part.

CNC router

There are homemade machines and devices of complex design. Such devices include a CNC router. It is made for processing metal and wooden parts.

Work with a CNC router is carried out to a higher quality. This machine has advanced capabilities. When creating it, an LPT port is used, and numerical control is also provided. The copying unit is created from printer carriages with a matrix of needles.

The milling device is assembled as follows:

1. The tabletop is made using a plywood sheet. Instead, chipboard with a thickness of at least 15 mm is used.
2. A cutout is created to accommodate the cutter.
3. The milling unit is installed.
4. The electric drive is located.
5. The transmission is secured.
6. The spindle is mounted.
7. The stops are fixed.

The process of creating a wood router Source tmklazer.rf
A CNC milling machine for processing metal workpieces is made with a more durable frame. The device is created in the following sequence:

1. The column and frame are mounted when using a channel. From them a structure in the shape of the letter “P” is created. In it, the bridge between two supporting elements is formed by a part that is the base of the milling unit.
2. Guides are made from angle iron. They are fixed with bolts on the column.
3. Guide consoles are created from a pipe with a rectangular cross-section. To move them to a height of maximum 150 mm, the design provides a car jack.
4. A threaded pin is inserted into the console.
5. A working surface is created.
6. A vice, fixing elements and guides are installed.
7. The rotating unit is mounted. In this case, they strictly ensure that the shaft is in a vertical plane.

Designing a press for a garage with your own hands

The design of a homemade garage press is intended for straightening, pressing, bending sheet materials and for compression. Devices for plumbing work are characterized by a compact and simple design. The forces from such a press can vary between 5-100 tons. For garage work, 10-20 tons is quite enough. To make a similar design, a manual drive is used. The hydraulic device contains two chambers with pistons.

Homemade design

Do-it-yourself press from a jack drawings

You can see how to make a simple device on a special video of a press made from a jack with your own hands:

A simple option is a hydraulic one, which can be constructed from a bottle jack. An important element is the frame, inside of which the jack is placed. The platform is used as a reliable base. The upper surface is used to support the elements being processed. The table should move freely up and down on the frame. In this case, rigid springs are attached to the base on one side, and to the working surface on the other.

Using a jack

Here is a simple assembly diagram:

• the necessary elements are cut out according to the drawings;
• The base is mounted by welding. In this case, the steel structure should resemble the letter P;
• a mobile table is made from a pipe and channel;
• Finally, the springs are fixed.

Thicknesser

Crafts for the workshop are often created to perform woodworking. The material always has to be planed. It is to solve this problem that a surface planer is made. The machine consists of the following parts:

• The frame consists of two frame structures, which are welded from 40*40 mm corners. The frames are fastened with studs.
• Tabletop made of metal or lumber, pre-impregnated with drying oil. The working surface is bolted to the frame.

Bed with a steel tabletop for thickness planer Source prostanki.com

• A broach consisting of rubber rollers. They are taken from a broken washing machine. The rollers are provided with smooth rotation by sliding them onto bearings.
• A casing that protects rotating parts. It is made of sheet metal about 5 mm thick and fixed to a frame made of corners measuring 20*20 mm.
• Electric motor with a power of 6 kW, which can rotate at a speed of at least 3000 rpm.

Clamps are used to secure the thickness planer. The device is fixed on the working surface. Do not forget about the required gap, when setting it, take into account the thickness of the workpiece.

Headstock and tailstock

The workpiece being processed is clamped between two devices called the headstock and tailstock. Rotation from the engine is transmitted to the front one, which is why it is a more complex unit.

Structurally, the headstock of a homemade lathe is a metal U-shaped structure, between the side faces of which a shaft and one or more pulleys are mounted on bearings. The body of this unit can be made of thick steel; bolts of sufficient length are suitable for assembling it into a single whole.

An important part of the headstock, as well as the machine as a whole, is the shaft, a spindle with three or four pins designed to fix the workpiece. This shaft is passed through the bearing of one of the cheeks of the U-shaped housing, then pulleys are mounted on it. To fasten them, a key or a means for fixing cylindrical parts is used, the second cheek is put on last, and the structure is securely tightened with bolts.

The tailstock's job is to support the long workpiece while allowing it to rotate freely. You can buy a ready-made part from a factory machine, or you can use a powerful electric drill chuck mounted on a square of suitable length. A shaft with a pointed end is clamped into the cartridge itself.

The headstock and tailstock are installed on the bed. It is important to understand that the axes of rotation of both shafts must completely coincide. Otherwise, breakage of the workpiece, failure of the machine, and possibly injury to the turner are likely.

Wood sanding machine

The design of such a machine has a cylinder on which sandpaper is placed. This unit rotates while processing the part. The assembly of a homemade machine is often performed for grinding cylindrical workpieces. A device is also made to create a flat surface of the workpiece.

When fixing the sanding paper, follow these rules:

• the width of the abrasive cloth should be approximately 250 mm;
• the sanding belt is connected without a gap exclusively end-to-end;
• The sandpaper is attached using a high-quality adhesive;
• at the edges of the shaft for the abrasive cloth there must be a side, the protrusion of which is from 2.5 to 4 mm;
• a rubber backing should be placed under the tape.

The shaft of the device is rotated by an electric motor. These two parts of the machine are connected by a belt drive. The design of the frame itself can have different designs. The option is chosen depending on the size of the workpieces being processed.

Device for polishing wooden parts Source notperfect.ru

How to sharpen a drill for metal: do-it-yourself device

You can make a simple metal drill sharpening machine from ordinary tools. An abrasive block is suitable for this.

At home you can use the following equipment:

• You can use an electric sharpener to sharpen the drill. In this case, sharpening is performed from the edge. When using a sharpener, you need to pay attention to the sharpening angle and the fixation of the drill on the axis of rotation. Excess metal should be removed gradually. Finally, the edges are shaped into a cone;
• A grinder is used as a do-it-yourself sharpening machine. For sharpening, the cutting tool is secured in a vice. To do this, the mounting angle is selected, and the disk is mounted.

Types of drill sharpening devices

It is worth considering that the grinder is mounted on a flat surface. In this case, the disk should be located downwards. If the grinding device is not secured securely, it can damage the drill. Sharpening with a grinder can only be done for products with a small diameter. It is not possible to finish using a grinding device. The edge of the shield is used to support the cutting tool.

You can also use a drill attachment, which should be equipped with a grinding disc with sandpaper. To grind elements with a drill, you need to find two flat surfaces.

Briefly about the main thing

Typically, craftsmen assemble machines for their workshops if the area of ​​the room is at least 3 m2. Universal devices are manufactured or to perform a specific type of work. In addition to shelves and racks, in the workshop you can often find a workbench for carpentry work made of boards and bars, which is equipped with a vice.

Craftsmen also make a metal workbench from corrugated steel pipes, angles, and sheet metal. They also assemble a lathe on a metal frame, with a clamping spindle in the form of a drill head and an electric drive. Also popular in the workshop are a stationary circular saw based on a grinder, a drilling machine made from an electric drill, a surface planer made from an electric planer, and a CNC router.

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Nowadays we understand “plywood” as multi-layer laminated boards, and we call thin wood sheets “veneer”. Accordingly, instead of “veneering” today many people say “veneering”. Using veneer, you can give a beautiful, even sophisticated look to products made from “simple” types of wood that grow in our latitudes. For example, oak veneer can be used to cover birch furniture. By the way, today many examples of furniture, including “elite” foreign ones, are actually covered with veneer of more valuable species and are sold as made from solid wood, at much higher prices. I don’t recommend that beginners start gluing veneer right away, since this is a non-trivial task that requires skill, patience, and in the case of large parts, also serious equipment in the form of powerful presses or vacuum bags for uniform gluing of veneer.