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Homemade 4-sided machines. How to make a homemade four-sided machine

To meet these requirements, it is advisable to use four-sided wood saws. The key difference between such units is the ability to simultaneously perform several operations.

Types of units depending on functionality

The price of four-sided woodworking machines is determined taking into account their technical parameters, functionality, as well as design features. The following types of units can be purchased:

Four-sided wood planers, as well as jointers. Their design contains special shafts on which there are blades of a special configuration. The technical capabilities of such units allow them to carry out not only roughing, but also finishing processing of products. Four-sided wood planing machines are in demand when creating various building structures and elements.
Four-sided wood milling machines. In such units, disk-type cutters are fixed on the working heads. Please note: devices of this type are only suitable for processing in the longitudinal direction.

At the moment, you can buy units that combine the functionality of the two described devices. If you want to purchase a machine that is truly easy to use, you should give preference to a model that has special mechanisms that are used to fasten the created workpieces.

Key advantages of units and features of choice

The main advantages of four-sided wood milling and planing machines:

High performance. Models with numerical control have maximum convenience. Their price is slightly higher, due to practicality and efficiency.
Compact size compared to using multiple units.
Relatively simple design, making the units easy to maintain and repair.

Four-sided woodworking machines of Russian production, as well as foreign ones, will have maximum efficiency only if certain operating conditions are met:

It is necessary to calculate in advance the speed of movement of the part along the workpiece. Only in this case can the most accurate processing be guaranteed;
each block (that is, responsible for planing and milling) should be separately regulated, and their joint work should be coordinated;
It is necessary to promptly remove production waste from the processing area.

Many people wonder which unit to buy. Experts are unanimous in their opinion that Russian-made four-sided woodworking machines have the best balance in terms of cost, reliability and quality.

One of the important indicators of modern woodworking machines is the productivity and quality of the work that is performed on it. Equipment that meets both requirements is a four-sided machine. The design feature of such mechanisms is that they can perform several operations simultaneously, while the wood is processed from four sides at once.

Components and functionality

The main functions that a four-sided planer can perform are jointing, milling and planing. Thanks to the special design machine, finishing and roughing can be performed simultaneously.

The main components of the model are:

workpiece feed unit;
spindle section;
Control block.

In this case, there can be several processing heads. Thanks to this approach to layout, operating time is optimized and the cost of finished products is reduced.

Before you start working on a four-sided machine, you need to understand how certain settings affect the device. Be sure to pay attention to how performance changes after tuning the processing units.

All devices of woodworking machines are divided into two types - four-sided longitudinal milling machines and thickness planers. Using the first option, you can cut the tree into pieces of a certain length. Also, such equipment can profile. Depending on the thickness of the workpiece being processed, the lower shaft of the knife moves up and down along with the tabletop of the device.

A thicknesser four-sided machine is used to process wood to a certain thickness on both sides at once. Since this equipment is initially planing, it can also profile.

If you process wood from four sides at once, you can significantly reduce the time spent, which usually requires much more than processing on any other device. And since operating time decreases, productivity, on the contrary, increases. This is why the four-sided woodworking machine is often used in construction and furniture production.

Advantages and disadvantages

One of the undeniable advantages of a four-sided machine is high productivity. To achieve optimal results, the design is equipped with a program control unit. A conventional machine can process bars with a quadrangular and circular cross-section. Sheet materials can be milled or jointed on one or both sides.

The main advantages of four-sided machines include the following:

Unfortunately, this is not to say that they have no shortcomings. They exist, and the main one is the high price. You will have to pay a lot to purchase such equipment. In addition, such a machine is difficult to set up.

However, high performance compensates for all these shortcomings.

In order to make the work automated, the device must be equipped with a line for automatically feeding wood for processing. Thanks to this block, the position of the workpiece relative to the tools that process it can also be changed.

Features of work

When using a four-sided wood machine, you must follow the rules specified in the instructions. It is impossible to process parts if their length or thickness exceeds the indicators provided for by the rules. It is necessary to carry out preventive maintenance in a timely manner in order to maintain the normal condition of the machine.

The work will have maximum efficiency only if if you follow the following operating rules:

Adjusting the device to the required thickness, the supports of the upper leg head and upper rollers should be set in height using handwheels. Screws help install the pressure rollers. To adjust the width, side clamps and a vertical spindle are used. You can adjust the machine to the desired profile by installing profile knives on the heads.

Setting up a four-sided machine takes place in six stages:

Self-manufacturing

Since the price of a woodworking machine is quite high, and not everyone can buy it, many people prefer to save on purchases. To make such equipment at home, it is not necessary to be a professional.

The step-by-step procedure for making a four-sided machine with your own hands is as follows:

A four-sided woodworking machine will help you to qualitatively process a wooden bar or cylinder without a lot of time. The only serious drawback of such equipment is the high price. But even this can be eliminated if you make the machine yourself.

Modern construction technologies involve the use of high-quality lumber, which can rightly be attributed to profiled timber. This product is distinguished by a number of advantages (strength, ease of installation and excellent thermal insulation characteristics), which guarantees the high quality of buildings constructed on its basis.

However, for self-production of timber (if it is impossible to purchase it in finished form), special equipment will be required, namely, a four-sided woodworking machine.

Design features and purpose

Before proceeding with the manufacture of a four-sided machine at home, you will need to familiarize yourself with the design features of a typical planer unit.

The classic design of a 4-sided woodworking machine can be represented as a combination of the following main parts:

mechanism for receiving and feeding workpieces;
a typesetting section consisting of a spindle with a cutting tool (mill or knife saw);
engine (gasoline or electric) with drive;
organs for setting cutting parameters, adjusting, feeding and controlling the entire process.

Four-sided models are known, which have several spindles with cutting tools arranged in one row.

According to the features of their application, all known designs of machines for profiling boards and making timber are divided into two large groups, within each of which many intermediate options are possible.

Firstly, this is a portable (mobile) machine for profiling timber, which can be assembled with your own hands and is widely used at home or in workshops with small production volumes. Its main advantage is mobility (the ability to move to the place of work), as well as good adaptation to any processing conditions. The disadvantages of such a 4-sided unit include the impossibility of expanding the range of products and low automation.

Secondly, this is a universal stationary woodworking machine that provides significant volumes of lumber. Stationary machines are usually equipped with CNC systems and a whole set of interchangeable cutting tools.

The four-sided stationary machine is designed to perform a range of woodworking operations, including routing (in this way it is similar to a milling tool), planing and jointing, as well as thicknessing and profiling. With their help, it is possible to process a wide variety of types of wood raw materials and obtain finished products of various names and sizes (timber, lamellas, slats and lining).

Feeder

The feeding device of a modern four-sided machine with a planing function can be represented as follows.

The supply of wood blanks (future timber) is carried out by means of four drive rollers, and a set of upper and side clamps is responsible for its correct orientation in the direction of movement. The rollers located on top perform their function due to their own weight or under the influence of spring amplifiers.

Note! Adjustment of the size of the removed chips and profiling of the workpieces is carried out by moving the front part of the table vertically.

Wood lumber is fed into the device in a continuous mode, in which there is no gap between successive pieces one after another.

The latter is explained by the fact that even a slight gap in the feed will require new filling into the rollers, which significantly reduces the productivity of the equipment and increases labor costs.

It is possible to increase the productivity of the entire four-sided woodworking machine as a whole by partially automating the receiving unit, carried out by combining the functions of positioning the board and its feeding. It is usually set at a speed of about 8-22 meters per minute, but in some modern equipment this parameter is increased almost five times.

The number of revolutions of the cutting tool per minute averages 5-6 thousand units (in the latest models of the latest design it has been increased to 9 thousand).

Processing area and unit

A typical processing unit of a four-sided woodworking machine contains upper and lower horizontally mounted shafts and a pair of spindles mounted vertically. Each of them has a cutting head equipped with a straight or shaped knife. The size of the workpiece is set by horizontal movement of the spindle (changing the position of the cutting edge). When cutting boards, their thickness is set by the vertical movement of the upper shaft.

The processing unit kit may include an additional (fifth) cutting or planing shaft, which ensures the arrangement of a profile along the lower edge of the workpiece. To eliminate the effect of waves formed on the surface of the wood from the circulating heads, special knives are provided in this area. They provide an imitation of smoothing. The knives are made in the form of a block of blades fixed on the base of the table, attached at an angle of 45 degrees to the feed plane and cutting off about 0.02-0.2 millimeters of wood from the surface being processed. Thanks to this arrangement of the unit, the wave crests remaining from the operation of the jointer are completely cut off.

Control system

The operation of four-sided stationary woodworking equipment is usually controlled from a remote control panel, but such a system is not suitable for a homemade device.

Note! In the case of self-manufacturing of the machine, the main thing is to provide mechanisms for setting the size of the workpieces and the speed of their feeding into the cutting zone.

In addition, it is necessary to provide the ability to set the position of the set of spindles relative to the part, as well as vary the type and diameter of the cutting tool. One should not lose sight of the mandatory presence on the woodworking machine of functional elements responsible for turning it off and on.

Homemade machine (option for beam profiling)

A four-sided profiling machine must include such mandatory elements as a base (bed), a drum with a set of knives and an electric or gasoline engine. In addition, it should be equipped with a movable frame, which has the ability to adjust the size of the workpiece according to the processing height, as well as special fixing and locking elements.

From the motor shaft, the rotating moment is transmitted to the knife drum through a pulley system. All these parts can be removed from old non-working machines or ordered from a workshop, having previously prepared their drawings.

The movable frame must move along specially prepared guides with rollers built into them (they are attached to the corners of the structure). In total, it is necessary to provide four rollers fixed from the bottom of it.

Feeding of processed workpieces is carried out manually in a home-made device (due to the muscular strength of the operator). To change the height and depth of processing within 5-10 cm, the engine with the knife drum must move freely vertically to the limit stops.

It should be noted that before manufacturing a woodworking machine with four-sided processing, it is necessary to carefully study the theoretical material and practical implementation options. Only under this condition will it be possible to produce a reliable working structure that guarantees the solution to the task assigned to the user.

The main indicators of any woodworking production are quality work and productivity. To fulfill these conditions, you must have the appropriate equipment. One such equipment is a four-sided woodworking machine.

Design and scope

Relatively recently, designs that combine several operations have appeared in the wood processing industry. Processing of wooden products occurs on four sides at once. This equipment is most often used for milling and jointing.

The woodworking machine consists of:

spindle section;
part feed unit;
equipment parameter control systems.

On one side there can be several processing heads, which reduces the cost of manufactured products and reduces the time for performing a certain operation.

The four-sided machine is designed to perform the following operations:

Milling. Instead of planing shafts, disk cutters are installed on the working heads of the equipment, which makes it possible to do longitudinal milling. To carry out processing with finger cutters, it is necessary to periodically stop the parts, however, this is not provided for by the design;
Planing and jointing. This can be done using shafts with blades of a certain configuration installed on them. The design of the machine makes it possible to simultaneously perform finishing and roughing;
Reaming and profiling.

Most often, such models are used to create lumber with a flat surface or profile. All the work can be done in one pass.

Using four-sided machines you can make products such as:

Classification and differences of machines

All four-sided woodworking machines can be divided into:

thicknesser planer;
longitudinal milling.

Longitudinal milling machine used for cutting along the length of the material to the desired size. This woodworking equipment can perform profiling of any complexity. The lower shaft of the knife, taking into account the thickness of the wood being planed, moves together with the tabletop in the vertical direction.

Thicknesser used to plan a part to a specified thickness on both sides simultaneously. It is initially planing, but has an additional profiling function. Such a device can produce shallow profiling with a simple locking design of a small beam.

Processing wood on four sides simultaneously helps save time, increasing production productivity. That is why four-sided machines are the optimal equipment in the construction and furniture sectors.

Main criteria for selection

Considering that a machine for complex woodworking is expensive equipment, when choosing it it is important to take into account the technical characteristics and all the nuances of the design. Equipment performance depends on:

speeds and timber feeding systems;
degree of processing and dimensions.

Choosing the optimal machine model, you should pay attention to:

In order to precisely position the workpieces relative to the machining center, a system of sensors is necessary. In addition, when analyzing the model, one should take into account the cost of components, the degree of remoteness of the manufacturer's service centers and the terms of the warranty.

Design of machine components

To understand the operating principle of the equipment, you need to consider design features of the machine, which includes many nodes.

In some models of equipment, a joyter, a hydraulic spindle and a number of working tools are included. Such devices sharpen knives directly during product processing.

Purchase of a machine

Longitudinal milling machine can be purchased at specialized construction stores, but it is better to buy it directly from the manufacturer (if we are talking about domestic manufacturers). You can rent equipment or purchase it in installments.

Before you buy the equipment, you need to pay attention to the following main points:

performance;
accuracy;
reliability of operation;
availability of service;
equipment price.

If a four-sided woodworking machine will be an addition to an already running line, it is important to consider its dimensions. At the time of purchase, it is necessary to take into account the technical parameters and the combination of various processing options, the weight of the equipment and the speed of work.

Some companies providing such equipment are still little known. Price for their products relatively low, but the quality is adequate. For example, the German brand Beaver. The cost of their products is low due to the fact that production is located in Taiwan and China. But parts of the assembly are made in Germany.

When choosing equipment, you should not consider cheap Chinese-made models. Please note that it will be very difficult to find spare parts for them.

Service maintenance

Any machine tends to break down over time and its component parts wear out. In order to have fewer interruptions in work for such reasons, it is advisable to choose the equipment that is most durable and wear-resistant.

In addition to productivity, it is important that the machine is as safe as possible. Therefore, the presence of limit switches, electric brakes and a metal protective casing with sound insulation is provided.

Processing of products on a machine must be as accurate and high quality as possible. For these purposes, it is important that the device has statistical and dynamic balancing of all fixations of parts.

When operating the equipment, you must adhere to the rules specified in the instructions for it. You cannot process workpieces that are larger in size than those provided for by the rules. It is imperative to carry out preventative and repair work to keep the equipment in working condition.

It is very important to install the machine correctly, taking into account not only its dimensions and weight, but also the size of the wooden blanks. The operator should not have to deal with any difficulties associated with feeding the material.

Pros and cons of equipment

One of the most positive qualities of four-sided machines is high productivity. To achieve optimal results, the design must be equipped with a software numerical control unit. Then the influence of the human factor will be minimal.

The conditions for the correct preparation of the program must be met, and the workpiece being processed must be accurately measured. In its optimal configuration, the equipment is designed for processing cylindrical workpieces and rectangular beams. Jointing and milling of sheet materials can be performed on both sides. Features of the operation of machines of this type are the following factors:

The main disadvantages of four-sided woodworking machines are the high cost and complexity of setup. However, in production line conditions these indicators are not significant.

Improvement of technological processes complicates the equipment and increases the productivity of an individual unit. In carpentry, the four-sided wood lathe combined previously separate operations on one table with a single pass of the workpiece. Cleanliness and precision of processing meets established quality standards.

Possible processing methods

Various heads with blades of different profiles can cut the layer from 4 sides of the blank:

milling Performs only longitudinal cutting of wood under the groove. A disk-type cutter performs the task of cutting the board. To do this, on the receiving side of the table, fixators of the outgoing strips are placed;
planing;
jointer

Most industrial models combine several types of cutting simultaneously. Material of round and square section is processed. Thin sheets of material undergo 2-sided milling, jointing.

Design specifics

The design of a four-sided woodworking machine includes 3 main parts:

workpiece feeder;
spindle section with cutting elements;
system for setting operating parameters, adjustment, control.

There are models that have several cutting mechanisms installed sequentially along one side of the part (multiple processing).

The types of this equipment are divided into 2 groups, each of which is represented by a variety of options:

portable (mobile) type. Such four-sided machines are common in home, small repair shops. Automation, power, range of products within small limits, but make it possible to make wooden parts quickly in any conditions;
stationary. Operate in an established production to obtain large volumes of timber, lining, lamellas, slats. Equipped with CNC, a set of various replaceable cutting elements. Process various types of raw materials of different sizes. Such milling machines require training of operating personnel due to the complexity of management, adjustment, maintenance.

In addition to 4-sided industrial production equipment, do-it-yourself woodworking installations work in private households.

Feeding device

Adjustment of the thickness of the chips removed from the four-sided machine is carried out by shifting the front of the table vertically.

The wood is supplied by drive rollers (4 pcs). Fixation in the direction of movement - top, side clamps. Upper clamps and rollers perform their role due to weight (own, additional) or spring amplifiers.

The boards are fed into the 4-sided machine continuously, without a gap between the ends of subsequent units. The rupture requires new filling of raw materials into the rollers, which significantly extends the time for manufacturing products and increases labor costs.

Increased productivity is achieved by installing automated feed lines. They combine the functions of movement and positioning of the board. Feeding occurs at a speed of 8 – 22 m/min. In the latest serial developments implemented in Russia, rollers accelerate the wood feed to 100 m/min.

The speed of the knife shafts is 5000-6000 per minute. In machines of the latest designs, knife shafts are made up to 9000 rpm.

Processing area

The basic setup includes 2 horizontal shafts (top/bottom) and 2 vertical spindles. A head with a straight or shaped knife is placed on the spindle. The shaft rotation is in the range of 5000 - 9000 rpm.

The specified dimensions of the product are set by corresponding horizontal movement of the spindle, seating/raising of the cutting edge, and tilting the longitudinal axis at an angle of up to 25°. The thickness of the board is set by moving the upper shaft vertically.

The assembly layout may include the installation of a 5th planing shaft in order to obtain a profile along the bottom plane of the part.

Additionally, ironing knives are designed to eliminate waves on the surface of the wood from rotating heads. A block of fixed blades located at an angle of 45° to the table plane removes 0.02 -0.2 mm of wood with each edge. The wave crests from the jointer are cut to a specified cleanliness.

Control

Reducing human influence in the mechanical woodworking process increases its functions for accurate measurement, calculation of parameters for software, control of each phase of equipment operation, and the urgent need to correct deviations.

The control points are:

calculation of the speed of movement of raw materials to maintain the specified processing accuracy;
placing each individual node in calculated coordinates;
synchronization of the complex operation;
cleaning, removal of generated waste.

In individual production this requires a significant investment of time. In continuous production, it provides a significant gain in productivity and standardization of the quality of finished wood products.

Specialization

Installations for multilateral wood processing are complex enough in design to make one universal unit. Woodworking shops use varieties that are sufficient to quickly and accurately produce a certain range of products.

Having chosen a four-sided machine for profiling the timber, they produce a profile with a groove-tenon connection, two even (semicircular) sides. The planing operation can be combined on one machine after cutting the profile. The variety of beam cross-section geometry options is determined by the configuration of cutting attachments.

A carpenter using a four-sided longitudinal milling machine simplifies the work of producing wooden beams for door and window frames, baseboards, cabinet parts, and flooring.

Lumber after a circular saw has a poor surface quality. At the same time, a four-sided planer with the required productivity can achieve the required dimensional accuracy. It has from 4 to 10 spindles, on which, if necessary, a knife with a slotted blade for wood is placed. This makes it possible to operate the equipment, like a machine for the production of profiled timber, based on production tasks.

Choice

Specifications, wiring diagram, operating modes, equipment, programming - all this must be studied according to the manufacturer's declared data. Features of the operation of automation, requirements for the qualification of personnel, raw materials, maintenance must be taken into account when organizing the production process, compiling technological maps. The availability of service maintenance of a four-sided milling machine, spare parts for it, will affect the smooth operation.