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Three-Legged Router: A T-Frame on the Table Beside the Work, Its Depth Set by a Knob While Cutting (Willard & Young, 1939)
Forge

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Forge

13. November 2026NO
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Three-Legged Router: A T-Frame on the Table Beside the Work, Its Depth Set by a Knob While Cutting (Willard & Young, 1939)

Homer E. Willard and Frederick S. Young of Toledo, Ohio, received US 2,146,458, dated 7 February 1939, for a simple portable router with few moving parts. The motor sits in an open-fronted support in the middle of a T-shaped frame, so the bit and the work are always in view. The frame stands on three legs on the table beside the clamped work: two curved legs at one end, and at the other a screw with a knob. Turning the knob with one hand raises or lowers the bit while it cuts. We print the frame in PETG round a small DC motor. The sizes are ours.
Intermediate
About 1 day

Instructions

1

Depth by the knob

Loading Jupyter Notebook...
2

Read US 2,146,458

"Thus, by turning the wrist in one direction or the other, the bit 19 may be raised or lowered, as required, without stopping the motor and without removing the hands from the tool."
3

Print the frame

The T-shaped frame 10: the motor support 13 with its ledge 14 (an 18 mm hole and two M4 holes 29 mm apart) and curved wall 15, open at the front 16; arm 11 to the cross with two curved legs 21, 22; arm 12 to a boss with an M10 nut trap for the screw leg 24. PETG, 0.2 mm layers, 40 % infill, 5 walls; print it legs up, ledge on the bed.
Design FileSTLCC0 - Free
4

Fit the motor

Print the frame. Fit the collet adapter on the motor's shaft, stand the motor in the support with its face on the ledge and the collet through the hole, and screw it down with two M4 screws. Wire it through a toggle switch to the DC supply as for our 1924 router.

Materials for this step:

PETG FilamentPETG Filament1 piece
Electric MotorElectric Motor1 piece
Motor Shaft Collet AdapterMotor Shaft Collet Adapter1 piece
Socket Head Cap ScrewSocket Head Cap Screw2 pieces
Toggle SwitchToggle Switch1 piece
Hook-Up WireHook-Up Wire1 piece
Heat Shrink TubingHeat Shrink Tubing1 piece

Tools needed:

FDM 3D PrinterFDM 3D Printer
DC Power SupplyDC Power Supply
Electric Soldering IronElectric Soldering Iron
Hex Key SetHex Key Set
5

The screw leg and knob

Press an M10 nut into the trap under the boss. Cut 100 mm of M10 threaded rod, round its lower end with a file so it slides on the table, and screw it up through the nut. Turn a hardwood knob 25, bore it, and glue it on the rod's top with a nut locked under it.

Materials for this step:

Hex NutHex Nut2 pieces
Threaded RodThreaded Rod1 piece
Hardwood BoardHardwood Board1 piece
Wood GlueWood Glue1 piece

Tools needed:

HacksawHacksaw
File SetFile Set
Wood LatheWood Lathe
Cordless DrillCordless Drill
Drill Bit SetDrill Bit Set
Adjustable SpannerAdjustable Spanner
6

Rout

Clamp the work down on the table between two strips. Fit a bit and stand the router on the table so its legs are beside the work and the bit is over it. Turn the knob until the bit just clears the work, switch on, and turn it down a little while moving the router over the area to be cut, one hand on arm 11 and the other on the knob.

Tools needed:

Router Bit SetRouter Bit Set
Hardwood BoardHardwood Board
Bar ClampBar Clamp
Digital Caliper 6-InchDigital Caliper 6-Inch
Safety GlassesSafety Glasses
7

Troubleshooting

Three-legged router troubleshooting.

Flow

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8

History and honest limits

**Homer E. Willard** and **Frederick S. Young** of Toledo, Ohio, US 2,146,458, dated 7 February 1939, filed 11 December 1935. They claimed "a portable router comprising a T-shaped frame having a semi-circular recess in the stem of the T, a bit-operating motor mounted in said recess and a leg projecting in the same direction as the bit from each of the ends of the frame", one leg "screw-threaded through the arm and terminating above the arm in an operating knob". Their work was an electrotype clamped on the table; their motor ran on mains. Ours is a small DC motor in a printed frame. They give no sizes; every size here is ours.

Materials

11

Tools Required

15

Design Files

1

This blueprint makes

CC0 Public Domain

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