Thread: Pantograph

Sorry for this nonsence, but after reading the subject title I imagined a skill drawing by puffing after a long run; you know 'graph' to draw, and 'pant' ..........
Ahh well, I did apologise.

soth

.In a book called Scrollsaw Basics there is an article on building a pantograph,for tracing patterns.You may be able to adapt this to a router. It is basically four strips of wood exactly the same length with accurately bored holes and connected with pins.I made this for myself, it did a lousy job of small detail work. Maybe you will have better results.What I made worked well on larger scale drawings.
mike

There is a section on building pantographs in my ebook
"Woodworking Guide For Beginners"
But it is a timber one intended for use with a pen or pencil.

The interesting part about it is the graduated reducing/enlarging capability.

This is a paragraph from the ebook.

"Construction of an Enlarging and Reducing Pantograph.
Cut out of 1/8-inch oak, walnut, or beech four rods 5/8 inch wide and 19 inches long. Smooth them well all over, and make marks near the ends of each, exactly 18 inches apart. The graduation of the rods for the adjustment pivot holes is carried out in accordance with the measurements given in Fig. 187. It is advisable to mark out" and bore each rod separately if you do not possess a machine which will drill holes quite perpendicularly; if you do, all four rods can be drilled at one operation.
In Fig. 187 the lower row of numerals indicates the number of times (in diameters) the original is enlarged when all four holes similarly figured are used; the upper row, the size of the copy as compared with the original in case of reduction.

The design info in the ebook seems a good starting basis. As it seems to be virtually variable for expanding and reducing sizes so it might offer advantages that a commercial unit does'nt. However you would need to redesign the construction to suit a router.

I tried making a simple pantograph from wood many years ago and wasn't happy with it.
My comments about making one are,
Small section timber is too flexible, though 2" x 1" would probably work ok.
Metal tube would be a better choice.
The pivots must be free but without any freeplay.
Small balljoint couplings (like tie rod ends) would be the easy way though reaming holes to suit precision machined bolts would work.
If you intend using timber I think you would need to use metal bushes expoxied to the timber to achieve the necessary joint precision.

Thank you for your come-back and information, Masoth,Kwoodhands and Echnida.

Masoth, got a chuckle out of your reply, and seeing that you are 12 years my senior with a great sense of humour I can only wish that I'll be still able to joke then, (if I live that long, haha) Keep up your sunny disposition.

Kwoodhands, thanks for the info. I did built a pantograph a few years back, but it would be quite a task to adpt it to take a router.

Echnida, thanks also to you for taking the time to reply in such detail. It really is appreciated. I have practiced carving the letters by hand and cleaning them up with my Dremel tool, slow process but since I got more time than money I'll keep slugging on.

So, thanks again, it's so nice to know that there are still people in this world that take time to help someone.
Regards Breslauer