A wood CNC Router is similar to a metal CNC mill with the following differences: Cutters for a milling machine. ...

• The wood router typically spins faster — up to 24,000 RPM
• It typically uses smaller tools — typical shank size 20 mm or at most 25 mm.
• It typically uses smaller toolholders MK2 (Morse taper #2 - on older machines),ISO-30, HSK-63 or the tools just get held in a collet tool holder affixed directly to the spindle nose. ISO-30 and HSK-63 are rapid-change toolholding systems. HSK-63 has begun to supplant the ISO-30 as the rapid change standard in recent years

Some wood routers have multiple separate heads that can come down simultaneously or not. This design is generally not as easy as a toolchanger with ISO-30 or HSK-63, though it is easier to maintain. A D-handle fixed-base router A router is a woodworking tool used to rout out (hollow out) an area in the face of a piece of wood. ... In physics, spin refers to the angular momentum intrinsic to a body, as opposed to orbital angular momentum, which is the motion of its center of mass about an external point. ... Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, r/min, or min-1) is a unit of frequency, commonly used to measure rotational speed, in particular in the case of rotation around a fixed axis. ...

The wood router typically has 6"-10" air ducts to suck up the wood chips/dust created. They can be piped to a stand-alone or full shop system.

Some wood routers are specialized for cabinetry and have many drills that can be programmed to come down separately or together. The drills are generally spaced 32 mm apart on centres - a spacing system called 32mm System. Drilling can be vertical or horizontal (in the Y or X axis from either side/end of the workpiece) which allows a panel to be drilled on all four edges as well as the top surface. Many of these machines with large drilling arrays are derived from CNC point-to-point borers Cabinet making is the practice of utilizing many woodworking skills to create cabinets, shelving and furniture. ...

The wood router typically holds wood with suction through the table or pods that raise the work above the table. This type of hold-down is used for components which require edge profiling (or undercutting), are manufactured from solid wood or where greater flexibility in production is required. This type of bed requires less extraction with greater absolute vacuum.

A second type hold down requires a "spoil board" or "cull sheets" to the work. Such machines are frequently used for nest-based manufacture (NBM) where multiple components are routed from a single sheet, however this type of manufacturing precludes edge drilling or undercut edge work on components. Vacuum pumps utilised with spoilboards generate relatively low vacuum at extremely high volumes of air.

Finally, wood routers are generally much bigger than their metal shop counterparts. 5' x 5', 4' x 8', and 5' x 10' are typical bed sizes for wood routers.

A wood router is controlled in the same way as a metal mill, but there is a lot of CAM software specifically for wood routers. Wood with different grain must be approached with unique strategies, and wood CAM software is less likely to need to have hog-out strategies than the metal ones. Wood routers are frequently used to machine other soft materials such as plastics at high speed. Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) refers to the software used to generate the instruction codes for a CNC machine in order for it to cut out a shape designed in a computer-aided design (CAD) system. ... Wood grain describes the alignment, texture and appearance of the wood fibres. ...

Many wood routers can run at machining speeds of 25 metres/min (linear) or faster with a few machines such as the Anderson capable of 40 metres/min (2006).

External links

• Selfmade CNC Engraving machines: http://engraving.majosoft.com
• Example of CNC manufacturer: http://www.LaserSpec.net

It is also possible to mill industrial felt.