I’m curious if any of you have tried adding a second small perpendicular router (pointing forward instead of down) for joints? With the material on a riser box, you could then cut dovetails and whatnot.
I’m aware of people building vertical tables for joints. But it seems like a big modification for something you may not use much. I wonder if a perpendicular router might be better if it was sturdy enough and easily removable.
Hmm, interesting… waiting what others say 
I may try it out after my Elite arrives. Harbor Freight has as cheap/small hand router that would be perfect for this. Ideally I’d make a mount for it that goes around the main spindle (replacing dust collection) so it’s easy to add/remove without affecting your primary setup.
It sounds like a cool tinkering experiment, but, while you’re at Harbor Freight, you could just pick up a dovetail bit. Save a whole lot of time and effort not to mention the travel you would lose due to whatever contraption you have to jangle up to hold the router. Not sure how any of this would be easier than just cutting a hole in the table. I’m not picking apart your creative thinking, just pointing out that it won’t be very useful when you’re done.
I think the toolpath would be tricky. I’m looking at this plan, that holds the wood vertically, https://www.etsy.com/listing/1172990836/vertical-mounting-table-fixture-for-cnc.
I’ve seen plenty of vertical mounting tables, but I’m not interested in doing that to my table. You lose table space for it, and lose under-table space for things like vac and storage. Plus getting/keeping them square is a pain.
I’ll have to think about the toolpaths, what are you thinking might be hard about it? It seems like it would just be a vertical square wave instead of a horizontal square wave - simple enough that it could be done just by jogging or MDI, no?
Since I have the QCW frame, I would swap the vertical piece in when I need it. It wouldn’t make sense for a solid table. My concerns about toolpaths are due to my limited skill and experience with Vectric - I only understand X-Y designs. I have no clue how to turn them 90 degrees. You (as well as most people on this forum) have much more skill with making those types of cuts. Good luck. I look forward to learning how it works.
I just had hernia surgery, and a machine punched three holes in my side and patched things up. So, at this moment, the thought of a horizontal router coming at me is terrifying!
That being said, if you are a great machinist, maybe you can create something held securely in place. For a hobby machine I’m guessing the deflection might be too great to get good results. Depending on the type of joint, imagine the uplift pressure being put on the Z carriage. You would likely need a stiffy to match the erect router….and a Z20. And, will it rip off tracks and clamps from the table? Possible things to consider.
I’m a huge fan of a vertical table hold option. They don’t have to be complicated, and in my case and with some others, table space is not given up. Obviously, depends on the type of table people have (metal, wood frame, etc.)
If box joints are an occasional thing, I would simply recommend turning to other tools in the shop such as the table saw and a simple jig.
I’m going to attach a Knapp Joint (birds-eye) corner joint I spent hours drafting on VCarve Pro Ver 12. I’m trying to visualize how I would convert it to all horizontal cuts, but, I’m on too many meds right now. But you are welcome to play with it. Those with vertical table holds may find it interesting. I did post it on the Vectric site.
In conclusion, I think devising a horizontal router option would likely prove frustrating. There are other workarounds to consider. Good Luck, thanks for posting.
Knapp Box Joint.zip (707.9 KB)
Check out Fusion 360, it’s free for personal use and tons of good videos on YouTube to show you how to make 3d tool paths. I don’t consider myself an expert with it, but I was able to learn enough to be proficient pretty quickly.
Those Knapp joints are sick! Nice work. That’s exactly the sort of thing a vertical table/hold down is great for.
Now imagine that you want to do those into-the-endgrain cuts without the vertical table/hold down. If you had a 5 axis machine you’d just keep the wood horizontal raise above the table and rotate the spindle 90deg. On a 3 axis machine you can do the same by mounting a router/spindle parallel to the table.
I think the open questions are:
Seems reasonable to be skeptical, but I think it would be fun to try it, even if it doesn’t work out.
I think you are looking at a number of problems here. One is the rigidity of the second spindle. It would need to be attached pretty far out from the Z mount to clear, meaning a lot of leverage for vibration. And two, you would need to work out a hold down system that would raise your workpiece at least enough to clear that same spindle, once again adding in still more vibration. Vertical holding would work much better and engineered properly, you could even do joints at other angles than just 90°. If you are worried about losing working space to a vertical hold down system, you could do what myself and many others on this site have done and make a removable waste board panel. Another option would be to perfect( admittedly I’ve yet to see anyone do it ) mounting the two Y rails on sliders that could be moved out over your CNC cabinet.
here is a link to ,y table design for vertical holding. It may help you decide what you really want to do.My table with vertical holding
