Help with an old Overarm Pin Router

Hi Blake,
Does it have a label saying it is an overarm pin router?

Are you sure this is an overarm router? It looks to me like an early stationary steel drill. The hydraulics would slowly lower the bit as it bored into the steel plate.

Take Care, John

-- Oldworld, Fair Oaks, Ca

Blake,

The piston is a dual action type. Applying pressure to one or the other inlets (on the side of the main piston) pushes the actuator rod either in or out. This will cause the dovetail router mount to raise or lower. The piston action is the same as the operation of bucket on a front loader. The controller will have to direct the hydraulic pressure into one inlet while releasing the pressure on the other.

You could probably find what you need at a farm implement company- and one of the techs there could probably rig up something for you.

Lew

Does it looks like a pin can be placed in the metal under the bit. I couldn’t find anything on Barnaby Company which looks to be the name on the label.

It would be interesting if you could get it going.

You could set up another hydraulic cylinder on a foot petal that when you applied toe pressure it would raise the bit and heal pressure lower the router. With two hydraulic lines to connect to the upper cylinder.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

Hey Blake

I googled around and I see a lot of these listed as inventory for Circuit board Manufacturers.

I found one for sale too

-- Scott - Chico California http://chicowoodnut.home.comcast.net

I think Scott nailed it. Probably used to route (trim, profile, etc) printed circuit boards

-- Joe

To say that Scott “nailed it” is an UNDERSTATEMENT!

...Because that is not the same model, it is the EXACT SAME TOOL!!!

I followed Scott’s link and that photo looked so familiar… a little too familiar. I kept studying it until I came to the conclusion that it is the exact same tool that is actually in our store.

Here are the clues: The most obvious is the “IN” “OUT” written in sharpie on the base, then there is the broken orange drill bit stuck in the chuck, the stains on the table (there are a few new ones in my photo), the chips in the paint (look at the left drawer) and so on.

Photo from “cerambus.com”

My photo

So I called that company and their number is disconnected. Then I noticed that their website says that they are “liquidating” all of their stores. And finally I noticed that they were located in San Jose (which is only about 45 minutes away from here)...

That is the same machine. It must have been sold in their “liquidation” sale, and then it ended up in our store. SMALL WORLD!!! Good detective work, Scott.

But I would still like to find a way to control the piston. Any suggestions?

-- Check out my new website! http://www.theeasellife.com

That’s pretty funny!

I have a question though. Are you sure it’s hydraulic and not Pneumatic? It seems like air would be a more likely system for a tool like this. It almost looks like those two valves have an electrical hookup. They might be solenoid controlled pneumatic valves. You can also find foot controlled pneumatic valves. The foot controll is likely missing.

Check out this video of a guy using a pin router to rout out a guitar body. The interesting thing about it is the way he has the tool set up with those spacers on top to drop the bit down on each successive pass. You can see it about 1/4 way through the video. It looks like he has his hooked up to a foot pedal with either a hydraulic or pneumatic control too.

I guess you could remove the ram and rig some sort of lever to the existing lever arm. You might even take a tip from the setup above and rig some spacer arrangement.

I think for most woodworkers template routing is something we do with a bearing and bit. That pin router is a dedicated template machine for a production shop.

Here is another video of a monster pin router and shaper. This one is inverted (or maybe the other one is inverted) Check out how much material he removes in a single pass.

-- Scott - Chico California http://chicowoodnut.home.comcast.net

Blake,

Scott has it nailed.

That is a double acting air cylinder on your machine. A local industrial supply house that caries pneumatic parts should be able to fix you up with the foot valve and hose fittings needed.

There does not appear to be a depth stop or a center pin set up. The machine would still be usable but limited. If its cheep it may be worth the effort.

Charles