Lucas Contreras's router pantograph

Lucas Contera, from Andalucia in Spain, sent me some pictures and video of his router pantograph machine.

Lucas doesn't speak English, and I don't know Spanish, so I had to use the Google Translate to communicate. Google's translator works surprisingly well, and can translate whole webpages. For example, here's this page in Spanish or a language of your choice by google translator.

Lucas says he was inspired by my Pantorouter. He liked the idea of templates that are twice the actual size. The idea for the table came from the Leigh FMT jig.

I really like the simplicity of this machine. Much simpler than my Pantorouter. why didn't I think of that? But there's a lot more that the Pantorouter can do.

Lucas built his own plunge base for the router.

The problem with normal plunge bases is that two hands are needed to operate them. Also, the old base didn't allow for a deep enough plunge through the work table.

The hardest part was ensuring that the router was always perpendicular to the work table. This was solved by making the router mount slide on two 60mm long bronze bushings.

Like the Pantorouter, it relies on a follower bearing twice the size of the router bit. With a 2:1 reducing pantograph, the template shape is reproduced at half scale.