Christmas Present

[Gordon Bellerose]

This is what my wife gave me for Christmas. It is a router lift for my router table.
Very nice indeed!
I have it installed into the table already, and will take a pic shortly.

http://www.jessem.com/MAST-R-LIFT_II.html

[Bob Francis]

You lucky dog!

[Gordon Bellerose]

You lucky dog!

Definitely!
I'm lucky that my wife supports me in my madness.

[David Falkner]

I am looking at the same one to put in my table saw extension (that I've yet to build...). Please follow up with how you like it - looks like a really nice one. Congrats on the score and a supporting wife. I have one equally supporting and it's awesome!

[Gordon Bellerose]

I am looking at the same one to put in my table saw extension (that I've yet to build...). Please follow up with how you like it - looks like a really nice one.

I used it for the first timed yesterday, and so far I'm really impressed.
As the ads say, you do not need a set of bent wrenches to change bits; the chuck comes up high enough that you can easily reach both nuts.

I was a bit skeptical about the statements made in the youtube video I watched.
They said that height adjustments could be easily made with "One Finger" after installing your router. I have a Porter Cable 7518; a 3 1/4 horse monster. It's fairly heavy too.
One finger adjusts the height with very little effort, and extremely fine adjustments can be made easily, as the height changes 1/64 for each 1/4 turn.

One other feature that I like, is that you do not need to buy another set of clamping fixtures to fit different routers.
I checked on a few different manufacturers, and most of them required an additional set of fixtures to fit different routers.
The clamping mechanism on this machine is adjustable through a variety of holes in the clamp, and in the frame. It would probably fit 8 or 10 different routers.

The lift looks like it is built with lasting a long time, in mind. Quality machined parts, ball bearing mechanisms, and simplicity are the words I would use.

Price in Canadian Dollars.
I checked on the price of a Bench Dog lift that would fit my router, and it was 429.
The Rockwell was 389 and needed a different set of fixtures at an additional 50.
This one was 299 complete.

If there is one CON, it would be that it only comes with one 2 inch ring for the opening. This is a fairly large hole if you are working with smaller pieces and smaller bits.
I was fortunate that I had an old Jessem mounting plate in my router table already. I had previously purchased a set of rings, and was even more fortunate that they fit the new plate.

[Gordon Bellerose]

Here is a shot of the top of the router lift, in the table.



And here, it is inside the cabinet in the lift.



This is the table itself, if you are thinking of building one. It's on wheels, like all my tools.
The bottom cabinet is storage. The left "door" is actually a drawer front, and the right simply closes the cabinet, so the dust collector can be hooked up to the rear. There is a drawer inside the door also.
I have pics of everything if anyone is interested.

[David King]

I have a couple of questions as well. I'm looking for rigidity, none of the plunge routers I've tried lock both legs so the cutter can deflect enough to tear out big chunks when you are trimming the edge of a solid body with 2" of cutter exposed. My other question is if it can hold an 80mm dia router body as this is the standard diameter for the frequency drive spindles that are replacing router motors in CNC applications.

[David Falkner]

Well, Gordon, that's everything I heard and expected it to be. Thanks for the update and report. I have to build an extension table onto my table saw and will place the unit there when the time comes. I have the Bosch 1617 2.25 HP - I suppose it will fit in this lift but I haven't checked yet.
David

[Gordon Bellerose]

David King,

In answer to your question about rigidity, this machine is very solid. I can't imagine it flexing unless you put an extraordinary amount of pressure on it.
The other question about 80 mm diameter machines, I can't answer directly.
I can say that the clamping system is very versatile, fitting a wide range of routers, which I will list below.
The Porter Cable is over 4 inches in Diameter. Some of the others listed are considerably smaller.

David Faulkner,

The Bosch 1617 / 18 is on the list of routers that will fit.

Besides my Porter Cable 7518, and the above Bosch routers, here are the others:
Porter Cable 690 /890
Dewalt 610 / 618
Craftsman 17543 / 17540 / 28190
Makita 1101
Hitachi M12VC / KM12VC
Milwaukee 5626 / 5615 / 5616 / 5619
Rigid R29302