Do I really need a "router lift"

[travis howe]

So, as some of you had seen, I'm planning to replace my cheap Ryobi router table with a table saw extension w/ router table in my 64a.

Not familiar with this set up, it seemed like a lift wasn't an option but what I'm seeing is that the only real use of these contraptions are to adjust the router depth and change bits all from the top?

I can see how this would be handy to some extent, just not sure that's worth the price right now.

Have a PC 7518 that I'll use and plan to get something like the mls or benchdog cast iron tops, any other suggestions?

Travis

[Myk Rian]

Spend the money on something else. Lifts are just an expensive toy.
If the router is mounted in an insert, all you have to do is lift it out of the table to change bits.

[Dewey Torres]

Travis,
For me... once I went with the lift I am never going back. In your case and for money sake, just try it without the lift for now and later on when you can afford it and better know what features you like/ dislike, you can revisit the idea of a lift.

A good lift is about $300 so keep in mind you will have your shop set up for a VERY long time before you are done buying toys. Most of us die first.

[travis howe]

Pretty much what I was thinking too! Thanks.

rt

[Rob Diz]

I have been wondering the same thing lately. But isn't there a chance that the phonolic inserts will flex under the weight of the router? I was thinking about getting an aluminum plate, but then the slippery slope begins. . .

[travis howe]

I'm hoping if one goes with a reputable vendor this shouldn't be an issue.

I plan to pick up the benchdog setup w/ the heavy duty 1/4" alum plate and put the pc 7815 in there...so I'll know soon enough.

[Rob Diz]

I have the Benchdog ProMax and have their regular phenolic insert. It doesn't have the holes to do the above the table adjustments for the PC 890, and I will likely be drilling those holes. I worry about the sag, and also wonder when i will need a small or larger hole. No adaptor rings can be used with what I currently have. That's what got me thinking about an aluminum insert. I guess I could also remove the motor from the mount when I am not using it to keep the stress down on the insert, but that doesn't sound like fun.

[Chris Padilla]

I think the nice Al plates at Woodpeckers are 3/8" thick. Definately stout stuff....

[tody Brock]

I have a Router Razor and I love it. Its not as fancy as some of the expensive ones, but for $89 it makes life so much easier, especially when you have to fine tune bit heights. Heres a link to it.

http://www.amazon.com/Router-Raizer-RZ100-Precise-Adjustment/dp/B00005JRJR

[Bill Huber]

I lucked into a left at a real good price, I really didn't know how great they were until after I had it for awhile and then went to a friends shop to help them on a project, I will never be without one.

I had a little table with out a lift and used it for awhile it is a real PITA to adjust the depth of the cut with any accuracy at all, in my opinion.

Once I got the lift I can now set up a cut in nothing flat, with little trouble and very accurate.

So if money is a problem I would go without it and start a penny jar just for a lift.

[Steve Clardy]

Never seen a need for a lift.

Most of my tables are set up for dedicated tasks, so I don't change from one bit to another very often.

[John Schreiber]

I haven't got one, but I'd like one. There's a special kind of back pain which goes with making adjustments to upside down routers. I'd love to be able to avoid that.

[Ron Bontz]

I don't mind jumping in on this one. I did not have the money for a lift for years and made due with a 3/8th" thick polycarbonate for my 690. I killed a couple of those BTW. But the day I slapped a Woodpecker and a 7518 in I thought I was in heaven. I also built a dead flat top with dust collection for it. I would not be without one now. That said it's no shaper and things like a nice cabinet saw, etc would be my priority. You may consider a nice top with dust collection. Good luck.:)

[Frank Guerin]

I found an aluminum plate some where and cut and drilled it for my router table and bought the inexspensive router raiser. It works for me but there are more precision and better lifts out there. I just cut wood.

[Tim Malyszko]

At first, I had a DW-618 router installed in an aluminum plate in my router table. It was adequate but a real PITA to make micro adjustments to the bit height. I burned up that router about 15 months ago - fortunately it was still under warranty. I then got my bonus and decided to 'upgrade' to a PC 7518 and a Mast-r-lift router lift. At the time, I got a great deal on it - Rockler had the PC 7518 on sale, which also included a $50 gift card and I had a 30% off any power tool accessory coupon, and a router lift was considered an accessory.

Now that I've been using a lift for 15 months, I could never go back. it is now so easy to move the bit up or down 1/32" after making a test cut and not being just right. The scale on the left is dead on accurate, which makes it especially happy. Since moving to the lift, I try and use my router table for all routing. I think the only time I've pulled out my hand held router in the last few months was to route some dovetails using my akeda Jig.

Good luck with the decision.

[Sonny Edmonds]

I waited for about 4 months for Bench Dog to finally get into production, then missed the first batch by a gnat's eyebrow. :(
But I sure didn't miss the second run! Have never looked back. Love that lift and it's every thing I had expected and much more! They have a pride in their machinist and the quality of the product you are hard pressed to find elsewhere.
Mine has a nickel finished top plate and weighs something around 33 pounds with the 7518 motor in it. This isn't an aluminum slam bam thank you Mame lift. Bench Dog is a serious lift for serious shops. (ProLift # 40-150)
I beefed up the area in my side table to 1 1/2", and boxed it in for dust collection below, with a fence pick up as well. It's about the best dust collection in the shop.

If I were doing the same thing today, I would get the Bench Dog wing (ProMax # 40-031) for the saw, and probably do the rest the same way.
The accuracy and ease of adjustment as well as quick above the table bit changes and setting it up for the next passes makes my multi patterned custom molding runs a breeze.

I made my own fence that has the same 8 TPI Acme threads on its carriage to make the lateral adjustments as easy as the Pro lift's adjustments.

The only way you can go wrong with a router lift is to buy somebody else's. But hey, PT Barnum said it best. :D

[Mike Henderson]

I have a PC 890 series and use it with the fixed base in my router table. Although I can do adjustments from the top of the table, I just reach under and make the adjustments - it's easier.

I've used router lifts at school and never felt that they were so great that I needed to spend the money for one. Also, I never felt that I was limited in any way with the router set-up I have now.

Mike