"Rockler" Mast-R-Lift Router Table & Fence

[Phil Winn]

I am looking to purchase a router table...I would like to purchase a "very nice table" which will last, work well, and let me grow...
1. What do you think of the Rockler Mast-R-Lift & Table & Fence ?
2. Any other suggestions?
TIA,
Phil

[Jim Becker]

The Mast-R-Lift is a really well-designed system...no question it's top-notch.

But I'm going to have to give my standard reply to this question: if you have the time, build your own router table so it can be the size you want and have the features you need. None of the commercial tables would make me happy...they are too small as I prefer something at least 36" wide and 24" deep, for example. This is one of the best woodworking projects for the shop you can execute, too...go ahead and buy a lift system and a great router and then put them together with a top, fence and cabinet of your own design or patterned after someone elses. (Many folks us the NYW router table as a starting point)

[Matt Meiser]

I agree with Jim that a bigger table is nicer. However, if you want to buy rather than build, the Rockler top is pretty nice. I bought one with plans to build a cabinet underneath. I built a temporary base from construction lumber in the mean time. That was 4 years ago. Maybe I'll get the cabinet done this winter. I do not have the master lift, just a standard plate for my Dewalt plunge router.

[Jim Becker]

Matt, the Rockler top, while nice, doesn't compare to the JessEm product. The Mast-R-Lift table includes the router lift mechanism integral to the table top, itself...no mounting plates, etc. It's a pretty sophisticated system and more "shaper" like in some sense. Expensive, however...and for me, too small! :D

Edit...

And I just looked at Rockler and find they sell two versions of the "Mast-R-Lift" family...the one I was refering to which is the "Excel" table and the one with a Rockler table surface and the "regular" Mast-R-Lift setup...just to add to the "Rockler" connection confusion!

[Matt Meiser]

Oh, my mistake, I was thinking of the lift system they sell that has a plate that drops into the table.

[Jim Becker]

I was thinking of the lift system they sell that has a plate that drops into the table.
Yea, it's confusing because they refer to both the lift and the table/lift combo with the same naming convention! Marketing at its finest...

[Chris Padilla]

Phil,

Be sure to check out www.woodpeck.com (http://www.woodpeck.com) for some great Incra and Woodpecker's stuff that competes with the Rockler stuff.

[Keith Christopher]

And not to forget the folks over at jointech, I have their clincher system and I love it. they have complete saw systems as well as router only. mela tops and phenol tops. . . very nice.