question about older JessEm lifts

[mark kosse]

Howdy all,

I have a chance to pick up a Canadian made Master lift with a PC 7518 fairly reasonably. I've never had a decent lift but I notice the newer lift has a lock on the raising mechanism. Was there a problem with the older ones straying from a setting due to vibration without the lock?

Thanks

[mark kosse]

I thought this would be an easy one. No comments?

[Phil Thien]

I don't have that version, but I have the one they made for Rockler (sold under Rockler name) and there is no lock, and I've never had it budge on me.

Although, the lift mechanism could be different on some of them, I imagine.

[William C Rogers]

Same as Phil, Rockler never did move on me.

[glenn bradley]

The need for the lock can depend on your tolerances, how long you run a certain setup and so forth. If you make a single cut or four or five cuts with a given setting, drift is probably not a problem. If you want to come back after a dozen cuts and make a dozen more and have them air tight, a lock may be a good thing to have. Experiences will differ with what we do and how (or how much) we do it. One thing is for sure, they didn't add the lock for looks ;-) Whether it is critical for you or not, the rest of us can't say. Certainly Phil and William's experiences would boost my confidence in doing without since I don't do a kitchen full of profiles at a time.

[McKay Sleight]

I purchased one when they first showed them at AWFS in California an age ago. I made a large number of shutter slats 3-4 hundred and the mount did not change a thing. So, no problem

[Ellen Benkin]

Same as Phil. I've been very happy with the Rockler version for many years.

[Jim Neeley]

I purchased the Incra version (original Mast-R-Lift but with plate cut to accept their MAGNAlock inserts) 4 or 5 years ago, have done some batch work, and haven't seen any problems.

Jim

[mark kosse]

Thanks for the replies folks.

This confirms what I assumed. The addition of the lock was a good change but perhaps not a necessity driven change. Perhaps the lock was in the original design but was a luxury until production went to china and manufacturing costs went down.

I think Ill pick it up.

[Bob Turkovich]

I've had the problem with the Rockler lift.

If my last adjustment was to raise the bit, no problem. However, if my last adjustment was to lower the bit by more than roughly half a turn, the bit would then drop out-of-position with any loading, bump, etc. A lock would help prevent that.

This issue could be adjusted out by tightening the preload on the lift mechanism but, in my case, that made the raising/lowering effort too high.

As long as I remember to overshoot the height setting by going too low first and then raising the bit to the final position it's ok.

[Peter Quinn]

I have one in the out feed of a PM66, the one that comes with the PM logo on it, pretty sure its a master lift with gold paint. No lock, never moves, I've done hundreds of feet of moldings, dovetails, etc. Stays put. I think the lock is one of those "innovations" that solves a problem they weren't having, but gives talking points at wood working shows and in advertisements. Nothing wrong with the lock, but its a little like putting air bags in your trunk.