Shiming a router to the Mast R Lift ii

[Kent Adams]

I have a new Jessem Mast R Lift ii and I'm trying to position my 7518 router 1/16" from the face plate as the instructions for the lift recommend. I don't have any shims for this. The motor is rather heavy and I don't think I can manually lift it and keep it exactly 1/16" off the face plate while I have someone tighten the clamps on the lift. Does anyone have a suggestion on where to buy tiny shims or how I can make my own that thin? I took a look at my feeler gauges and none are that thick.

[Ted Reischl]

Hobby stores and some hardware stores carry thin brass stock in various thicknesses/widths/lengths. That is your best bet.

If the brass is drawn and not dead flat just give it a quick sanding.

[Kent Adams]

Thanks Ted. What I've thought also doing is taking out my dial calipers and measuring small post-it notes to 1/16th thickness, factoring in an extra amount for compression.

[Chris Merriam]

I just eye-balled the distance on mine, seems to work just fine for me. But take that with a grain of salt, I'm a router lift newbie so don't know any better.

[Kent Adams]

Chris, the manual says to add that 1/16, regardless of router. However, it doesn't give an explanation as to why it needs to be added. It might have something to do with vibration.

[Chris Merriam]

I assumed so the router would stay off those rubber bushings and not compress them. I do have a pack of plastic shims in various thicknesses, and I have 1/16. But I can't remember where I bought them. Must have been Woodcraft. They are about 1.5in square, and hollow with a little grid system inside them.

[David L Morse]

A penny is within .003" of 1/16".

[Kent Adams]

A penny is within .003" of 1/16".

David, that's brilliant. I just measured. The penny I have measured .0585. I measured 17 post-it notes and they came to exactly 1/16 so I think I'll use 18 to compensate for the compression.

[Chris Merriam]

FYI, I did find the name of those plastic shims I have, but still don't remember where I bought them. Looks like you can order direct from their website:

Handi-shim.com

Ironically enough, I have found them to be quite handy to have around.

[Wes Grass]

Probably so it bottoms (tops?) out on the o-rings on the shafts instead of the router hitting the top plate. Possible you could break the insert out if you jammed the router into it.

Eyeball it, or just don't crank the router up too high, and get on with life.

Don't recall either of the 2 I have coming with any instructions at all. Wouldn't have bothered reading them anyway. And one of them galled the height adjustment screw and froze up, so one of these days maybe it will be rebuilt with a proper ACME screw, and NOT in a stupid pitch (16 TPI) that can't be divided evenly into anything other than even smaller fractions of an inch. Decimals man, decimals.