Dan Forman
12-29-2005, 7:23 AM
Over a month ago, I purchased a Mast-R-Lift Excell router table top with lift. I got it from an online source, as no one carried it locally. Upon arrival, I noticed that the table was not flat, but cupped significantly across it's width (front to back). I called the retailer, and he was very supportive, stated that it must be defective, as they are generally quite flat. He offered to either take it back, or contact JessEm to have them do an exchange. Complicating matters, was the fact that I pretty much destroyed the original packing in the process of extracting the table. I opted to have JessEm send me another table, so that I could use the new box to return the old table.
Well, the new one came today, and there is a similar cup in the top.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=28435&stc=1&d=1135856479
In the picture, the cup runs parallel to the red aluminum extrusion, all along the the lenght of the table. At it's lowest point (directly in front of the extrusion), I can easily push a .01
feeler gage under the blue level, the closest I have to a reference edge. The area between the two wood blocks will accomodate a .08 feeler, and a .05 will travel over most of the table.
When the table was turned 90 degrees relative to the supports, the deepest part of the cup measured .024, so there is clearly some flex in the table.
Customer service at Jessem had told me that the cup should go away if mounted on their aluminum stand, that it would pull the top straight again. I would rather make my own base and cabinet, but there are some design constraints due to the way things are arranged under the table, in particular the placement of the zero out feature, which uses more space than one would assume by looking at the top.
Given this background, my question is this. Am I being unreasonable to expect a flatter table than this? More importantly, will those numbers present any real problems in results?
The main attractions for me are:
1) Dust extraction built into the table-there is actually a void in the table top itself for dust extraction.
2) The only way to get a zero out feature with Mast-R-Lift.
3) Theoretically, a dead flat top
4) Mast-R-Lift is one of the few premium lifts which will accept the large Milwaukee router and allow above the table bit changes. I have since learned that above the table changes can be made with modified wrenches.
At this point I'm not worried about being able to work this out with the retailer, just trying to figure out which way I should proceed, send them both back and go another direction, or make do with the new one the way it is. I have no experience with router tables, so I am really in the dark with this. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Dan
Well, the new one came today, and there is a similar cup in the top.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=28435&stc=1&d=1135856479
In the picture, the cup runs parallel to the red aluminum extrusion, all along the the lenght of the table. At it's lowest point (directly in front of the extrusion), I can easily push a .01
feeler gage under the blue level, the closest I have to a reference edge. The area between the two wood blocks will accomodate a .08 feeler, and a .05 will travel over most of the table.
When the table was turned 90 degrees relative to the supports, the deepest part of the cup measured .024, so there is clearly some flex in the table.
Customer service at Jessem had told me that the cup should go away if mounted on their aluminum stand, that it would pull the top straight again. I would rather make my own base and cabinet, but there are some design constraints due to the way things are arranged under the table, in particular the placement of the zero out feature, which uses more space than one would assume by looking at the top.
Given this background, my question is this. Am I being unreasonable to expect a flatter table than this? More importantly, will those numbers present any real problems in results?
The main attractions for me are:
1) Dust extraction built into the table-there is actually a void in the table top itself for dust extraction.
2) The only way to get a zero out feature with Mast-R-Lift.
3) Theoretically, a dead flat top
4) Mast-R-Lift is one of the few premium lifts which will accept the large Milwaukee router and allow above the table bit changes. I have since learned that above the table changes can be made with modified wrenches.
At this point I'm not worried about being able to work this out with the retailer, just trying to figure out which way I should proceed, send them both back and go another direction, or make do with the new one the way it is. I have no experience with router tables, so I am really in the dark with this. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Dan