New Incra router lift, no router. What to do?

[roger wiegand]

My old homebrew saw/ router table was falling apart and I was tired of crawling on the floor to make awkward adjustments to the plunge router attached to it, so I decided it was time for a big upgrade. After a lot of research I opted for the Incra Mast-r-lift II with the intention of installing a Milwaukee 5625 router in it. No problem, right, especially since Incra presented the opportunity of buying them as a bundle on their web site. Well, they are backordered everywhere. Grizzly listed them as in stock, I phoned to confirm and was assured they were ready to ship, placed the order and found out a week later they were on back order. Grrr. Then their alternative facts department told be it would ship by today. Today it's back-ordered until May.

There's a silver lining-- in the fine print on the Incra web site it says that the Milwaukee router won't work with the metric version of their lift, which is what I installed. Whaaat? The only thing that needs to be different between an Imperial and metric version of the lift is the engraving on the top that tells you how far the router has moved. How can they be incompatible?

Ok, so alternatives. The obvious one, the classic PC Speedmatic has been discontinued and is only available on the black market for absurd amounts of money. The Bora Portamate has terrible reviews overall with a full third of reviewers complaining of vibration and runout. The JessEm Powertek motor also has decidedly mixed reviews (and seems to be out of stock everywhere) The AUKTools Mk II looks pretty promising (especially since it can be ordered with a remote speed controller), but has to be ordered from the UK and I've never heard of it nor know of no one who has. The rest of their list of compatible routers are either much smaller 2 hp models or are brands that disappeared some time in the last decade.

So this is a bit of a rant, sorry. I no longer have a functional router table, having replaced my table and installed the lift. I need to do something. Is the 3+ HP fixed base router a thing of the past? I run some pretty big bits in the table and think the added power is useful, the Bosch plunge router I've been using is a 3.5 HP, but of course won't fit the lift. Any other alternatives?

It's frustrating when something you hadn't anticipated to be hard turns out to be.

[Alan Lightstone]

All I have to say is Wow, and sorry to hear that.

For me a want, not a need was to upgrade my Festool TS55 to a TS75. Nowhere to be found, and Festools official date to get one is August. Now I'm lucky, I don't need this, but still.

Any better luck finding used for now? Can probably sell it for an inflated price once something new comes available. Or just keep it.

[Jim Becker]

I think MCLS has a bare router motor similar to the PortaMate available. Honestly, I think you're going to just use a dart board to choose and buy at this point.

And I cannot for the life of me understand why the Milwaukee motor will not work for the metric version of the lift you bought. Can you get clarification from Incra what the actual issue is?

[roger wiegand]

Yes, I'm going to call them on Monday. Their customer service folks have been great so far. The web site says "Stay tuned" after the warning that it doesn't fit, so they apparently have something in the works.

I would have thought with all the CNC machines out there that suitable router motors of this size and type would now be commonplace.

[Cliff Polubinsky]

Roger,

I'm kind of in the same situation. Just upgraded my router table, table top and lift. I'm looking to put the Milwaukee in it, but as you note there aren't any anywhere. For the time being I'm using a Dewalt 618 in the table until the Milwaukee is available. It's 2 1/4 hp but my old table used a 2 1/4 PC and I never had a problem with it. It handled panel raising bits on down. If you can find one of those (which might be just as difficult) it would let you bridge until the Milwaukee is in stock and then use the Dewalt for hand held.

Cliff

[Wes Grass]

I was looking at that a couple weeks ago. The compatibility list shows all the same routers for both, other than the 5625. Made no sense to me at all. I kind of assumed it was a typo that hadn't been caught and fixed.

I also found only 1 dealer that had stock on it. And now none, as you've found. Bummer.

[Michael Drew]

Milwaukee must be having supply chain issues. I have tried to find a couple different Milwaukee tools and they were back ordered. Yah, I know - my name is Captain Obvious.

[roger wiegand]

Heading towards a happy ending on this. Called Incra customer service and they had several suggestions. At the end the one that made the most sense was to return the metric table and replace it with an imperial one. Turns out the incompatibility is introduced because the metric one has holes drilled and tapped for some European routers and those holes overlapped with the ones needed for the Milwaukee. At the time they designed it their default "big" router was the PC, and there was no issue. So a redesign is in process that will accommodate the Milwaukee, but not immediately. Incra just receives a shipment of several hundred routers, so at the moment they are in stock there.

Turns out the graduation on the dial for the Imperial version is in 0.05 mm increments, so I can basically have my cake and eat it too.

[Keegan Shields]

For anyone looking for a 3 HP router motor, I had a back order for the PC version at Summit Racing that was going to get filled. You might try there.

I ended up cancelling it when the Bora motor shipped since I'm cheap. The Bora motor has been great so far no matter how much I try to bog it down ;)

[Christopher Charles]

Hi all,

I'm on the cusp of ordering a mastr lift 2 as well and am stuck on the issue as Roger--wanting a good motor but also wanting metric and the Milwaukee is the only one with a decent reputation at this stage. Roger, how did it work out with the english version?

To anyone one else, there are now two versions of the Bora motor-any experience with either, especially the new one?

Based on reviews, seems like a crap shot with all the routers these days (including the Milwaukee)-either you get a good unit. Or you don't...


Thanks
Chris

[roger wiegand]

I've been thrilled with this combination (Incra plus Milwaukee router) I also sprang for their chip collection hood that mounts under the table and it too has been a pleasure. I've got effective dust collection at the router table for the first time ever and I'm loving it. You need the throat guards with the holes in them for it to work. I know I could have built something but this is slick with almost no effort.

Aside from the hole spacing for european routers the only difference between them is them is the calibration and label on the crank. On one one turn gives you a millimeter, on the other you get a 64th, or something like that. A difference that matters not at all to me, as I use a digtal height gauge (set in mm) to set the bit height in any event.

Basically couldn't be happier; using the router table a lot more than I used to.

[Frank Pratt]

Glad things worked out for you. I've had that big Milwaukee for a few years and am very happy with it. It's a pleasure to use as a hand held as well.

[Michael Drew]

Curious if anyone other than myself are noticing dust accumulation on the height adjustment screw that makes it difficult to raise? I keep a wire brush handy to clean the threads, but it just seems to catch dust way to easy. I've been thinking about what I can do to reduce this. Any thoughts?

Other than the above, the Incra lift has been working out very well for me. I have the large PC motor.

[Robert LaPlaca]

Curious if anyone other than myself are noticing dust accumulation on the height adjustment screw that makes it difficult to raise? .

Michael, I have exactly the same problem as you describe, where fine dust accumulates on the adjustment screw. My only solution to date was to remove the lift from the table and use a brass brush to remove the fine dust from the screw.

[roger wiegand]

Haven't noticed that problem, perhaps a side benefit of aggressive dust/chip collection from under the table?

[Christopher Charles]

Roger, thanks for the quick feedback. Though my bank account does not thank you. Lift on order. I did get the english version, but did not get a motor yet. I have a PC 890 that will fit and get me going just fine as I don't anticipate a need to swing a big bit in the immediate future. Any maybe I'll find a unicorn in the mean time (i.e., a good deal on a used 3 HP router).

Best,
Chris

[Michael Drew]

Michael, I have exactly the same problem as you describe, where fine dust accumulates on the adjustment screw. My only solution to date was to remove the lift from the table and use a brass brush to remove the fine dust from the screw.

Glad to hear I'm not alone..... The threaded adj rod needs a collapsable boot, similar to what you might find on an off road vehicle shock absorber. This has not irritated me enough to figure out a solution, yet. But I will eventually, unless I stumble onto someone else's solution first..... (I'm OK with stealing someone else's good ideas)

[Wes Grass]

I had one of mine bind up and destroy the shaft. Chewed up the nut to where running a tap through it wouldn't fix it. Had to drill the ID out a bit to clean up the material that had been extruded in. Replaced it with a piece of SS threaded rod.

Dust problems like this might be curable by slotting one or the other piece, so it's got somewhere to go after being scraped off. Kinda like chip clearance in a tap or die.

[Robert LaPlaca]

Michael, what’s interesting is the router table is the very first dust collection drop from my Oneida 5 hp cyclone, you would think that combined with the Woodpeckers dust collection enclosure would keep issues at bay.

The issue is super bad whenever I use genuine Mahogany, the Mahogany dust is super fine like confectioners sugar, it sticks to everything. As much as I love the lift, the jammed up adjustment screw is a royal pain in the azz..

[Chris Parks]

I gave up on a dedicated lift & router, too many issues and too expensive. Using a CNC water cooled 2.2 kw spindle and a VFD solves all the issues.

[Christopher Charles]

Chris,

Interested to hear more about the spindle motor and VFD- how do you have it mounted? I've only just heard of these as an option.

Best,
Chris

[Chris Parks]

Chris,

Interested to hear more about the spindle motor and VFD- how do you have it mounted? I've only just heard of these as an option.

Best,
Chris

I am a very infrequent contributor at SMC and I am not allowed to post links to other forums so I suggest you go to the Oz WW forum and have a look at the router sub forum. It has been a subject of discussion recently and there are a couple of threads on it. If you search for "a router table using a linear lift" in google the second hit will lead to the table I built some years ago and there are a few more recent threads on the table as well in the sub forum. Because the router is not mounted to the top the top can be very light and made removeable and the advantage to that is custom tops can be made and quickly fitted. I am just about finished a fully electronic version controlled from a touch screen but the manual version is what most will be interested in. If you do a google search for "just another router table" you will find a thread on a table that was fully converted to touch screen control but used a router in that prototype build. You need to read the whole thread as it is effectively in two parts. The biggest advantage for the water cooled spindle in the nearly total lack of motor noise to the extent that with a moderate amount of background noise it can't be heard.

The advantages are as follows

Lightweight removeable top

Custom tops can be made

Far more robust

The spindle has less run out than a router

The spindle comes with a selection of ER collets which can hold a range of tools such as sanding spindles etc.

The spindle is way more robust than any router

The spindle rotation can be reversed on the VFD

Water cooling

Cost to benefit ratio is far greater than a router + lift

Dust extraction can be optimised and made more effective

Dust is not a problem for the motor