powermatic

[Ed Costello]

Hello all,

Does anyone have the Jessem router lift sold by Powermatic? Looking for a review. I just burned up an old 3612br Makita router in the table I have. ($160.00 for new armature) I have decided to try to save some space in the shop. I would buy the extention table for my PM 2000, the lift, and I kind of like the looks of the 3 1/4 HP Porter Cable routers out there. Just wondering how the lift performs. Any feedback on the PC routers would be appreciated also.


Thanks,
Ed Costello

[Peter Quinn]

I have the Jessum Powermatic lift in my out board table of my PM66. Works pretty good, I think it is basically the rout-r-lift anodized gold? Maybe has a different height adjustment crank handle? It came bundled with the machine. Very smooth operation, stays accurate, seems to have survived the past 4 1/2 years intact with out issue. I have an OLD PRE BORG Ryobi 15A plunge (back when Ryobi was a serious tool maker) with an extreme extension wrenchless collet in it. Seems to work well. Jessum has that "Swiss cheese" bolt pattern to mount nearly any router, and it actually supported my old ryobi! THe Borg doesn't, and Ryobi no longer does, but Jessum does!

Anyway nearly any good router ever made fits in it. I got the phenolic insert kit and a few solid blanks for ZCI use on certain cuts. They go in and out easy and stay flat. The fence is not the height of engineering, but it is accurate, rigid enough for most uses, and fairly easy to make custom plates for with MDF or such. I made a few solid fences and a few split fence blanks to fit using the original fence plates as a template. I have never actually used the originals as I prefer to keep them in a drawer as a perfect template and make my own sacrificial models.

I have used a few different lifts, I think bench dog is my favorite for precise height adjustment. The jessum has a bit of slop going down, so you always want to come up to the adjustment from several turns of the handle back which can be annoying for some set ups if you over shoot your height. Generally though as long as you come up to your height very fine adjustments are smooth and precise.

Frankly I have a bosch 1617 with an extra base screwed to a piece of braced melamine which works as well as any lift I have used in service, but for above table bit changes and quick height adjustment its hard to beat the jessum lift. And further, the router in the outboard of the cabinet saw is such a pleasing and convenient combination for me I doubt I'll ever give it up. I often remove the router table fence and use the TS fence to reference cuts deep in a work piece that would be difficult any other way on a table mounted router.
I rarely use my other router table these days between the jessum lift and the shaper but I keep it for that rare occasion when a second router in a table comes in handy. If you can get a look at a basic rout-r-lift somewhere you will get a sense of the PM version.

[Peter Quinn]

Ed, there are a few pics of the my PM jessum lift in use at this thread, http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=878716#poststop.

I couldn't seem to move them here directly, but there are a few close ups on the second and third page of the post with and without fence. Oh, it came with a nice starting pin for pattern work too!

[Matt Ocel]

Got it on my PM2000 with the PC 7518.
I like it, just don't care much for the fence.
On another table I have the incra fence and i'm going to be adding the mast-r-lift with another PC 7518 which i will use for box making. The Jessem I will use more as a shaper.

[Jim Knishka]

I agree with Matt about the fence. Not very useful beyond a rabbet or edge profile.

I got mine at a great price but if I were getting one now I would look for a model that mounts the router body instead of attaching the existing base. It would give you a bit more vertical travel, plus I've never been thrilled with the way my Milwaukee router base is set up.

Also, if I didn't get the Bench Dog I'd also see if I could find one that fit their cast iron table. That's on my list of future tools and the Jessum/Powermatic lift won't fit.

[jason lambert]

I passed on it because of the fence mainly there is no way to attach a riser, to me that is just plain stupid. Some bits require a fence riser.

Kreg has a new system and the incra is nto bad (although I have never used it)

[Don Morris]

Won't tell you why I moved from a Jessem Rout-R-Lift to a Bench Dog Pro Lift...(embarassing answer) but really do like it especually being able to raise the router above the table to change the bit. The router is the PC 7518 and as mentioned by those who use it, it's bullet proof. I built my own table. The fence I use was a gift...Bench Dog ProFence, which for my purposes has worked out fine.

[Ed Costello]

Thanks for the help guys

Regards,
Ed

[Jim Becker]

No matter what the color of the Rout-R-Lift, it's pretty much the same original Rout-R-Lift design. I had one in my previous table setup and it worked well, although it was not able to provide full above the table cutter changes like more current designs including the Mast-R-Lift. Like Don, I now use the ProLift from Bench Dog (in a Bench Dog cast iron top)...same PC7518 router that was used with the Jessem product.

[Mike Hammer]

I am in the process of setting up the pm 64a. I bought it with the 50 inch table and the jessem lift. I don't like the fence at all I think it is really cheesy. My biggest concern is the lack of T slots for featherboards and more importantly running sleds. Has anyone ever modified this setup or know of an upgrade out there that would help me use this the way a router table needs to be used? I would sure appreciate it! I'm thinking of throwing this one on ebay already and it's still in the box!
Mike:confused:

[Chip Lindley]

Powermatic's JessEm router lift plate is much larger than other JessEms. It prohibits use of any T-slots on the outboard side of the extension table. Any T-slot you add would have to be inboard, toward the saw. Photos of the router fence do, indeed, look kinda cheezy.

Then JessEm lift per se' is a nice piece of equipment. No doubt you can sell the package on eBay and profit enough to build your own router table extension the way you like it, with a much smaller stock JessEm Rout R Lift. They may still have some of the "off shore" models available on their website at quite a discount.