Jessem vs Woodpecker Router Table Lift

[Brian Holcombe]

I have the Incra which is made by Jessem, very nice lift.

[Ryan Leduc]

I am leaning towards the Jessem. I'd love to have seen it in person as I have seen the woodpecker system many times and always felt it was 10-fold quality over my rockler setup.

I went through the same comparison and long process deciding and ultimately grabbed the JessEm. Couldn’t be happier, have it mounted in my cast iron wing on a sawstop contractor.

[Michael Drew]

I was using a rebranded PRL V2 lift. I liked it well enough, but it did have a couple quirks that frustrated me enough to look into other options. The biggest issue I had, is slop in the height adjustment, and that drove me nuts. And while the quick raise / lowering function is handy, I do not miss it. The lift I replaced it with is the Jessum lift that Incra sells. I wanted the magnetic inserts. I've been using this Incra lift for a few months now, and I love it. Very accurate, simple, and I can't think of anything to complain about.

[Andy D Jones]

I am leaning towards the Jessem. I'd love to have seen it in person as I have seen the woodpecker system many times and always felt it was 10-fold quality over my rockler setup.

If you have a Rockler store nearby, they carry the Incra Mast-R-Lift-II-R, which is made by Jessem, and is identical except in anodization color, and the throat plates/retention (steel & magnetic) vs Jessem (plastic and included pin-spanner). The -R suffix fits the narrower openings in Rockler and some other brands of tables (8.75 vs 9.75 inches, IIRC), but is otherwise identical to non-R lifts.

-- Andy - Arlington TX

[Ed Gibbons]

I just got the Jessum. It’s a game changer!

[Justin Rapp]

If you have a Rockler store nearby, they carry the Incra Mast-R-Lift-II-R, which is made by Jessem, and is identical except in anodization color, and the throat plates/retention (steel & magnetic) vs Jessem (plastic and included pin-spanner). The -R suffix fits the narrower openings in Rockler and some other brands of tables (8.75 vs 9.75 inches, IIRC), but is otherwise identical to non-R lifts.

-- Andy - Arlington TX

I wish I had a Rockler near by. The closest is 260 miles away up near Boston, or about 350 miles. I am however smack in the middle of 3 woodcraft stores, 83, 84 and 85 miles away each. There is a remote possibility based on wood crafts website inventory that 1 store might have the lift in store (only a few left call to verify). I might need to take a ride this weekend.

[Joe O'Leary]

I don't see it for sale anywhere.

[Justin Rapp]

I don't see it for sale anywhere.

It says 'only a few left' in their Allentown, PA location

[Darrell Bade]

I pieced mine together the way I wanted it. Got a steel cabinet base with a drawer from Peachtree, cast iron top and incra mastr lift from rockler and a fence from Jessum. Made a nice setup.

[Steve Coley]

I have the Rockler version of the Jessem in my cast iron router table. It is excellent! Rockler has a picture of my router table on their web site on the page showing their steel router cabinet. You can see what it looks like mounted in the cast iron table.

[Lewis Mills]

I can't speak to the tables or fences since I built my fence and have the lift in an extension of the TS table. But I have been using the Woodpecker lift for years and have always found it easy to use, accurate, and reliable. Just one more data point if you're still deciding.

[Randy Heinemann]

The Jessem Lift is great! I have a Master Lift that I ordered with and installed with an Incra table/fence. Mine uses a crank to raise and lower and is so accurate that I can literally change depth by as tiny an amount as needed to get precise fit to an exact thickness when routing. I realize that this kind of precision/accuracy.