Reasonably priced router lift?

[®smpr_fi_mac®]

I think I paid around $300 for a Jessem Mast-R-Lift II six years or so ago.  I would consider that a very reasonable price for a very well designed and easy to use lift.

I plan on buying another in the coming months for a second table.

[BillN]

I used 2 router tables, one for running the tongue another for the groove (or whatever profiles) I had a fairly inexpensive lift in one and on the other a Hitachi M12V. I kept the Hitachi.

[Derek Cohen]

The cheapest router lift I know of is Router Raizer It uses a 3/8 -16 lead screw so one turn of the crank moves the bit 1/16", 1/4 turn = 1/64". That may be too coarse for some. I have one on a Freud FT2000E and it works fine. I found there's enough drag in the mechanism that I don't have to mess with the plunge lock and it doesn't move. One thing - it only works with plunge routers AFAIK. Several routers have built-in lifts, Triton has been mentioned and I believe the big Milwaukee has above the table adjustments as well.

I use a Router Raizer as well. It can fit a wide range of routers. It cost the least of all the lifts. Use it with a MuscleChuck for above table bit changes, and does a great job ...



Regards from Perth

Derek

[firefighter]

I have a router razizer in one and a home made lift in another. If my m12v ever craps out i will replace it with another home made.
Do a google search. Some very nice plans and tips out there.

[Cian]

Also, know that some routers (specifically the Milwaukee fixed-based routers from the top of my head) already have a "through-the-table" raising mechanism built into them, so all you have to do is mount it to the underside of your table and make the necessary bit and access holes. Although admittedly not as fancy as a dedicated lift, it seems to provide all that is really needed for many.

[jdonhowe]

I love my Milwaukee fixed-base router- the hand grip is the best design for precise control that I've ever seen. And yes, while you *can* use it as a table lift, you always need to reach under your table to unclamp and reclamp the motor in the base whenever adjusting heights (not unique to Milwaukee). That's particularly awkward if the router is enclosed for dust collection, and personally I've found that the backlash in height adjustment, while small, makes fine adjustments difficult. Moving to a dedicated lift (Jessem Rout-r-lift II in my case) was a quantum leap in enjoying using my router table. Just my $0.02

[Mike in kc]

I bought the original, a Woodpecker PRL many years ago and its worked very well.   If I needed to buy another lift today, it would be a woodpecker.

[goaliedad]

I should have updated a long time ago. I picked up a Jessum lift, and mounted a Porter Cable router. Very happy!

[fredhargis]

Very happy!

When all's said and done, that's all that matters! Congrats!

[dfess1]

I have an old Woodpecker Quicklift (precursor to the PRL) that I love. Ended up getting a PRL as a christmas gift for my father. He tells me everytime I see him how much he loves it (the gift was 10 yrs ago at this point, maybe longer).

Woodpecker makes alot of $$$ stuff, that quiet frankly, I don't see the justification. This is one I'd buy again in a heartbeat.