Jessem master lift $129!

[herb fellows]

When it raiins, it pours!
Ok, there's a slight catch, but very slight!

The story is that they had these produced to their specs overseas.
For their purposes, they decided to stick with domestic production.
Therefore, these, with full Jessem guarantee, are being sold out!

the full story here, courtesy of The Wood Whisperer;

http://thewoodwhisperer.com/need-a-l...=Google+Reader

Get 'em while they're hot!

[John Hunter]

Nice deal!

[LCHIEN]

more discussion here:

http://www.bt3central.com/showthread...ht=jessem+lift

[herb fellows]

I guess I missed this deal when it was on in July.

So, assuming that someone bought one back then, would anyone care to elaborate on the +'s & -'s of this baby?
What router you're using it with? Ease (or not) of set up?

[MBG]

I think this is even cheaper than before.???

[fgarvin]

Yeah, it was $165 or $169 just yesterday morning. So they've dropped it since then.

I'm debating between the Woodpecker and the Jessem now.

If the Woodpecker is better, how is the v1 vs. v2?

I think this is even cheaper than before.???

[pelligrini]

I think this is even cheaper than before.???

Yea, it is. It was $165 yesterday. http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=51913

[kaydee]

Question for the gurus here...

1. If one has the Triton 3.25 HP router that already has above table bit height adjustment, then do you really need the JessEm lift?

2. If one has the Freud FT1702VCEK which also has above table bit height adjustment, does one need the router lift? And the freud FT1702VCEK will not fit into this lift (as I know) because it does not have a 3.5" body but slightly wider.

In general, if a router already supports above table bit change and height adjustment, does the JessEm router lift add any additional benefits, even at $129?

-k

[LarryG]

In general, if a router already supports above table bit change and height adjustment, does the JessEm router lift add any additional benefits, even at $129?

In general, I would say No. A lift *might* make one or both of those things more convenient. I have the original design Mast-R-Lift. It raises the collet fully above the table, making it easily accessible with ordinary wrenches. It also offers extremely precise and repeatable bit height adjustments (one turn of the crank equals 1/64" vertical travel).

One thing it would do is eliminate any plate sagging, if that is an issue. The lip on my Mast-R-Lift is the standard 3/8" thick but out in the middle, it's about one full inch thick.

If you're happy with your bit changes and height adjustments, I'd say there are better things you could spend your $129 on.

[LCHIEN]

Question for the gurus here...

...
In general, if a router already supports above table bit change and height adjustment, does the JessEm router lift add any additional benefits, even at $129?

-k

These are not Must-haves, I can certainly do fine WW without them, but here's the reasons why it might be nice.

I have a Bosch1617EVS with the router table base with the above the table adjustment (long allen wrench) which I have used for a while.

The potential advantages are:
1. The router lifts generally don't require locking the router height lock as the Bosch elevation does. The lock actually changes the height by around 5 mils; That's small but enough to leave a paper-height ridge when doing roundovers, for example. In the past I would compensate and have to make a couple of passes to get the height just right - in other words, get it to where i wanted, lock it, see what amount it shifted, loosen it, back off that much, and then retighten the lock, and repeat as many times as it took to get it right. The lifts have enough stiction and mass to stay put.
2. The lifts generally have a scale on top that indicates change of height in real units. With my Bosch the units are on the dial on the base so you have to stoop over to see it. THe lift has it right on top. OTOH, you can count revolutiuons (or 1/4 revolutions, in my case= 1/64ths) and make the conversion in your head. Yeah, there's 3/4 of a turn, or 3/64ths or about 3 times .016" and i needed .040 so that's maybe .008 too much so I'll back off about a 1/2 of a quarter of a turn...
3. Range - the Bosch height adjustment has a range of a little more than an inch IIRC. The height adjustment also has 3 coarse positions about an inch apart. which altogether gives about a 3-inch range. In the event you have to raise or lower the bit more than an inch or more likely, end up crossing the boundary because you started near the end of travel, you have to make the coarse adjustment below the table and you lose the accurate lift amount you get from counting the turns.

So I got one of the Jessems and I'll be putting it in soon.

Its a matter of how much convenience you want to pay for - I doubt it will make you a whole lot better but it will speed things up a bit and keep you from breaking your back bending over.

If you have an older Bosch 1617 then the table base with above the table adjustments costs you about $60. ANd a router plate could cost you $60-70 (but the Jessem includes the plate). So if you have an old Bosch and want to build a router table then $120 or so for this is almost the same cost.

[kaydee]

Loring, Larry,

Thanks for the information.

I already have a Freud F1702 with the above-the-table adjustment. It is a different story that I don't have a decent table And I have Dewalt DW618 as a separate hand-held router.

Given that, I was wondering if it makes sense to get the MasterLift, in case I replace the table based router down the road. As I can tell, the Freud is not a 3.5" body motor and therefore will not fit into the MasterLift. I would be willing to hear experiences from others with the Freud.

Or, instead should I spend the $$ on a good router table and stick with the Freud's above-the-table adjustment capability?

-k

[tommyt654]

I believe you can get a reducer to make the Frued fit if I,m not mistaken

[herb fellows]

That's right, Tommy, they run about $30 shipped.

[kaydee]

I have looked into that adapter ring for 3.5" diameter router body. However, when I measure the Freud 1702, I noticed that it is a 3.6" diameter and not 3.5". I measured with a digital caliper. I don't know how much tolerance is there with the Jessem 3.5" adapter to accept a 3.6" body. I checked with Jessem and they didn't think it would fit the Freud with the 3.6" body.

I looked around for the Freud specs but nowhere does it specify the body size of the bare router.

Appreciate if someone could shed some light on this issue. What would help is having the exact specifications of the body size of the Freud-1702 router.

-k