Woodpecker's New lift

[p8ntblr]

Looks interesting. The thumb wheel looks pretty cool.

http://www.woodpeck.com/prlv2.html

[LCHIEN]

i was going to order one but they're not available until October 2008.

[jhart]

Thumb wheel looks like it would be a lot more convenient than a crank. Wonder how stable the wheel is. Would hate to have it moving as I was sliding a piece that I was routing across the table.

[LarryG]

It is an impressive piece of engineering. It wasn't long after I got the product announcement email yesterday afternoon until I was wondering how much my Rockler/JessEm Mast-R-Lift would bring on the used market. (Not that I have any complaints about it.)

My take is that the crank is used to set the bit height initially, and then the wheel, with its much larger diameter, is used to fine-tune the setting. Is that what everyone else is seeing?

Joe, on my lift, the weight of the router carrier and the router itself loads the lift mechanism enough to keep the height adjustment from creeping. There's also some friction in the works. If the bit height has ever changed while I was making a cut, because of vibration or whatever, it didn't change enough to be noticed. I would guess that this lift would be pretty much the same.

[LinuxRandal]

I wonder two things, the second I sent off as a question to them.

1. Is the dust going to build up and jamb that wheel (and how hard to clean it out)?
2. Is it going to be available for the Milwaukee 5625?

[steve-norrell]

Two more things to wonder about:

What is the thickness and size of the plate?

Does the "Simple, easy to use brake" (See small picture on right.) lock the thumb wheel?

Regards, Steve

[LarryG]

All their other plates and lifts are 3/8" thick, so they would likely retain that dimension for compatibility with their tables and other products.

Oh, I missed completely the photo of the brake. Looks like that could be used to control the sensitivity of the wheel? Or even lock it down entirely, if tightened sufficiently.

[just started]

Larry, I think you got it right, set with crank and fine tune with wheel.
I'm also in the same boat with a R/J MasterLift which is great and unless it covers most of the cost I'm not sure I'd switch.

[steve-norrell]

All their other plates and lifts are 3/8" thick, so they would likely retain that dimension for compatibility with their tables and other products.

Oh, I missed completely the photo of the brake. Looks like that could be used to control the sensitivity of the wheel? Or even lock it down entirely, if tightened sufficiently.

Larry,

You are almost certainly right about the 3/8 in. thickness. I would also assume that the plate is the standard 9 1/4 by 11 3/4 inches. It would be helpful to see that in print somewhere. Save a phone call or email.

Regards, Steve

[pelligrini]

The brake may also be for adjusting the speed of the spring assisted wrench;
"With a newly designed spring-assist lift wrench, you can go from routing height to bit changing height in 2 seconds even when lifting the heaviest of routers."

I'm wondering how that works though?