Home-made router lift

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Woodworking for Mere Mortals
© ZRAM Media, LLC

[MaxCJ]

I watched this video at the start of the first lockdown in the UK, sometime in April '20 - I've learnt so much since - thank you Steve!

[GGman]

Excellent idea.  One point I differ with you on would be locating the hole in the top plate  (not the blue insert).  Instead of relying on the 3/4" bolt rod to be perfectly plumb and square with the base, I would have lowered the top down to the bottom plate and simply marked the hole through the hole already drilled in the bottom plate.

[davidbondi]

Thanks for this great video Steve. I purchased the plans from Woodsmith Plans and they are "pretty okay" but your video makes it seem completely doable. I ordered the "specialized" hardware from McMaster-Carr, and the Kreg insert plate from Amazon. I have the clamping block glue up in clamps in the shop now. Really looking forward getting this built and I don't even have a router for it yet. I am making due with a small DeWalt trim router and an old Craftsman router in their tabletop router table, but the way that old Craftsman sounds when I use it, I think I'm gonna need a new one pretty soon, so trying to get out ahead of it. Thanks again for all you do for us Mere Mortals!

[Choncer]

I can not watch anything wood working for 6 months, have an idea for something i want to do, and you ALWAYS come up. Thanks for another great video. Love your work.

[trumpetguy]

So I watched this video several times before attempting to make the router lift. I ended up making some piece a couple of times to fit properly. I tweaked it in two places. First with the V-grooves. After cutting the V and the V-grooves, I expoxied a couple of pieces of 1/8" x 1" x 90 degree aluminum angle so that it wasn't wood-on-wood sliding, but metal on metal, ... less wear over the long run. For my second tweak, I found that the 3/4" lock nut on the top side of the assembly eventually didn't want to hold because the weight of the router and assembly put pressure on the nut, and it eventually lost its "locking" ability, ... this resulted in the top nut actually threading itself up the threaded rod, defeating the operation of the lift. To stop this, I drilled a 1/8" hole through the nut and the threaded rod. My intention was to follow that up with putting a pin into the hole which would stop the nut from threading up the rod. As it turned out, when my drill bit punched through the far side of the hole, the bit snapped off inside the hole, ... so i had the pin already in place, via the broken drill bit. After everything was done (about 6 hours of tinkering) the lift worked pretty well.

[AquaPeet]

My... goodness! The presentation skills!! So natural, so informative... and that seven years ago. You were already on top of the game!

[strutable]

great video i just built the same lift 2 weeks ago, used it lots, once trued up have no issue with height adjustment going out. Keep up the helpful videos for the hobby shop woodworkers.

[xen]

I immediately thought the same thing. I would say drill and tap the connecting nut for a 1/4 -20 (the part in the lift) and put a nylon setscrew in it. the screw wont mess up the steel threaded rod but it will lock it in place.

[johnjohnsonjr]

You do such a good job explaining how to do woodworking for dummies. And I enjoy watching you.

[RascalsBuddy]

I read the Shop Notes article on building a router lift some time ago. But it seemed so complicated. Your video makes the project realistically doable. Thanks Steve for giving me the nerve and confidence to make the attempt. Often seeing a thing done is preferred to just reading about it.

[markm]

I had a great time building this and I really like the way it works.  Cost me about $50 in parts and materials plus the scrap peices of ply I had. Thanks Steve.

[SteveRamsey]

Threaded rod is available commonly in a coarser thread. That's what I used. A lot of the parts Shopnotes uses are overkill. If you can't find the big lock nuts, you can use a regular nut with some of that blue Loctite thread locking stuff.

[leehaire]

WOW Steve!!! That is one cool build!!! As soon as my left thumb gets better (table saw) that will be done. Been using a table saw for over 25 years and every once in a while, It gets me. I was really tired, still no excuse.

[gerrie]

one of the better and easiest router lifts i have seen all week of searching, thx....it shows you video is never too old to assist

[Fentanyl]

Hey, something to consider, the hardware store in my town carries thrust washers on the same aisle where the keep the nuts bolt and other special fasteners, they are 3 or 4 bucks each, and come in many different sizes, a couple of thrust washers on the inside of those lock nuts will make it smoother, and even more precise.

[kcowk]

I am in the process of setting up a router table and faced the same problem of a router lift that wont break the bank. I came up with the idea of using a scissor jack with a block pad on top to protect the router housing. I have since found this is not a new idea, others on the tube with the same setup. Yours is a nice looking setup though. Good job.

[nicguthrie]

For the person asking about making a better connection between the holding clamp and the router, and to protect the router from wear if you only have one, so take it in/out of the table lift a lot, you could line the clamping section with a generous bead of either Sugru or, as a cheaper alternative some Sikaflex (both easy to google). Normal silicone sealant would work but perish faster than sikaflex. Put some talc on the surface before it dries, to leave a nice non-stick soft touch finish.

[tomfafard]

I am in the process of building the same thing. Thanks for this. sometimes watching someone build it is better than just imagining it from the magazine.

[stephanieray]

The custom set screws would work better than my 1/2NC13 tap, I believe, which gave somewhat loose threads. So glad you posted this, Steve. Thank you.

[SwearingenTurnings]

Steve--I just started building mine today. The only snag I had was finding the hardware. HD and Lowe's don't carry much of it (the threaded rod, lock nuts, and set screws), and Grainger only supplies them in large quantities. I'm hoping McMaster-Carr will have them! It's a very easy build; I'm looking forward to completing it!