# Router Lift



## mark10409 (Nov 21, 2017)

Hello,
This would be my first attempt at a router table. My first part of the table would be the lift. The only reason I am taking a stab at making was the price of the lifts :surprise: I still have work on the lift, wooden clamps, band clamp. I will be adding a DC gear motor to drive the lift.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Wow you’re off to a great start. Nice work Mark


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## kklowell (Dec 26, 2014)

Keep posting as you go on this...I want to see how it works out because I've thought of making one too.


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## mark10409 (Nov 21, 2017)

RainMan 2.0 said:


> Wow you’re off to a great start. Nice work Mark


thanks! I will post more.


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Pulling back a chair to watch this one.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

I've seen several home made lifts from plywood lately and the owners said they worked well. Al B. Thayer had a version that would flip from vertical to horizontal and was selling plans for it for $10 I think on ebay.


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## hawkeye10 (Jul 28, 2015)

Thanks for joining, I think you will teach us a lot. :smile:


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Most definitely _not_ a newbie then!


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## ggom (Apr 5, 2017)

Hello!
Welcome!

Pretty Nice start Mark!
I' ll be happy follow this thread .

(I' d like to know about costs:
slide bars etc.)

Gérard


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

Welcome to the forum, Mark, and a great job at the router lift so far! Can't wait to see more.

David


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## mark10409 (Nov 21, 2017)

Thank you all for the complements! For this design I think I was very *lucky* the alignment for the rods and bearings was very close. As far as material purchased so far was:

Mcmaster-carr
6655K15 Thrust bearings 3ea
90977A170 Coupling nut 1ea
93250A268 S.S. Threaded rod
6384K23 Ball Bearings 3ea
6338K423 Sleeve bearings, 4ea, I decided against the flange and turned them down on a lathe later
6061K33 Linear shaft 2ea

Most of the wood was Baltic birch and some other I had laying around.

Thank you!
Mark


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## AshleyJ (Dec 1, 2017)

Thank you for providing detailed parts with sources and part numbers. I appreciate that! And I may use one of those pieces in another context.

Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk


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## mark10409 (Nov 21, 2017)

I made a few changes to my design on clamping the router to the carriage. I was going to use two band clamps that wrapped around two 3/8" steel rods and the router to hold it in place. I felt the carriage was too narrow and was not happy with it. I saw some other great designs people have done with wooden clamps so I went with that. the router is held in rock solid, much better  I barely had room to add 10-32 screws on each side of the bushing. My next step is to figure out what size gear motor I need. I might add two limit switches to tell when the the carriage is at Max high and low positions.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

mark10409 said:


> Hello,
> This would be my first attempt at a router table. My first part of the table would be the lift. The only reason I am taking a stab at making was the price of the lifts :surprise: I still have work on the lift, wooden clamps, band clamp. I will be adding a DC gear motor to drive the lift
> 
> .An excellent job that should work well. I used a different approach and did consider fitting a motor but after finding that it worked well I decided against it. I would have thought that your Hitachi router would be a far better choice for a table than a trim router.


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## mark10409 (Nov 21, 2017)

harrysin said:


> mark10409 said:
> 
> 
> > Hello,
> ...


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## kklowell (Dec 26, 2014)

It's looking great.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Once again Mark, a most professional job, please let us know how well it works.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Wow, really nice. I'm also going to follow this build. Thanks for taking time to shoot and post pictures.


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## mark10409 (Nov 21, 2017)

I finally figured out what size motor I needed and ordered. Except for the limit switches the lift portion of my project is done. Now on to the top and cabinet and fence.


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## mark10409 (Nov 21, 2017)

Motor running finally


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Once again Mark a most professional job.

I unfortunately don't have a great deal of patience to wait for the bit to reach correct height. My pedal is instant, I raise the bit slightly higher than required then gently release pressure on the pedal 'till height is correct, the weight of the router (springs removed) allows the router to lower. the router is then locked.


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