Incra PLR-V2 Lift & Milwaukee Router Arrived >>Starting The Build <<

Stuart Ablett

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Tokyo Japan
Now that I have the SawStop safely ensconced in the Dungeon, to make more space, I've decided to get rid of my stand alone router table, and put a router table into the extension wing of the SawStop.

The question is which router lift?

Now I have an old Hitachi M12, with a Rousseau and the Router Raizer kit, it works OK, but to be honest, I'm not that happy with the set up, biggest problems are the below the top bit changes, and the router itself has no soft start, or speed control. I added a speed control, and it works but to me, when it is running on the slower speed to swing the larger bits, it lack power, and bogs down.

I've been hunting around the net, and at first blush, the >> Pinnacle Premium Router Lift << with a Porter Cable 7518 motor in it looks like a good set up.:dunno:

pinnacle_router_lift.jpg

I know it is not cheap, but I'm doing my best to buy better quality tools, so I don't have to constantly upgrade.

I thought about a shaper, I know it will get mentioned in this discussion, but they are not popular here, and the cost of shipping a shaper from the US is a lot, so I think I'll be sticking to a router lift.

I'd be very interested to hear from anyone who has the lift or the PC router, the good, the band and the ugly. :D

I'd also be very interested to hear from anyone who has found a router lift that they think is better than this one.

BTW, the old router table set up will most likely end up to the left of the tablesaw in another set up, it will be useful still, but not my main router.

Cheers!
 
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I have a pc 7518 and am very happy with it . It had the softstart feature but I removed it to use a speed control. Burned up the aftermarket speed control and I am now using a variac that I had forgotten that I had:doh:. Does a much better job than the one that I bought. As far as the lift goes I just ordered the router raizer because my wife got a free plunge router from Handyman and it is a knock off of the Makita 3612c except no variable speed. Make sure if you do get the Pc 7518 it is variable speed.:thumb:
 
Can't say there is a better router lift, but I have said it before here, this is what I would use for a router (wish I had done it) www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=16977 . Not cheap, but you would never have to get under the table to adjust the speed. I believe that the Pinnacle is actually made by Woodpecker and they now sell that model built for the Milwaukee 5625-20. Of course if you already own the Porter Cable, then "never mind".:)
 
Yeah, Bill is right. That looks a lot like the Woodpecker PRLv2. I have the PRL original in the gold tone with a PC7518 and it is plenty stout. Outboard speed control would be nice, but I built my dust collection chamber to be a top/side draft, and have a 6" variable opening in the bottom for make up air, and since the speed control is on the bottom end of the 7518 (when in table mode), it's very easy to adjust without going through a lot of gyrations. With the bent wrenches that came with my 7518, above table bit changes are a breeze.
Incra also has their version of the PRLv2 plate, but seems like it uses magnetic "rings" instead of the twist/lock that the Woodpecker and Pennacle units have. Pick your flavor!! Jim.
 
Now that is a nice looking router and a good idea for use in the router lifts.Now I feel like I might need to show this to my loml so that I can upgrade from this
3-22-09 001.JPG
It's just hard to beat the price of these items ($0). Now don't laugh to hard at my variable speed control. It is in design and test mode and will be mounted in an enclosure. I have done raised pnls with it and had no problem as far as bogging down and can take the speed down to a few hundred rpm.
 
Hey Stu,

I have no personal experience, but Jessem gets very good reviews on their stuff. I saw them at the Show in Toronto last month. Well-built, well-designed. My brother was thinking about it, but hasn't made the jump yet, AFAIK. They have several options, and I see that their "cadillac" one is built for the PC7518 right out of the box.
 
Stu,

I have the 420A lift with the PC7518. I am very satisfied with the performance of both of these. It looks like the Pinnacle Premium Router Lift is the new improved big brother to my 420. I don't think you would regret the choice of the Pinnacle/7518 combo.

Besides, now that you have the Sawstop you have new standards to uphold in your dungeon! :)
 
I have the PRL with a Mil 5625 in it. Very high quality lift. This is the one I picked when I went with a "cost no object" state of mind during my research. The Bench Dog was close but I love the auto carriage lock on the PRL. All the higher quality lifts have something the others don't it seems so it can be a personal preference once you get into this level of a product. The new offering is getting good reviews from owners and the company has never been anything other than great to work with.
 
Stu,

I have this one: http://www.woodpeck.com/unilift.html

Got that since I already had the MV12. To use it, I had to get the bit extension. To change speeds, I have to get underneath, which means bending down, but I've got it set so the "dial" is easy to access.

If I'd been starting from scratch, I likely would have gotten this: http://www.woodpeck.com/precisionrouterlift.html

As for router motors, I've given up trying to keep track of who makes what, and who they outsource the work to. I have this vision of some giant factory, somewhere in continental east asia, from which ALL rotors motors come. Then the companies put their marketing on various brands, and all I get to decide about is which advertising image fools me into buying one thing instead of another... ;)

Do I sometimes wish I had something else? Not enough to even think about it. Getting that ended my upgrade cycle in that area... ;)

Thanks,

Bill
 
Alan what did you salvage that pot from? I sure would not want it to fall off the table and land on my foot!:)

Bill, this variac came out of an icu unit at a hospital in Baltimore city that they were remodeling to turn into office space. These controlled the speed of the fan in the rooms that the patients were kept in. I have 2 or 3 of them and it works better than the aftermarket speed controllers:thumb:.
 
Sorry Stu I am no expert in this area. I have the Porter Cable router with is own lift device in the base but its nothing like the smoothness of the type of kit you are refering to. I can do 1/2 inch bit changes above the table though and it does have variable speed except you have to reach below the table to the router top to change it. Pretty sure this is not what you want. Good luck searching.
 
Thanks guys!

The speed control thing, really, it is not like you change the speed of the router every 5 minutes, is it? :huh:

I think that if the speed control on the PC7518 is on the top of the router, it would be fairly accessible through a simple door in the front of the enclosure :dunno:

Thanks all for the info, need to noodle this one some more :D
 
In my search for a lift, I've come upon this little piece of advice.................


If you don’t have the router yet (and assuming it's available to you), I would personally recommend the Milwaukee 5625-20 over the 7518...better speed control, slightly quieter, and a lot less vibration. It's a much more refined machine.

I'll be looking at this router now, does anyone have one?

Cheers!
 
Seems like a nice router. I just looked at a review for it on newwoodworker.com. Even though its a fixed base you can still mount it in a router table without a lift which I think is pretty neat. Now I don't know what I want to do with mine. You got me thinking now Stu:huh:.
 
Yes that is the one. I like it when someone brings something to the discussion that makes you look at something a different way:thumb:. I just have to be careful sometimes that my wife doesn't find out because I might end up with the tool before I know what hits me. Sort of like the Hitachi sliding miter saw she just bought me:D.
 
Stu, I really like Milwaukee tools, but have never used the router. The big PC on the other hand I have used a ton. There 2 of them in the shop I work at, both equiped with Jessem Masterlifts. This setup gets heavy use and works great. PC repair parts and accessories are readily available. The top bearings may have to be replaced periodically if it sees production type use, but it's easy. I agree with you about the speed controls, they're not that important as to require it to be at your fingertips. Are you going to install the rig in the plywood part of the extension? A big router/lift is heavy and will need good support to keep it from sagging the table over time. Some extra support under there will be a good thing. I heard somewhere the BenchDog router lift was the ultimate, but I've never seen or used one. That might be another option for you.
 
Thanks everyone for the info and advice.

I've decided on the >> INCRA/Woodpeckers PRL-V2 Lift for the Milwaukee 5625 <<
INCRA%20PRL-V2-5625-2.jpg

The lift will be on sale in a couple of weeks, but I was offered the sale price (which will be a unpublished e-mail special) for $279 USD. The shipping will be $107.25 for a total of $386.25. Sure looks like a good unit :thumb:

milwaukee_5625-20.jpg
I got the >> Milwaukee 5625 router from Tools Plus for $279 << shipping is $92.65, for a total of $372.60.

Grand total $758.85 USD, which is only about 75,000 yen, lots cheaper than I could get anything here, and a ton cheaper than I could get a shaper shipped to Japan.

Yeah, not cheap, but I honestly think I'll be done buying router lifts for my router table set up now, or at least I sure hope so.

Cheers!
 
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