I just got a JessEm Router Lift II and mounting it in my Woodpeckers table the 2 settings that are for snugging the plate in the cavity do not reach the edge of the cutout. Anybody else have this problem and if so how did you solve it? It is necessary to have the plate secure otherwise the measurements will be off. I thought about wedging something between the plate and the cavity but not sure if that is a workable solution or not. Other than that the lift works very well.

Thanks for any input.

Ken does 't thatfrosy you! This was my issu 4 years ago with a Jessem lift. Tried to get help from them was fruitless. Tried a piece of UHMW but it didnot work. In the end I screwed in a piece offir toget a solid purchase. My table is a Kreg and they did not make liftsback then.

I finally figured it out. I glued a piece of 3/8 inch scrap on the edge of the cutout and that allowed me to snug up the plate as required. The only thing I don't like about table mounted routers is the router speed control being hidden and hard to reach. I have a brand new 892 PC router I mounted in the lift and the speed control was all the way on the back side of the router so I took it out of the lift and mounted my modified 892 PC router in the lift and can now use a remote speed controller like I was using before the lift was installed. I may in the near future re-wire the new router to bypass the soft start feature so it can also be used with the remote speed controller. It sure does make table mounted routing so much easier and in my opinion the soft start feature is useless to begin with. By the time I make contact with the wood and router bit the router is up to full speed anyhow.

I don't lock my routers down that are just on a plate. Gravity holds them down just fine. Wouldn't the same apply to a router and lift? There would be quite a bit more weight holding it down. i'm just not sure if it would get too heavy to be practical to lift all of it out when you want to change bits or make speed changes lke I do with mine.

The only problem I see with not locking the plate in place is the side to side and up and down movement would create a difference in the measurement upon completion of the cut. The JessEm plate moved a good 1/32 of an inch in both directions before I managed to get it locked in place. Now 1/32 of an inch may not seem like very much but it will add up to much more than that in certain jobs.

BTW I wasn't talking about holding down and you are right about the weight holding it down. The locks do not hold it down in place, they only serve for elimination of side to side movement.

In a well fitting rabbet there is no side to side or up and down. I've been using mine like that for 20 years or more and I know that Mike from the big D does the same and has for a long time. I'm sure there must be lots of other members that do the same as us.

From a physics point of view, the pressure against the bit does form a lever arm that would want to press the trailing edge of the plate down while lifting the leading edge up, but 1.- because the bit usually insn't very tall it is a very short lever arm, 2.- in most cases the fence is clamped down on top of the plate, and 3.- in all cases you are pressing the wood down onto the plate until the wood goes past the bit, at which time it ceases to be a problem.

If your lift plate is loose in the table top cutout - shim it. As to up and down, I've never seen that and I've pushed a lot of wood over my router lift. Plus, you should be pushing your piece down to keep it in continuous contact with the router plate. I think you would really have to force the wood hard against the bit to get any kind of movement - clearly not a good idea.

Please disregard my previous post, I don't know what the hell I was thinking. Actually I wasn't thinking it seems. Plate side to side movement would have no effect on the measurement. Once the plate is set even with the table top useing the leveling screws the down force pushing the wood through will keep the plate in place. I also use featherboards whenever possible, both above and from the side.

Another thing that is rather interesting happened when I installed the lift was when I installed my Musclechuck. As some of you may remember I made an issue about the Musclechuck being something I wasn't happy with, actually scared of if the truth be known. I put it aside and thought once I installed the lift I would give it another chance. I did just that and screwed it onto the router, locked it down and thought, here goes an hour trying to get it set up without wobble. Amazingly it was perfect without having to make the slightest adjustment from the initial installation.

The one thing in life to be feared most is fear itself.