A couple of years back I thought about using my old "Thunderbird" jack for a router lift.... thought it might work but never tried it..... glad to see yours and happy for you.

 

U


Did the pre-Chinese routers have that poor design too?

I wonder how a small bottle jack would do?

A bottle jack would be worse. You have no control over how far it would raise the bit. It's all about control. If you are making something like rail and stile joints they have to be so precise that you can't have one side even a hair higher or lower.
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I agree about the bottle jack.

If you had nothing else to do you could probably make one using threaded rod.

I considered that, especially using 3/8-16 rod so that each revolution is 1/16 motion. Ruled it out because it would take too long to raise very much and I would have to build the scissor mechanism.

Plan on test cutting today, will report how that goes

Thanks for y'alls input. I had ordered this scissor jack on Amazon. The 1st one they sent got lost so they sent another, which also got lost so they sent a refund. That's when I decided to use the car jack. Well, the jack came yesterday & they company said to just keep it. The concerns you all had were spot on concerning the vent holes and the difficulty in accurately adjusting using the acme threads. So, with thanks for all your recommendations, here is the revised design. Although there is space for air intake, the intent is lower the jack and pull it out out once router housing is locked, but it's not the end of the world if I forget occasionally.

 

I tried a jack many many years ago. It soon became obvious that it was not a practical solution for a router lift. A lift needs to be able to raise a router in small enough increments to allow precise adjustments. The acme screw on a jack is fine for lifting a car but it's not capable of raising a car 1/16th or 1/32 or 1/16th of an inch. With router work, it's often necessary to adjust the bit by a few thousands of an inch.

 

If you had nothing else to do you could probably make one using threaded rod.

 

The closer the scissor jack is to full extension the more precise it is.

I wonder how a small bottle jack would do?

 

I wonder how a small bottle jack would do?
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A bottle jack would be worse. You have no control over how far it would raise the bit. It's all about control. If you are making something like rail and stile joints they have to be so precise that you can't have one side even a hair higher or lower.

 

Make sure you're not blocking the motor venting. If necessary you might have to make some holes or channels so it can breathe.

 

Ya! Now that's my kind of innovation.

Art Schmitt

I tried a jack many many years ago. It soon became obvious that it was not a practical solution for a router lift. A lift needs to be able to raise a router in small enough increments to allow precise adjustments. The acme screw on a jack is fine for lifting a car but it's not capable of raising a car 1/16th or 1/32 or 1/16th of an inch. With router work, it's often necessary to adjust the bit by a few thousands of an inch.

You'd have to measure the height of bit extension above the table with dummy work piece or a dial caliper as you slowly turned the handle on the jack. If you keep the clamp on the router body relatively snug, I don't see why it would not work.

Art Schmitt

Make sure you're not blocking the motor venting. If necessary you might have to make some holes or channels so it can breathe.

Yes. Venting holes would be a must.

Art

 

Simple but very effective.

 

As far as simple lifts go, this will work, sure. However, as others said, there is a flaw in it's precision.

However... know that a 3/8-16 threaded rod will be capable of 1/64" increments per quarter turn, and you can make a very simply lift with a few t-nuts, and some scrap plywood, a 90 degree drill attachment, and a bit of epoxy to hold certain nuts in place.

I wish I could show you what I mean, but I am in the process of moving, and everything I have is currently in storage.

You can also do the same with linear threaded style rods, or regular threaded rods, for making a micro adjuster for your table fence. My main table fence on right side (the "infeed" side) is a 1/4-20 rod for 1/20th of and inch adjustments per turn. The left side I use an 8-32 for more precise fence measurements for things like jointing thin strips.

So while a jack can work, (I tried one a while back) it will make you lose 20 years of your life from frustration in dealing with it.

 

After viewing lots of router lifts this is the easiest method I have come across. I use the jack in my Triton router table. I have also found other uses for the threaded rod on the jack and also the threaded rod in the jockey wheel from a trailed

 

Welcome to the forum @GeoffB1950

 

Thanks for the welcome Ross. I am living is Melbourne now but do miss the warmer weather of FNQ of when i lived in Townsville.

 

We mustn't forget that wood, unlike metal moves with the weather therefor absolute accuracy is not required. To operate my lift the pedal is pressed 'till the bit is slightly higher than required then foot pressure is gently released until is the bit is at the required height. A measuring device that reads in microns is not required.

 

I like that design. What is the approximate mechanical advantage of the router vs the foot pedal?

Art

 

I'm not sure what you mean by "router vs the foot pedal" Using a foot pedal is not only fast, but it leaves both hands free. Another use that is super fast is doweling, once the router depth of cut is set, a quick press on the pedal and there is the hole! Unfortunately I can't find shots in my computer showing examples, I reckon that they were lost with one of the hard drive crashes

 

Hi Rev A,
you can chuck the opposite end of the threaded rod in a cordless drill, and use that for rapid gross movements up or down, then use the large star knob for fine adjustments. You might have to turn the jack side on, so you can access both ends of the threaded rod from the same side of the table.
Interesting that, unlike most car jacks, your threaded rod has opposite turns of thread from the central unthreaded part, like the screws on wooden hand-screws.

 

Thanks for the tip. Interesting observation about the direction of the threads. It is left handed. I had to drill and tap the connection side of the knob for a small screw to stop it from unscrewing when lowering.
No need for using a hand drill for rapid motion. The thread is coarse enough that a few half turns gets as much motion as I’ll need. The Craftsman only has 1 1/2 inch of available travel.
All the hassles with that Craftsman remind me to keep Stashing away money to buy a DeWalt.

 

Geoff your more than welcome to take all the hot/sticky weather from Rocky.