Build a router lift

When I set out to make my router table, I decided early on that I wanted to include a router lift. It makes it easy to raise and lower the router without having to reach underneath, and bits can be changed from the top of the table.

Lots of liftsI looked at a lot of different lifts. If you are ambitious, I highly recommend Matthaias Wandels incredible tilting lift over at Woodgears.ca. Put simply, Mathhias is a genius. He puts a lot of work into his plans are they incredibly detailed and accurate. For $14, its worth it.
On the other end of the home-made spectrum, Weekend Workshop on You Tube made an intriguing router lift using a car jack!

I decided to go in between these two and built a lift that was featured in issue 121 of Shop Notes magazine. It is a pretty simple concept, but was definitely a challenge to my skills. Thats the kind of project I like. It works really well.
Shop NotesI wanted to provide a link to the plan.
I contacted Shop Notes and strangely, they have no way to buy the plan online or even to buy the issue it was in! Uh, it was this year...January, 2012. Really old skool.
They have a lot of great projects and it seems to me like they are really missing the boat on this one. Even the Shop Notes web site is pretty lame. Cmon Shop Notes! Heres an opportunity to make some extra money.
So if you dont get Shop Notes and are interested in the plan, poke around a little. There are people selling back issues.

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