Router Lift And Miter Saw Station Concepts

No project or video to show this week. I let time get away from me while working on other things.

I’ve been spending a lot of time lately planning upcoming projects. One is a quick action router lift and the other is a miter saw station wall with tons of organization options. This is just a quick video showing where I am at.

The main thing for the router lift was to design something that is quickly adjustable and will drop quickly below the table surface. I also wanted repeatability so I could quickly return to where I was if I need to use the table saw real quick. I also want to incorporate full dust collection into the lift via two options. One would be a 4″ dust collection port below the table surface and the other would be via a shopvac hose in the router fence. This will give some options to those out there who don’t have a dedicated dust collection setup.

The miter saw station will have larger drawers and/or pull out shelves for large tools on the bottom. On the work surface and behind the miter saw fence will be shallow drawer storage for items such as hardware bins and short tools such as hand saws, chisels, and maybe my planes. Above that will be adjustable divider storage for quick access to tools that are used commonly. And finally, above that will be another ceiling mounted row of storage similar to what I did above the garage door. It’s a little ambitious but I that’s the direction I’m headed right now.

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27 COMMENTS

  1. I will be eagerly awaiting your completion of the router lift. That is something I have been wanting and yours is the best approach I’ve seen by far. Thank you for all your efforts, I always enjoy your posts.

  2. I love the idea of a dual lift router table. Can’t wait to see the final design of the lift. Both a router lift and mitersaw station are on my shop build list for this year.

  3. Brilliant idea. One of the disadvantages of homemade machines was quick repositioning of the working element. I think this idea is brilliant and it is suitable for any home-made tools. Thank you Jay!

  4. I too have a compound slider that has “depth” issues. Have you ever thought about having the bench top and saw pull out as one unit when in use? You could mount a back “plate” for the dust collection hood to the wall and when you pull out the bench top and saw some sort of top and sides would expand accordion style. I’ve been toying around with this idea for my new shop for a while. Great work! I really enjoy watching.

  5. Hi Jay,that is the best router lift I have seen.Not the most sophisticated – GOOD – not the most intricate – BETTER.I will actually build one of those.Used to be a show on PBS – father and son team – on routers and they used to say keep it simple and realistic and you have nailed it.

  6. Thinking about keeping the dust from out of the slider mechanism; A couple of electric razor cleaning brushes should do the trick. Fixed to the top of the router carrier, they would stop dust entry when operating the router and would help to brush the guides clean when moving the router up and down.

  7. More great ideas. I am looking forward to the build(s). The finished design of the miter saw station seems to be quite ambitious. I have to build a new one for my shop so I will wait to see what your final is. You are a master with that sketchup and that is an asset for you(and us). Keep up the great work.
    Larry C

  8. Very nice router lift Jay. Here is an idea. add another sliding/locking system below the lever on the same track as the vertical stop and incorporate a micro adjustment into it. (Perhaps by using a bolt that you can tune in the hight by lifting the handle.)

      • A micro-adjustment screw should be quite easy to attach to the stop block slide if needed – a full turn of a 3/8″ UNF threaded rod would lift the router by 0.050″, so it should be easy enough to cut a little less on the first pass, then make a finer cut for the final pass.
        On the matter of ergonomics (a fancy word for “ease of use”) it could be better if the router was clamped either from the outside edge of the router table rather than reaching underneath, or if the lift handle could itself contain some sort of screw clamp.

  9. Intriguing idea for the router lift. Definitely simple. I assume you will enclose the lever side of the wall and only have a slot left of the video for the lever to travel within. I am thinking of noise containment and dust collection.

  10. Regarding the miter saw cabinet, your latest design does not have the semicircular hood for dust collection. Maybe I missed it but how will you address dust collection with the latest cabinet design?

  11. That router lift looks very promising. The simplicity is so appealing, especially compared to all of the other designs that involve a screw advance of some kind.

    You’re right that the prototype currently has more travel than it needs. Try moving the pivot closer in. It’ll cut the travel and give you even greater precision. One possible refinement: Can you incorporate some sort of counterweight for the router? (Something as simple as a cable from the carriage up to a pulley and then down to a weight.) You could “drop” the router without it actually crashing down. Adjusting the height would be less tiring and vastly more precise if you’re not working against the weight of the machine at the same time.

  12. Bravo !
    Simple, rapide, efficace. J’ai beaucoup cherché, j’ai vu des tas de systèmes d’ascenseurs plus ou moins intéressants, mais celui-ci dépasse tous les autres.
    Et le blocage d’une position précise pour pouvoir y revenir rapidement est génial.

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