I got my PC 7339.  It's intended to replace my triton in my router table. But it is lift challanged.

On first impression I really like the router.  It's got a nice plunge lock that engages automatically when you release it.  I may remove the spring  in that feature though for the table.  I'll see  as I am going to operate this from above the table as well as below when I want to lock the thing.

It's got a kind of bottomless collet set up.  There's a deep hole in the center of the motor shaft that obviated the need to worry about bottoming out the router cutter and should make those long shank bits easier to set up.

Above the table  cutter changes  will require something like this

http://sommerfeldtools.com/porter-cable-wrench-28-575mm-1-1-8?filter_name=wrench

  Accessing the collet nut from above is not a challenge

the term "Free" may be an exaggeration:  I did purchase a 1/4" thick Alum plate to build it with

The main lift nut is a 3/4" sq by 2.5" long  hunk of brass that should prove nicely lubricious when  3/8-16 steel allthread is running through it.

Today I machined the brass nut and the upper piece of Steel  that clamps it to the aluminum body of  the router.

Later on I'll  do the router plate and the lift support.

It is designed to give me above the table control

I was going to design the lift nut to be a split nut with a spring so I could open it up and run the router up and down by passing the threads for a speedy up/down motion. I may revisit this if I find the allthread to be a PITA.

((you just know that I'm going to be forced by this hardship  to get a cordless tool to run the thing up and down yes?   it'll be my first cordless))

Any I am a cheap B*s*a*d and refuse to pay to life a router. So here is my entry:

In the spirit of a picture speaks a thousand words here's a few

but will it lift it up straight or willl it be cocked to the side away from the screw lift?

I have a woodpecker lift for mine and it has a sprocket gear on the bolt and another on a matching bolt on the other side. a chain connects them so when i turn the 1st bolt the second bolt on the other side raises the same distance.

I've tried plunge routers upside down and they do have a tendency to "tilt" the bit one way or another.

The reason they don't tilt when you normally use them is you are pushing it down to the base plate with both hands.

Just a thought.

That's a great size router for table use Cliff, I have the first generation of their big routers the 7518 fixed base that I use for my router table and love it, you'll never have want of more power with the 3.25 hp motor, it's a powerhouse.

Great work on the planning of the your lift device, although I do have a couple questions that you may have already addressed.

How do you accommodate for different sized router bits and panel raising bits, in your plans it does not appear you have varying inserts to allow for various sized bits. My router table plate has three different sized inserts that works with most router bits and allows for large winged panel bits to be lowered and raised through the opening. You may consider a Woodpecker Router Plate with Inserts. Your PC will bolt right up to it dead center and you can still attach your custom lift.The link I gave you does not appear to to accommodate your router model number but if you call Woodpecker I am sure they have the right one, they thought of it all really.

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops and Wounded Warriors Project

but will it lift it up straight

Of course it will. The guide bearings and  shafts are engineered to make this happen

or willl it be cocked to the side away from the screw lift?

To get that result  the tubes and bearings would have to be so badly mis-matched  that the thing could end up cocked no matter what you did with it.

Have you seen the product called the "Router Raizer"

Or the Triton Router with a winder on just one shaft?

I've seen the woodpecker plunge bar advert' claiming that, absent their plunge  bar that you can't depress  a plunge router one handed.   This is utterly false.

 Maybe they have a router that is so poorly made that it has to be operated with two hands, but I've never seen one  like that.

I've tried this with my rigid and there is no problem  and I tried it with this big PC  and it too presents no issues one handed no matter how far outboard you place your hand.  Interestingly the big PC uses not one but two plunge  springs.  Apparently the engineers thought it'd better balanced that way. I may  pull  them if the weight plus the springs is an issue.  Plunge Srrings are meant to lift the router up and in the table this is working against you.

How do you accommodate for different sized router bits and panel raising bits,

Cliff,

I've had trouble with JB sticking to aluminum. Have you experienced that? If so, how did you overcome it?

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Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

Gene I've used JB Weld on aluminum in the past with varying success. If you remove the cladding and oxidation from the surface of the aluminium just prior to application of the epoxy you should get a good bond. I use a Scotch Brite wheel in my dye grinder to remove the layer and to scuff the surface then wipe it down with a solvent that doesn't leave a film. Denatured alcohol or acetone works well. If you remove the oxidation and allow the metal to sit for a while oxidation begins to happen and may interfere with the bond Keep in mind JB Weld is not intended for structural strength where mechanical forces would stress the bond. 

Gene Howe said:

Cliff,

I've had trouble with JB sticking to aluminum. Have you experienced that? If so, how did you overcome it?

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Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

Thanks, Mike. 

Usually my applications have been aluminum to wood. As you can guess, it bonds to wood with no problem. Now, using your suggestions, maybe I can get the two materials to bond with a bit more permanency.

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Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

Gene Howe said:

Cliff,

I've had trouble with JB sticking to aluminum. Have you experienced that? If so, how did you overcome it?

Cliff, I think I am misunderstanding, are you talking about gluing the inserts in place?

Cliff said:

The Rockler plate has an insert. I just didn't draw it.  It's a little cheesy though.  Molded plastic that was not molded very precisely. A problem that can be easily solved with a little JB weld under the insert.  A trick I've used before to get things flush that otherwise wouldn't be.

Apply the epoxy or JB and clamp the things together without squeezing 'em out of position. Because these glues don't shrink as they cure, they lock the things  perfectly in position.  For dissassembly just any silicone  or other mold release  spray on the part that you will be taking off.   Oil or teflon spray would probably work too.  So too  does a bit of stretch film or plastic wrap. 

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops and Wounded Warriors Project

Cliff, I think I am misunderstanding, are you talking about gluing the inserts in place?

Nope.  Just getting the JB to sit on the aluminum like a shim  that is also stuck to the aluminum. This also works using that putty epoxy you knead together.   The idea is to take up the space  so that the plastic insert  does not rest below (nor above) the router plate top.

Well here it is. I haven't put in the table yet. But it works flawlessly Cost me almost nuthin'. I paid $29 for the Rockler plate

The holes all had to be ohhh so precisely located and drilled because the relationship between the lift support which is bolted to the router plate has to be located correctly with the four mounting holes for the router.

The Lift Nut is 0.750" square brass, the Nut Clamp and the Lift Support are 1.125" x 0.250" steel bar stock from the borg that I had laying around.

The Lift Shaft is just a hunk of 3/8-16 allthread. The Winder Head on the Lift Shaft is a 3/8-16 grub screw. They are joined by grinding the ends flat and silver soldering together inside a 3/8-16 hex nut. It should be plenty strong.

And it works flawlessly. Smooth dependable easy peasy.

Here are the pics:

Cliff, you are awesome, my hat off to you, now that is American ingenuity sir!!! Congratulations and you should be proud of what you just accomplished, so now you need to take the 300 bucks you saved on a router lift and go have fun! Great job man, I am so impressed!

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops and Wounded Warriors Project

I'm blushing.

More pics here.

http://s1002.beta.photobucket.com/user/zydaco/library/The%20Shop/router%20lift

Nice, Cliff!

About that wrench- a torch, vice and hammer will produce the same results. At least it did for me. On my lift "all thread", I ground/filed a hex end. Then welded the correct sized socket to a "T-handle". Hung it on the router table.

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Lew Kauffman-
Wood Turners Forum Host

Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!

Here is what I meant by JB weld used to locate the inserts in space.

I made up some aluminum insert plates from 0.125" thick stock, but the hole is 0.135" deep. I needed a 0.010" shim. Using loose shim stock for this would be a PITA. So I had to add material.

I applied bits of the glue to the ledge, applied a thin wipe of  silicone high vacuum grease on the bottom of my  insert,  pressed the insert in place, used a couple of precision ground steel  parallel bars that I made in my machine shop career  to clamp the interface across the router plate over the insert, Flipped it upside down so gravity would draw the insert against the steel bars and went to bed waiting  for the glue fairy to make things stiff.

In the morning the glue fairy had visited and made everything nice and hard.  The insert popped out and now The all set dead flush.

Oh and the wrench.  Had to do a wrench.

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