I'm almost embarrassed to describe my router table setup since it's so
far beyond what I really need, it's ridiculous. After a few years of
faking it, I finally decided to spend some money on a real solution. I
bought the 7518 just for a router table. Then I bought this:

http://www.benchdog.com/prolift.htm

Then after considering where I would put it, I bought this:

http://www.benchdog.com/promax.htm

I also have the harbor freight cast iron router table extension thingy
ordered from china. But I haven't put it on yet.

Then I built this giant cabinet for my contractor's saw with integrated
dust collection for the TS and for the router. The table extension
came with a fence that's adequate. I'm planning to build a new one.

What I like about it:

It feels like a tank. And rightfully so. It's all plate steel, cast
iron, and cast aluminum.

The height adjustment is silky-smooth. And there's a way to adjust out
the backlash.

It comes with a speed wrench to speed the raising and lowering.

The raising and lowering is a regular old bolt so you can attach it to
your power drill if you want.

Bit changes are above the table. It's the normal two-wrench porter
cable affair.

The rings are heavy plate steel and won't fly away (and into the bit)
like the plastic ones did on my rockler aluminum plate with the pc 690.
The also have set screws to remove any rocking.



What I don't like about it:

The height adjustment bolt fills up with sawdust just like you don't
want. I'm planning an above-the-table combo blade guard and router
tabel DC setup. When that's done, it should be easy to disconnect the
DC hose and clean it out. If that doesn't work, I plan to have a
coiled air hose with an air squirter handy to blast it out. For now, I
just blow it out myself and it's not a big deal.

The speed wrench has height measurement lines on it, but I think
they're useless. I still end up just measuring the height at the bit
anyway.

I'm still lusting after the digital readout height adjustment lifts. I
keep telling myself it's just a gimmick though.

If you do some research on the 7518, you'll find people complaining
about the variable speed circuit acting weird and not maintaining the
rpms like it should. When you first put a board in the bit, you can
hear the speed change a little, then sort of compensate. It's
annoying, but I can't say that it matters much. The VS feature is also
stepped. I would have prefered a dial or something. Again, I doubt it
matters.



Here's what I want:
1: Height adjustment from above the table without significant backlash
or horizontal spindle movement.

There's no horizontal movement at all. It's perfect.

2: Height adjustment that doesn't collect dust - either covered to
prevent entry or with a hole in the bottom to let dust out.

Mine has this problem.

3: Spindle lock that does not require extending spindle all the way up
to actuate, but has a separate mechanism that can be activated at any
time. An alternative would be a two-wrench collet.

Mine is 2-wrench.

4: Robust lift mechanism that will last more than a year - prefereably
with no plastic parts to wear out.

As far as I can tell, there's no plastic at all. It's cast aluminum,
plate steel, and brass.


BTW, I considered a shaper, but I don't have room for another
stand-alone machine in my shop right now.

I may get a shaper some day. I considered it. For what I paid for my
router setup, I could have bought a decent shaper. But I was scared
away by the spindle speeds. Even with the router bit collet adapters,
shapers just don't turn fast enough even on their fast speed settings.

brian