Spindle Motor or plunge router table?

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kyanther I

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I need to replace my generic router lift and router (round body not plunge). I was thinking of Spindle Motor in a incra lift but then hit a problem, I made the mistake of thinking the ujk professional cast top would fit most plates but it seems to only fit there own plates at 305mm x 229mm they don't do one for any round body routers.
So the question is
1 do I buy ujk router lift and something like the Makita RP2301 and a musclechuck.
2. Buy a new tabletop and stick with my 1st choice?
Any advice/ comments would be greatly appreciated.
Oh this is all on the side of a 12" axminster tablesaw with an incra fence system on it that I'm in the process of building.
20200628_162948.jpg
 
Personally, I'm not a fan of the Axminster table. Yes it is cast but it's expensive and their router lift leaves the router a long way below the table even at highest. Put one of the most common routers in it ( a DW625) and it's pretty much unusable without an extension (this can't ever be a good thing). Look at the Jessem and AUK router motor combo from Woodworkers Workshop if you have the money to spend and must have a router table rather than a smal spindle - it's not all that much more and I suuspect far better.

As an aside, if I were doing something like this, I'd also like the VFD / Chinese spindle approach too if I had facilities to make whatever custom brackets were needed to hold it.
 
Hi

If you have the cash then the AUK is the way to go, look for the post by MikeK from Germany as he has built an impressive router table setup using the same Incra fence as yourself and the AUK.
 
A small spindle moulder would be another solution. Far more rigid than any router, better quality of cut and more versatile. It probably secondhand would be a more economic solution. Looking at your arrangement you could have the room to accommodate one.
 
Thankyou all for your help. I think I'm going to go auk as the motor and Keep the cast top. I'm thinking of over coming the plate size problem by removing the top plate of my lift and bolting the 10mm universal ujk aluminium one in its place.

Your setup look great Mike!
 
Hi,
I have the same requirement.
I've had an Axminster table and lift for some years. The cast iron table is great but, as Sideways said, an extension is necessary. I also have two DW625s with broken bearings which tend to confirm Sideways' comment that an extension is not a good idea!
So I have been looking for a lift that fits the Axminster table which will accept a fixed router motor rather than a plunge router.
They are available in Europe - it seems that European router table inserts are the same size as the Axminster insert.
Sautershop.com, in Germany, sell various lift and motor combinations that use an insert that is 306 x 229mm (Axminster 305 x 229). They are expensive, but not much more so that the AUK/JessEm combinations.
I'm tempted - I'll let you know if I take the plunge!
 

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