utbigrod Posted November 7, 2010 Report Share Posted November 7, 2010 Okay, Marc, hope you read this because I took the plunge after reading about the deal on your site! So I got one of the Mast-r-lifts from Jessem when they were running the $129 deal for the Chinese version. Supposed to be same quality and everything. Well I got it and went to start installing and before I did I wanted to check flatness. Not flat...ugh. It has a dish in the middle of the aluminum plate. I don't have feeler gauges so I went with the old trusty dollar bill which I know to be .004" thick. So just outside the plastic insert I could fit the bill folded 3 times but not 4. So that makes it .012 - .016 out...approximately 1/64". How much should I be concerned about this? For edge treatments and the such I am not concerned at all about it. It's more of the rail and stile bit usage that concerns me. Will this introduce play into my joints? I don't have a R&S bit set yet, but do plan on purchasing in the future. The reason I'm asking is because I called their Customer Service and they said they were all out of that version so they couldn't send me a new one. I have 3 options: 1. Keep it and not worry about the dish (leaning to this option now pending the group's feedback) 2. Return it for full refund 3. Pay an extra $100 and get a new Mast-r-lift II (The $150, after shipping, was already at top of my budget, so not wanting to spend another Benjamin even though the MRLII would be nice) Look forward to the feedback. I'm an ex-engineer for an aviation engine manufacturer so .016" out seems like a whole lot to me! thanks Brad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewoodwhisperer Posted November 7, 2010 Report Share Posted November 7, 2010 To be honest, I always have trouble deciding what is "acceptable" when it comes to flatness in the world of woodworking. Its certainly much more forgiving than metal work, but how much is too much? Seems to be a fairly personal decision and tolerance levels can vary from woodworker to woodworker. I always joke that my old tablesaw was absolutely perfect, only because I never tested it for flatness. In all likelihood, it was out. But if the cuts were good and I didn't have any problems, apparently the table was flat enough. But I am sure that if I took some feeler gauges to it, I would start to see the saw as flawed. When I got my new saw, I had to test it for flatness just for the sake of a video I was doing. Unfortunately, it was out. I can't remember the numbers but it was enough that I was concerned. Had a new top delivered and it was out of flat too. I eventually got frustrated enough to live with it. I had too much work to do and needed to get some projects going. A few years later, I am still producing top notch cuts with predictable results and the only thing that would tell me the saw was out of flat would be a straight edge and some feeler gauges. The work itself shows no evidence. So the point is, this could be the same situation with your router plate. But you won't know until you fire it up and make some cuts. Of course, some personalities (usually engineers, lol), just can't relax knowing something is not dead flat. So if it does wind up bothering you that much, at least get the refund. And if you decide to upgrade, keep in mind that the next lift might not be perfectly flat either..... So I don't know that I even answered your question, but maybe someone else has first-hand experience with an out of flat router lift. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nateswoodworks Posted November 9, 2010 Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 I recently bought a new router lift and it is flat but my old Rockler aluminum plate is not. It is dished a little but I always got great results from it. Before that I had a Rousseau that had a large crown in it, on purpose, and I hated it. I agree with Marc that you aren't going to know for sure until you use it but since you don't have a rail and stile bit set yet I would suggest doing something like stub tennon door frame, sliding dovetail, or box joints (for the box joints just make sure the jig you make lets your stock ride on the router lift plate and not on a cradle). This should give you a pretty good feeling if the dish in the router plate is going to affect you. Good luck Nate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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