I’ve long wanted some type of hold-down hold-in system that was faster, easier, safer, and more flexible than the traditional feather boards. Here it is! Thank you JessEm for figuring this out. Plus these new clear-cut stock guides are darn cool looking… and I’m a sucker for cool looking tools!
What they are
The system consists of a pair of guides that mount to any 1/4″ t-slot track (there’s also a shop-made fence mounting kit available). There’s an infeed guide and an outfeed guide. Each guide has a mounting bolt and a pivoting lock bolt. The height range when mounted on my router table is from 0″ to 2-3/8″. Plenty of capacity, and I can get more if I use my tall fence. The rubber-tire rollers are angled inward 5° to keep stock tight to the fence; this is their hold-in feature. Also, the rollers only rotate in the feed direction; this is their anti-kickback feature. An allen wrench (included) is used in the pivot bolt thumb knob to “extra” tighten the guides to the fence.
How they work
Mount your bit and guard and bring your fence forward out of the way of the router bit. Loosely mount the JessEm Clear-Cut infeed and outfeed guides. Set your stock under each guide, press the guide down with slight pressure, tighten the non-pivoting mounting bolt knob, then tighten the pivoting lock bolt knob, and then secure the guides in place using the allen wrench. Set the router table fence to the proper depth and run your cut. The guides precisely hold and guide the stock as you feed it past the bit.
Pros
Small, well made, smooth running and precise. Eliminates the need for a hold-in, and I feel that’s their greatest advantage. One-direction rollers eliminate kickback (JessEm’s claim).
Cons
High $119.99 retail price, $99.95 introductory price. Allen wrench needed to lock the guides. My Rockler t-track is non-standard so I had to change the guide hex head bolts to t-bolts; this is not JessEm’s fault.
Photos by Author
Source:
JessEm Tool Company
www.jessem.com
866-272-7492
After only two years the O-rings completely melted into a gooey mess of silicone. When I asked for replacement JessEm wanted 4x$1.85 plus another $9 for mail them. I was able to find better quality at O-Rings.com for $.06 ea plus a $4 for USPS. Since replacing my original "while" o-rings I've noticed they have now replaced them with black ones. Obviously they know they have a quality problem....I really like their product but in this case very disappointed in their warranty support.
jesses has put together a great tool. Well worth the money. Wish I had purchased this sometime ago. But oh well. I'm about to go down and purchase the clear stocks guides for the table saw today because they work so well on my router table. Thank you Jessem
Hi, You do not mention what router you use. I have two router tables in my hobby shop. The router I had fitted into the home built router table addition to my tablesaw is a 3HP heavy duty model. It's very heavy. I have to remove the router from the table for each bit change, which becomes a pain after two or three bit changes. I bought the Jessem router lift two which fit my router fine. Things are much quicker and much easier with the lift. A joy to use. If I ever have another project requiring lots of bit changes, I will buy another because the router lift removes the "I hate Changing bits" out of my work. Hope this helps. Ed
I am wondering about the Mast-R-Lift router lift by Jessem. I have been remodeling my house by building cabinets with raised panel doors. I have three router tables, one to cut the rail profile, one for the stile profile, and one for the raised panel bit with under cutter. The last router table is also used for other cuts too (door edges, round overs, etc.). All the profiles have to be set just right to get the 3 parts to fit correctly. I hate removing the bits because it takes a while to get them set up to match the other profiles. I usually only try to take out the raised panel bit w/undercutter and it is a pain to get it set back up to fit the rail and stile. I don't see how the Mast-R-Lift really helps speed up the alignment. I don't want to spend close to $400 if I can't be sure that the bit set-up will be quicker. Can someone explain why the Mast-R-Lift is so helpful? I think the raised panels are a good example because all 3 cuts are so dependent on each other.