| Review by darthford | posted 03-09-2021 12:24 AM | 1389 views | 0 times favorited | 10 comments |  |
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- SawStop RT-LFT
- Brand: SawStop | Category: Router Accessories
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Review: Inspection and Assembly of SawStop router lift, cast iron router table, mobile stand, downdraft dust collection box, and fence. Plus a Bora Portamate 3.25hp router motor.
Here it is fully assembled. There was a lot of assembly required over several days. I have to say everything fit perfectly there wasn’t a single hitch or issue during assembly. I was quite impressed with the quality, fit and finish. The components seem heavy duty.
Here’s the back, that fence is a solid one piece ‘L’ shaped extrusion and pretty heavy. The fence rails are also pretty thick. They provided nearly twice the length of hose required I cut a healthy amount off. The dust collection box is steel and the ports (cord, hose, vent, etc) can be moved around to various locations. There’s a large metal door on the front for access secured via a magnet.
Here I flipped the table over. The cast iron table is well ribbed. The stand is quite sturdy with plenty of wiggle room to adjust square and true. So much wiggle room I had to use a square as I tightened the screws in phases. Love the 3 wheel mobile base but the wheels are hard plastic, I’ll be looking for some urethane replacement wheels. 2×3 inch and 1×2.5 inch. The leveling feet are also hard plastic, I may replace with rubber.
That’s some eye popping mechanical right there. Very smooth operating and the fit and finish is superb. I wanted a 4 post that locks, check and check.
Here’s the top, again the fit and finish and feel of a finely crafted product is obvious.
Here’s the Bora Portamate 3.25hp router motor. The only router in this hp range I could find available everything else is on backorder. It was a perfect fit for the SawStop router lift.
Here’s a money shot of the 32×24 inch cast iron table. It’s DEAD FLAT front to back with a Starrett 24 inch rule. Side to side not so much. The center 20 inches is dead flat. The last 6 inches to the left and right dip down slightly. Haven’t measured it yet but with 20 inches of flat in the center it should be fine. If the left/right edges were high rather than low that would have been an issue.
10 comments so far
BigAl98
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265 posts in 4097 days
#1 posted 03-10-2021 01:40 AM
How much $....or link?
-- Al,Midwest -To thine own self be true
Dmitriy_S
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29 posts in 1047 days
#2 posted 03-10-2021 04:44 AM
While it is a really nice router table, it is out of my affordability. Congrats on a new router table
darthford
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676 posts in 2982 days
#3 posted 03-10-2021 05:28 AM
$1,526
Cast iron top and mobile stand $819
Four post router lift $399
32” fence $169
Downdraft dust collection box $139
Peteybadboy
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3298 posts in 3008 days
#4 posted 03-10-2021 11:08 AM
I took it off my list when I saw that you can’t add (Woodpeckers) micro adjuster to the fence. That is a must for me. I use it all the time. Thanks for posting
-- Petey
WillliamMSP
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1160 posts in 2663 days
#5 posted 03-10-2021 01:11 PM
While the Woodpecker wouldn’t work, JessEm has a micro-adjuster and I think that it would work. I have the same SawStop fence and believe that it’s made by JessEm, with a few small differences. I outlined it in my review of the fence – https://www.lumberjocks.com/reviews/12192
-- Practice makes less sucky. (Bill, Minneapolis, MN)
darthford
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676 posts in 2982 days
#6 posted 03-10-2021 04:25 PM
I took a look and the JessEm won’t work without drilling/tapping two holes in the fence. Read your review also. The SS fence is intentionally fouled up with the dovetail top track and no track on the back/bottom of the fence for a micro adjuster.
I have to say I find all these router table fences primitive in design. Nothing like the ease of a T fence on a table saw or bandsaw. Adjusting the SS fence parallel is a laughable process and other than the fancy Incra I don’t see any of the other router table fences being much better. With this cast iron table I may be able to adapt a T style fence I’ll have to give that some thought.
WillliamMSP
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1160 posts in 2663 days
#7 posted 03-10-2021 05:40 PM
With the Mast-R-Fence II, which I believe the RT-F32 is based on, you use a little adapter bracket rather than drill holes -
https://jessem.com/collections/router-table-accessories/products/new-mounting-bracket-for-micro-adjuster
-- Practice makes less sucky. (Bill, Minneapolis, MN)
Madmark2
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2524 posts in 1647 days
#8 posted 03-10-2021 05:51 PM
Great review but lacks one important detail—how does it cut?!
Does all of this help you make better projects? Can you remake a project that was so-so and show how much this has improved your work?
Does the dust collection work well?
Let us know how well it works otherwise this post is just a brag.
-- The hump with the stump and the pump!
darthford
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676 posts in 2982 days
#9 posted 03-10-2021 08:31 PM
Say that will work fine, congrats you are officially “the man”!
darthford
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676 posts in 2982 days
#10 posted 03-10-2021 08:35 PM
This is the first review covering “Inspection and Assembly” I’ll be back after I put it through its paces with the Leigh 16” RTJ400 dovetail/box joint jig.
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