Bench Dog 40-016 ProLift Max Router Top-Adjustment System

by Bench Dog

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

If you’re tired of crawling under your router table to make adjustments, then you’re going to love the Bench Dog 40-016 ProLift Max Router System. This cleverly designed device allows you to make all height adjustments and bit changes from above, while standing comfortably at the router table. The system is particularly useful when working with large, heavy fixed-base routers.

The 40-016 has a precision-crafted cast-iron housing and durable bronze bushings that glide up and down on dual hardened-steel columns. The insert plate has three bit-hole sizes (2-inch, 2.6-inch, and 3.7-inch) for accommodating most router bits. A crank-style wrench is included for quickly raising and lowering the router from above.

All these exclusive features and heavy-duty construction don’t come cheap, but the Bench Dog 40-016 ProLift Max Router System is ruggedly built and designed to last a lifetime, even in a professional woodworking shop. Note that an adapter is required—and sold separately—for mounting routers measuring less than 4.2-inches in diameter. -- Joseph Truini

From the Manufacturer

ProLift Ni is Bench Dog's new cast iron top-adjust router system for fixed base routers! ProLift gives you the easiest bit changes on the market and the ability to zero-out and accurately set your bit height. The heavy duty ProLift Ni's core is a cast-iron motor housing, finned for cooling, with bronze bushings that adjust up and down on two hardened steel columns, guided by an 8 t.p.i. acme threaded shaft. This core is anchored to a 3/8-inch thick, cast iron, hard chrome plate that accepts three supplied steel insert rings (2-, 2.625- and 3.75-inch i.d.) and one supplied threaded insert pin. The insert pin mounts at four locations for freehand work. ProLift Ni is designed to accommodate for the largest routers, such as the Porter Cable 7518 (4.2 inches in diameter) and is built to last a lifetime. A speed wrench is included. An adapter is required to accommodate fixed base router motors with a diameter of less than 4.2-inch. Adapter sold separately. (See A1001 and A1002). Made in the USA.

Product Details

Product Manual [1.68mb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 28.2 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B00005RKNW
• California residents: Click here for Proposition 65 warning.
• Item model number: 40-016
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #145,455 in Home Improvement (See Top 100 in Home Improvement)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Precision, heavy duty., December 11, 2002

By 

Michael Turner (Renton, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bench Dog 40-016 ProLift Max Router Top-Adjustment System (Tools & Home Improvement)

This router lift is a heavy duty, precision mechanism. It is possible to adjust your bit height to within .001". The 8 threads per inch adjusting screw means it it is much faster to raise the bit than the competition. The lift holds the router motor directly, so you can raise it high enough to change the bit from the top. I estimate that this lift cuts 2/3 from my set-up time.
Some nit-picking: An insert that fits Porter-Cable type guide bushings is extra cost.
I recommend that you get a remote on-off switch for safety's sake, since, like all table routers, the controls on the router are awkward to access.

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE BEST, April 9, 2005

By 

P. Cirincione (brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bench Dog 40-016 ProLift Max Router Top-Adjustment System (Tools & Home Improvement)

I installed mine in the promax cast iron table with a Porter Cable 7518 router,with this combo you can't go wrong. first of all, the product description is incorrect about two things, one the top is steel on the newest model not cast iron (but who cares the plating and machineing are beautiful) and two it weighs 22lbs not 12lbs(34lbs with pc7518 installed). it's solid and smooth. We got a woodpecker PRL at work and there is no comparison, the benchdog is a much more heafty and solid a tool. It's just a beautiful piece, the pictures don't do it justice. The best part is that it uses a real acme lead screw for height adjustment with thick solid threads which will probably never wear out, some might argue that a finer 60deg screw is more accurate, just go take a look at what they use in a bridgport milling machine(and every other close tolerence machine tool for that matter). One big point is that the bench dog lift is maybe the only lift that can put the porter cable 7518 body through the hole in the plate so that the back of the collet is above the table(check out my pictures). The woodpecker PRL can't nor can the jessems, both require an offset wrench or you need to pull the lift from the table. If you look closely at the pictures of these other lifts you will notice that in the above the table bit changing shots they put in a pc690 router which looks similar but is much smaller than it's big brother the 7518 and if you down load the PDF manuals they pretty much tell you. Both the Jessem and woodpecker lifts are beautiful machines, I have used them both, but the prolift stands apart. The heft, accuracy, and superb quality of the bench dog prolift make it worth every penny (and the wait). also it is made in the USA, big points in my book.

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Taming the Monster, August 31, 2004

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Bench Dog 40-016 ProLift Max Router Top-Adjustment System (Tools & Home Improvement)

I actually made the decision to purchase this router insert for a logical reason. I wanted to use the Porter-Cable 7518 router (more about that in another review), and that router is a pain to work with in with a standard insert. The ProLift is designed to work with a 7518 right out of the box, and solves the big problem of using a 3-1/4 horsepower router in a table - secure and accurate settings.

The first thing you notice taking the ProLift out of the box is that is a solid 12 pound piece of cast iron, chrome steel and bronze. Actually setting the router up is quite simple, other than wrestling with all the weight. Three different bit inserts need to be leveled, and then all that remains is setting the ProLift into it's final resting place.

Turning on the router reveals that the ProLift is in complete control of the 7518's power. Vibration levels are minimal and height adjustment is almost fun. This is an ideal combination, even if it is an expensive one, resulting in a table that is capable of an extensive variety of tasks.

[Part IV of 'How to Build a Really Expensive Router Table']