enlarging insert hole opening on router table top......big deal??

[tom coleman]

I have a router top with an insert plate opening that is 8 1/4 wide......I need to enlarge it to 9 1/4 to accomidate a jessum lift. Would appreciate suggestions on how to do this

[Kevin Jenness]

Assuming you have a rabbeted opening now, trim the narrower part flush and then use a 1/2" rabbeting bit to enlarge the hole.

[Keith Pitman]

Jessem sells a template: https://jessem.com/products/03003-ro...030ec141&_ss=r

Sometimes woodworking stores have templates to loan. Otherwise, you could sell it on.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Woodpeckers also makes a template that size:

https://carbideprocessors.com/woodpe...ning-template/

Like everything else from them though, it's in short supply.

[tom coleman]

thank you kevin.......should i buy a template from jessum for $25?? Or can i get by using the plate from jessum lift to set up the cut. I am guessing that I want to make a rabbet cut
3/8 inch deep (thickness of plate) for the new width........then cut away waste w a jig saw leaving a shoulder about 1/2 imch wide. Sound right?

[glenn bradley]

I enlarged mine from an older (small) Rockler plate to a Woodpecker size. One thing that makes things easier is to use a router bit with the radius of the plate corners. With that a simple four-board setup allows a perfect fit.

Router Template copy.jpg

Another method.

[Lisa Starr]

Tom, I made my own template for my Jessem lift. I just traced the lift and then carefully cut and sanded to the tracing. When the template fit the lift plate, I used it with a template collar to cut the opening. I then used a rabbiting bit with a bottom bearing to cut the ledge. I've used the template twice now and it has worked great both times.

[Kevin Jenness]

thank you kevin.......should i buy a template from jessum for $25?? Or can i get by using the plate from jessum lift to set up the cut. I am guessing that I want to make a rabbet cut
3/8 inch deep (thickness of plate) for the new width........then cut away waste w a jig saw leaving a shoulder about 1/2 imch wide. Sound right?

I don't see why you would need a template to enlarge the hole by one inch but I probably am missing something. I would trim away the shoulder of the existing rabbeted opening with a flush trim bit, then use a rabbeting bit that will cut a 1/2"wide x 3/8" deep rabbet. You might have to deal with a mismatch between the radii of the router lift and the rabbeting bit at the corners. The fit would depend on the relative sizes of the existing opening and the new lift- it could be that buying a template would be simpler for your purposes, or you could use Glenn's method.

[Dan Cameron]

I enlarged mine from an older (small) Rockler plate to a Woodpecker size. One thing that makes things easier is to use a router bit with the radius of the plate corners. With that a simple four-board setup allows a perfect fit.

Router Template copy.jpg

Another method.

Most router plates seem to have corners with 3/4" corner radii. To match this radius with Glen's technique would seem to require a bearing guided bit of 1.5" diameter. I wouldn't expect to find this in very many router bit collections.

[Doug Garson]

Seems to me everyone overestimates the need to get a perfect fit. The Jessum lift has snuggers to allow for an oversize opening plus corner screws to fasten it down. If your opening is oversized what's the big problem? The gap will fill up with wood dust but don't see how that is a big problem. To me it's just an appearance thing with no impact on performance. What am I missing?