A new angle on routing
The Sauter OFL3.0 Pivoting Router Lift takes a shaper’s tilting feature and puts it into a table-based router lift
Shapers are fantastic tools. Like router tables on steroids, there’s almost nothing they can’t do. They’re workhorses that can handle hundreds of feet of stock in a day, and use cutters large enough for even heavy millwork. One of their most useful features, however, is a tilting head capable of producing complicated profiles.
On the downside, they’re big, require a decent bit of shop-floor real estate, and are expensive. Prices vary greatly, but a decent one will start at just under $2,000 and climb rapidly from there. But, if you have a large operation and need what they can do, they’re an excellent investment.
But what if you don’t need the heavy-duty aspect of a shaper, or simply don’t need one for frequent use, but would still like the luxury of tilted cutting? A new tool from Sauter, a Germany-based manufacturer, does just that by taking a shaper’s tilting feature and putting it into a table-based router lift.
Distributed in the U.S. exclusively by MicroJig, the Sauter OFL3.0 Pivoting Router Lift is sized to fit typical router tables with a 9-1/4" x 11-3/4" plate cutout, making it drop-in compatible with most tables. The lift functions pretty much like those you’re already used to, utilizing a removable crank to operate the lift mechanism. The tilt function ranges from -5 degrees to 50 degrees, with presets at common angles. Leaving the mechanism set at vertical, it functions like a regular router table.
At $1,600 it isn’t cheap, but the included 2-hp variable-speed router, a 3/8" aluminum mounting plate, both 1/4" and 1/2" collets, magnetic throat plates, wrenches and an undermount dust shield soften the sticker shock. Still, it’s less expensive than a good shaper.
It can’t handle heavy millwork, of course – for that you’d need to spring for a shaper with beefy cutters – but for doing angled cutting on the router table you already have, this is an interesting option. No extra shop space required.
A.J. Hamler is the former editor of Woodshop News and Woodcraft Magazine. He's currently a freelance woodworking writer/editor, which is another way of stating self-employed. When he's not writing or in the shop, he enjoys science fiction, gourmet cooking and Civil War reenacting, but not at the same time.
