Re-Up!

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As late as today I was still pondering in which direction to go with the router lift mechanism: the makings of the lead-screw and all the various holes that need drilling in the plate and the router body are all but there, and I've got a pack of appropriately-sized ball races on the way. But, messing around with ideas this afternoon, I remembered that I'd got the rescued remains of an old 12v cordless drill [blog posts passim] in one of my bits boxes. I'd dismantled it some time ago, as its batteries were NiCads and had expired years ago, so it was confined to the unused stuff section of the studio - that's chucked in a corner to me and you.

The guts of the thing can be seen in the photograph next to the router on its plate, the rather gutsy motor to the left and the business end of the drill to the right. The chuck is, like the batteries, knackered, but the two-speed sun and planet gearbox - metal! - still functions perfectly. So, I've determined that this will be a motor-driven router lift, and so the next task is to further discombobulate the gearbox from the chuck/hammer assembly and try and arrange the thing so that I can drive the lead-screw from below with it. Its power will be taken from an ex-BT 50v rack supply, via a DC-DC convertor to drop the voltage to 12v. So there's my plan. Just got to execute it now! Keep you posted...

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