Good grief. A $350 blade so I can "Fold a single sheet of plywood into a neat, seamless box with just a few cuts."
I'll pass, thanks.
I'll pass, thanks.
RichT
It's a bit pricey if you already have a Dado set. But it sure does speed things up. Check out the YouTube videos of it. The guy who invented it is Andrew Klein.
I'm a bit biased because I know him personally (we used to work together), but I want to see it do well. I also want to see sawstop support it so I can have one.
I find that I have so little time in the shop, spending money on tools of convinience helps me get stuff done and feel like I accomplish something in the time I do have.
Brian
I'm a bit biased because I know him personally (we used to work together), but I want to see it do well. I also want to see sawstop support it so I can have one.
I find that I have so little time in the shop, spending money on tools of convinience helps me get stuff done and feel like I accomplish something in the time I do have.
Brian
This seems like a good alternative if you don't have a router table. A $11 v groove bit on the RT will accomplish the same thing. I'd like the see a comparison of cross grain gear out between the two to see if there is a quality difference in the cuts.
Here is a link I found for this set
In high-end contemporary cabinetry we are wearing out miterfold router bits all the time.
To me, this looks like an innovative new way to make this joint. I am impressed!
The cost is a bit steep, yes.
But try miterfolding a 8ft long finished end panel with a router bit, (In $400 per sheet sequence-matched Exotic veneer plywood no less), then tell me which is the right tool for the job.
The cost of one screw up with a router would more than pay for this blade.
I just found this post and know very little about the product. (This is not an endorsement)
Just saying, the router bit method really sucks when you have lots of very large pieces and the cost of making mistakes is really high.
In high-end contemporary cabinetry we are wearing out miterfold router bits all the time.
To me, this looks like an innovative new way to make this joint. I am impressed!
The cost is a bit steep, yes.
But try miterfolding a 8ft long finished end panel with a router bit, (In $400 per sheet sequence-matched Exotic veneer plywood no less), then tell me which is the right tool for the job.
The cost of one screw up with a router would more than pay for this blade.
I just found this post and know very little about the product. (This is not an endorsement)
Just saying, the router bit method really sucks when you have lots of very large pieces and the cost of making mistakes is really high.
If the blade is supposed to be 1/32 below the surface of the plywood how do you maintain that spec with today plywood varying in thickness throughout the same sheet let alone several different sheets. Most successful miter folding I've seen is done on a CNC machine cutting from the above which takes care of thickness variations in stock thickness. 1/32 isn't a whole lot to play with.
Yeah, I think it might work better making
the cuts from above on a radial arm saw.
There was an article many years ago about
a custom-made setup for making miter
folded boxes for some electrical equipment.
The fellow used a radial arm saw with
a v-groove cutter on it.
On the table saw any deviation from flat in
the board or out-of-spec thickness is
likely to cause a depth variation.
the cuts from above on a radial arm saw.
There was an article many years ago about
a custom-made setup for making miter
folded boxes for some electrical equipment.
The fellow used a radial arm saw with
a v-groove cutter on it.
On the table saw any deviation from flat in
the board or out-of-spec thickness is
likely to cause a depth variation.
I understand the possible value in a cabinet shop but yikes, it cost more than my table saw … 45 years ago!
I'm glad I posted this. The blade initially left me shaking my head, but you all cleared up things nicely.
DS - I can see it from a production shop perspective. Thanks for clearing that up for me.
AlaskaGuy - That was what kept coming up in my thoughts on it. The cut from the top makes sense, just as Loren pointed out.
Loren - That makes total sense. I hadn't thought of it that way.
Everyone else, thanks for your input. I still won't be buying in the foreseeable future
DS - I can see it from a production shop perspective. Thanks for clearing that up for me.
AlaskaGuy - That was what kept coming up in my thoughts on it. The cut from the top makes sense, just as Loren pointed out.
Loren - That makes total sense. I hadn't thought of it that way.
Everyone else, thanks for your input. I still won't be buying in the foreseeable future
I hope the product does well at Rockler. New woodworking innovations are few and far between. It's always good to see innovation in the field.
Gotta love comments like this with absolutely no merit.
Having used one of these sets multiple times, it does work as advertised. Like any specialized tool, it takes a little time to learn to use it. There is a bit of setup and you need to pay attention to your measurements. But once there, it works very well and the folded joint looks really nice.
It is well made with thick carbide teeth and tight tolerances on the arbor holes. It cuts very clean with a very flat bottom dado. As a comparison, a Forrest dado king runs $290 - $320 a set for just a dado stack, this set adds the folding blade to the mix. And you don't have to use the fold blade all the time, it can be used as a standard dado stack up to 7\8" wide.
Having said that, it may not be the best choice for someone who makes 1 or 2 boxes infrequently but for someone who makes a lot of boxes/drawers with full thickness bottoms, it should be a serious consideration.
I have the set and have to say you get a lot of carbide for your money. Don't forget you will never have all the set on the arbor of the saw at any one time - cutting a dado will only use some of the blades including the massive 1/4 "chipper. If you want to make a large veneered box like a speaker cabinet its going to be a lot easier to veneer the substrate first and then make the cuts.
I have also found it easier than using the lock miter router bit and there is no fear of a regular joint 'telegraphing' through the veneer after a few years.
Not all boxes will need a thick bottom certainly and I have built a long thin sled to mill the joints with a pre milled groove for a thin ply bottom. The only anomaly is that you need to flip the board around with each cut otherwise the joints will be 'asymmetrical' - only an issue if they are on show.
Its been a learning curve so far but I can think of worse ways to spend my money.
I have also found it easier than using the lock miter router bit and there is no fear of a regular joint 'telegraphing' through the veneer after a few years.
Not all boxes will need a thick bottom certainly and I have built a long thin sled to mill the joints with a pre milled groove for a thin ply bottom. The only anomaly is that you need to flip the board around with each cut otherwise the joints will be 'asymmetrical' - only an issue if they are on show.
Its been a learning curve so far but I can think of worse ways to spend my money.
It can be used with other thicknesses as well. There is a minimum, but I think it is a quarter inch or something. The tech sheet at rockler said, but I don't recall exactly. The guy who invented it has a couple of YouTube videos showing some uses for it.
Brian
I agree it seems to only be for production shops, not the average woodworker. I've never made a drawer with a 3/4" bottom. Andy Klein invented this, and Rockler agreed to manufacture it, so they must see a market for it.
I saw a Workshop Addict review of it, and there are some issues. I think it only leaves 1/32 of material in the folding part of the joint, so you have to put tape on the cut line to help hold it together, and they said the instructions say to make two passes on each cut. Since the drawer is one big piece of plywood it seems to be a two man operation. It also is not compatible with SawStop because the tooth hits the SawStop Brake. Also, they said the packaging was horrible, taking the blades out basically destroyed the box, surprising for Rockler, and I guess pretty annoying if you spend $350 on a blade set to have the box fall apart as soon as you open it.
I saw a Workshop Addict review of it, and there are some issues. I think it only leaves 1/32 of material in the folding part of the joint, so you have to put tape on the cut line to help hold it together, and they said the instructions say to make two passes on each cut. Since the drawer is one big piece of plywood it seems to be a two man operation. It also is not compatible with SawStop because the tooth hits the SawStop Brake. Also, they said the packaging was horrible, taking the blades out basically destroyed the box, surprising for Rockler, and I guess pretty annoying if you spend $350 on a blade set to have the box fall apart as soon as you open it.
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