MLCS Box Joint cutter #7860 ISSUE~!!

Is it worth 5 stars then?

If the fit is snug is that good enough? Did you try gluing a sample with yellow wood glue to see if that would be enough? I think epoxy in a finger joint will leave a lot of cleaning after it dries. You get a mess with yellow glue too but it’s easy to clean.

I’m guessing there’s a picture in the review but it’s not coming through so I can’t tell how bad the joint is.

sounds like you are having some issues with this cutter how come it’s rated as 5 stars? I’m confused.

-- ㊍ When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.

I didn’t even think about the stars

I’m more interested in what other people think. It’d be really cool to hear from people who have faced this issue.

I sort of wonder how many people just glue ‘em together and take the fit on faith.

-- When the moderator chooses sides, his site sucks.

Leave it be unless you want to drive yourself crazy with playing checkers with the shims.
I would assemble with the glue and wipe the excess off wit a damp rag and call it good.
I assume there is a small amount of wobble between all those pieces stacked up and that compounds the size errors.

-- Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.

Or P.M. me, I’ll give you my address, rnail me the tool and I’ll grind everything to the right dimensions and you’ll be good to go. No shims

-- Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.

Or P.M. me, I’ll give you my address, rnail me the tool and I’ll grind everything to the right dimensions and you’ll be good to go. No shims

CR1…I have that set and, with poplar and oak anyway, the glue seems to swell the joint.
I’ve called them on other issues and they’ve always either gave me a fix on the phone or sent me a new cutter.

-- Gene 'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

Cr MLCS has always been good to me if you don’t like the bit they will give you another one or refund your money .

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

My Grandfather was a master Cabinet builder. Always told me never to trust anything that came out of China. Now I know why. Thanks for the heads up. (P.S. The Chinese killed my dog with their poisoned dog food, so I MAY be biased against them)

-- Adventure? Heh! Excitement? Heh! A Woodworker craves not these things!

What I dood wid it wuz dis:

I made a pass in some hard wood. Measured each finger and each slot.
Made a drawing posted here: http://store.gardentenders.com/topics/32249

Figured which fingers could use some changes and added shims accordingly.
I have a pretty workable box joint cutter now.
I wouldn’t say it is perfect like some thing I’d expect from Amana or Whiteside but it’s serviceable.

There’s another “ISSUE” It tends to Burn. Brand friggin new and it burns? Yah. I’m dealing with that by running the router at it’s slowest speed and feeding very carefully.

Well I only paid $50.00 for it so I suppose I got what I paid for – - – ( How many times have I warned people that you get what you pay for?)

Another “ISSUE” It grabs. The cutter cuts most smoothly and with the least grab when the individual cutters are staggered. Aligned as they are from the factory, it tends to grab the work and suck it into the cutter. Takes a hell of a Armstrong Forged C clamp to clamp it tight enough to resist the grab.

-- When the moderator chooses sides, his site sucks.

If you have speed control on the router, and it sounds like you do, then SPEED UP the router a little. If you run it too slow, it’s gonna burn. Getting the speed and the rate of feed just right together hopefully wil take care of the burning….

-- " Don't ever wrestle a pig in a mudhole....he'll be having more fun than you..!!

Spanker, sorry about your dog. If my dog were poisoned, I’d be ready to make someone pay with their head. I’m sincerely sorry to hear this.

Cr1, just wet the damn joints and let them swell;)

-- My dad and I built a 65 chev pick up.I killed trannys in that thing for some reason-Hog

If you want really consistant box joints, make a jig for the table saw and a dado blade. This you have control of the cuts. Once everything is aligned, takes a little time, you can cut box joints all day long with a high degree of accuracy.

Just a thought

-- David in Damascus, MD

GGEEEZZZ AL, I wish I had thought of that….give them a bath in hot water…..when they cool down….swelled up….sometimes my thumb swells up when I drink too much coffee…..lol.

Actually…..David has the right idea….I made a few box joint jigs for the saw a long time ago..in fact I have about 3….one for 1/4”, 1/2”, and 3/4” b.j.s. I use the dado blades also to make mine, as a lot of folks do…much easier, safer, and quicker….I’ve heard tell of some folks using a single saw blade…...takes too long, and too slow…..yea dados…..Where would we be without them? That’s all, folks….!!!!

-- " Don't ever wrestle a pig in a mudhole....he'll be having more fun than you..!!

^Rick, sometimes my whole body does that after too much coffee, lol. I suspect Cr1 was more curious about this bit than anything, given that the ts method is the most common. Fingerjoints for end-to-end stuff on the router table, I can see; but I never held out much hope for this bit.

Someone makes a really expensive 1/4” dedicated boxjoint blade, maybe Forrest? I imagine that would be the best of all Worlds. With a good jig and a proper register pin, I think you could blaze through these pretty quickly. However, Cr1 is taking it to a new level with the sheer number of boxes he builds at one time.

-- My dad and I built a 65 chev pick up.I killed trannys in that thing for some reason-Hog

Al,
So your whole body swells, huh? Sounds like a bloating problem to me….lol…I usually have about 2 pots a day…drinking some now as we talk…..I’ll have to go have a nap in a few to let it wear off…..!!!!!
Yea, I’ve never cut much of any kind of joints on the router table….finger, box, all, on the table saw….I do have a setup I made from watching the Router Workshop using the dovetail bit and a rig they invented.

You got it…...Forrest makes that boxjoint blade, and that mutha is high….there may be other mfgs., but don’t know of any right off….I don’t build boxes….I use mine mainly for drawers, small cabinets, etc….easy peasy…..

-- " Don't ever wrestle a pig in a mudhole....he'll be having more fun than you..!!