sommerfeld's height-matching bits

[Dan Scribner]

Greetings everyone,
Longtime lurker, first time post.
I replaced some built-in doors with nice raised panels using Sommerfeld's cabinet set and " easy jig" to set material height and all went smoothly.
Using His T&G set does'nt seem to work for me.
I set the groove bit heighth to match the"easy jig, swap bits with the tongue bit and thats where the problem lies. The bit is set too high. Seem like the bit shaft should be shorter .
Has anyone with this set encountered this?
Am I missing something?
My head's getting sore from all the scratching!
Dan

[Al Navas]

Dan,

Have you used a rubber grommet in the router collet, as described in the Sommerfeld videos? When I switch bits, they match perfectly. But the bits MUST be bottomed against a grommet every time. What happens sometimes is that some routers have a very deep collet, and the bits won't bottom at all, even with the rubber grommet in place.

You might want to give them a call, as they are usually pretty good addressing this type of question.


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[Dan Scribner]

Thanks Al,
Yes I do use the grommet to bottom the bits.
I'm using a pc890 (deep collet) , so using a small 1/4" drive socket with the gommet on top.

[Larry Prince]

Greetings everyone,
Longtime lurker, first time post.
I replaced some built-in doors with nice raised panels using Sommerfeld's cabinet set and " easy jig" to set material height and all went smoothly.
Using His T&G set does'nt seem to work for me.
I set the groove bit heighth to match the"easy jig, swap bits with the tongue bit and thats where the problem lies. The bit is set too high. Seem like the bit shaft should be shorter .
Has anyone with this set encountered this?
Am I missing something?
My head's getting sore from all the scratching!
Dan

I've been using the Sommerfeld T&G bits for almost 2 years now. While I love the T&G concept for cabinet construction, I'v found the height matching to be problematic. I'm using exactly the same setup that Marc Sommerfeld uses in his video, but with completly different results. The theory is sound but putting it into practice is another ball game.

I've resorted to using a Wixey height gauge to set the bits, which is a lot quicker than it might sound. That cleared most of the problems but there are other things that can cause them.

You must have a dead flat table top, with absolutely zero sag in it or in your router plate. The fence, too, must be dead flat and square with the table top.

Use push sticks or something similar to move the work past the bits, and it may also be necessary to use fingerboards to keep the work against the fence & table top.

I've never been able to make a set of cuts which fit together perfectly. I've been able to work around the problems tho and keep using the system for it's simplicity and speed of assembly.

I'm not sure where the basic problem lies. I'm seriously considering against the grommet in favor of something that isn't flexible. Supposedly this wont let the bit "suck down" into the collet, however I'll never know until I try.

If you find any solutions please post them and I'll do likewise.

[Brian Smith3]

Yes I have had the same issue. I have PC 7539 and the tongue cutter shaft is not long enough as the cutter base hits the collet before it bottoms out. If you shim the tongue cutter until the shaft hits the bottom grommets you will end up with a groove cutter that sits over the stock, way too high off the table.

So I just do what I do with a lock miter and run a small piece of stock to use as a gauge. I set my height to this piece of stock and then double check with a piece of scrap. It really is not all that difficult once you do it a couple of times. The key is that they match, not so much that the actual cutting distances are precise. Just make sure you do all the tongues and grooves at the same time (I do that anyway unlike on the video when he goes back and forth).

Also are you using prefinished ply? I have to run my grooves on the TS because of excessive chip out. It's a good concept but honestly you really could do the same thing with most any T&G set.

[Wayne Cannon]

Sommerfeld deals with this issue. For deep collets, they suggest dropping a short length of 1/2" dowel into the collet with the grommet atop the dowel.

I drilled a 1/8" hole in the end of the dowel to make it easy to remove using a wood screw.

I've had excellent results with matched pieces, though the earlier comment about a flat router table top, feather boards, etc. is certainly applicable.

[Larry Prince]

Also are you using prefinished ply? I have to run my grooves on the TS because of excessive chip out. It's a good concept but honestly you really could do the same thing with most any T&G set.

Yes, pre-finished ply. I've not had the problem on cuts with the grain but cross-grain results in really bad tear-out. My solution has been to set the fence forward for a cut that is 1/64-1/32" deep. A "scoring cut" is made at this depth, then the fence is set back for normal depth. This results in a clean cut with no tear-out.

[Rick Gooden]

On his video he mentions a zero clearance insert in passing. I had the same problem with tearout on plywood until I built a zero clearance fence, out of MDF, that fits over my normal fence. This only seems to work with the grain however.

[Dan Scribner]

Thanks for the comments guys.
My problem was the small socket i use ( because of the deep collet ) was not long enough for the shorter shank on the tongue cutter.

[Al Navas]

Thanks for the comments guys.
My problem was the small socket i use ( because of the deep collet ) was not long enough for the shorter shank on the tongue cutter.

GREAT! Congratulations, Dan!!!

It almost had to be something like this, as you would have found a problem with a flimsy router table top or something similar.

I am still puzzled why others have a problem, though... My suggestion: Call Sommerfeld Tools and discuss with Mark himself.


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