Greetings all
I am in a bit of a quandry here, and I am hoping someone can help me out. I have two new tools which are being combined to make some raised panel doors for a customer, a Shelix flush trim shaper cutter, and a Woodhaven arched panel template. These folks wanted arched doors and I was in Woodcraft with money in my pocket, so you know the rest of the story.
Anyway, I have everything set up according to instructions. The Shelix has a flush cutting bearing installed, and the template is affixed to its template holder. I made my first cut, and boy did this thing cut nice! I am using curly wormy maple, and it goes in all directions. But then I noticed a flap of plastic hanging off the edge of the template. Upon closer inspection, it had a groove in it! I thought maybe I had the cutter adjusted too high, so I backed it off a hair, and ran the next piece through. Now I have a small ridge of wood left on the workpiece, and the groove in the plastic is deeper!
Okay, I have been known to make things too tight on occasion, so I checked the bearing. It spins freely with very little effort. Two more doors, and two more pieces with little ridges that need to be bumped off, not a real problem, but now there is a definite ridge in this template material. It doesn't look like the template material is providing enough friction for the bearing to stop turning with the rest of the cutter. For obvious reasons I did not stick any fingers in to find out if it is binding up somehow.
Anyway, after a very long winded explanation here, has anyone had an experience like this with the Woodhaven templates? I am leaning towards thinking they are the problem here, since the cutter seems to be working properly.
Thanks.
Bill