A handy bit for the MFK 700

[pmkierst]

Doing some very light grooving in the last few days, decided to use the MFK 700. Grooves are a little over 1/4" wide and about 1/4" deep. I tried a regular 1/4" bit, but had a problem: It is too damn long. It wasn't seated in the collet right. Additionally, it vibrated and generally made a PITA of itself. So I dropped by my local drug dealer and bought a Stubby Straight Bit. This thing is ideal for the MFK 700; combined with the edge guide and a dial caliper, I could use the micro adjust on the the edge guide to directly dial in the difference (beyond the original groove pass) to offset the fence and hit it very easily in a very clean groove. Damn fine, and makes the 700 sing.

 

[pmkierst]

Thought I would add the procedure I used:

Cut groove. Measure groove width, in metric, using dial caliper. Measure target piece thickness, in metric, using caliper. Dial in the difference on the micro adjust on the fence. I add .1 or .2 mm. Widen groove. Dead on every time, quite impressive. The only real hitch is the quite large amount of backlash on the microadjust; you must make sure it is snug up before you adjust, or you'll get it wrong. The amount of back-lash is non-festool quality, IMO, but the edge guide is quite cheap I guess and it can be worked around. The other trick here is to widen in right direction so you get a clean cut.