UJK Parf Guide System - Videos

[nclemmons]

Really well designed and executed.  Your videos make you realize 'why didn't I think of that'.  You nailed it with simplicity.

Would love to see this available in the US in time.

neil

 

[Stone Message]

I was just going to post the video on here but I find you lot already know.

Looks good Peter. I've posted it on the UK workshop forum.

Brilliant - well done. I am not a member of that forum and cannot take on another commitment like that so if there are any questions please get them referred to me either through YouTube or here.

Many thanks for your initiative.

Peter

 

[Stone Message]

Ingenious idea and am sure it will so be on my wish list

My one question is how critical is it that the 3mm pilot holes are as near as vertical as possible. If they are not vertical will it introduce error into the spacing of the 20mm dog holes?

The 3 mm holes need to be as near vertical as possible and that is not hard to achieve with the stainless steel guide provided in the kit. It only takes about 4 or 5 goes with it to sense when things are not upright.

Yesterday I had a woodworking novice visit me (at his expense and nothing was offered or promised in return) and I filmed him doing a small bench top for his garage workshop. He has been woodworking for just 3 months since retirement! He had no problems at all, I took no part in the use of the PGS and he produced a perfect piece of work. I will post a video about this when I can get the editing done.

As I said, nothing was offered or promised but I did give him a set of Veritas Parf Dogs and Small Bench Dogs as a thank-you at the end.

Peter

 

[Stone Message]

Great work Peter! Definitely an interesting product. Thanks for hanging in there with the idea until it was perfect.

A couple of observations
- I could envision a 3D printed dust shroud that would click on the 'bridge'. Though it could introduce some twist hose and all.
- Clearly having a Festool drill with removable chuck makes this easier. A regular drill could be a handful when setting up the 'bridge' for the next holes. What's your experience?

Questions
- What are the accuracy of the finished product. While its stated to be fairly accurate what is the real data ? Like a 5 cut test ?
- Is the 20 mm drill bit a tiny bit undersize as to give accurate holes ?

I am sure that there will be some accessories in the not too distant future - I have a number of ideas which can now be looked at in detail.

The Festool drill with the removable chuck is a great help but not essential - it just helps the operator do the move and does not affect the accuracy achieved.

The accuracy is well beyond the average woodworker's requirement. I use a 12" engineer's square for all of my work and I have done my best in the videos to show the near perfect cuts achieved using that square and the light behind it.

Peter

 

[Stone Message]

Really well designed and executed.  Your videos make you realize 'why didn't I think of that'.  You nailed it with simplicity.

Would love to see this available in the US in time.

neil

This is the very top of the to-do list and I am sure that Axminster will be looking at the North American options very hard in the next day or two.

Peter

 

[jools]

Brilliant as usual Peter and thanks for the videos that always make things look simple and answer the questions we all want to ask. It's very competitively priced and about the same as a one off CNC top which makes it a must have. In the hands of woodworkers I can see a rash of homemade cutting and clamping jigs breaking out on the fog. I've wanted a simple top for site work but never got round to making one continuing to drag the MFT around and just finished a new workshop in the garden that needs a bench.
I am definatly ordering one to fulfill those needs safe in the knowledge that if it's the wrong shape, size etc all I lose is material and not expensive CNC time.
Well done
Jools

 

[cliffp]

I second what Petey83 said about UJK quality being top notch. I bought one of their mitre gauge/fences and its excellent.

 

[Stone Message]

Please forgive me taking this short cut to thank everyone for the very kind comments and the encouragement above. As you might imagine, I have been inundated with emails, messages and phone calls and, as a one man band, am working flat out.

Thank you very much indeed.

Peter

 

[Jimmy FineCut]

I noticed this on the Axminster website this morning and then discovered this thread!

Great work Peter. I can see many uses for this, jigs setups in particular.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/ujk-technology-parf-guide-system-102278

 

[Stone Message]

I noticed this on the Axminster website this morning and then discovered this thread!

Great work Peter. I can see many uses for this, jigs setups in particular.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/ujk-technology-parf-guide-system-102278

Yes, do not be put off by it being "Out of Stock" - the system is set up so that you can still put it in your basket to order it.

Axminster are shipping to North America (and other charming places across the World).

Peter

 

[DB10]

Hi Peter,
              Thanks for the video demo. I'll be visiting the UK next month and thought this would be a great item to bring back to Australia with me. I spoke with a nice lady at Axminster today and she said these items are proving to be very popular so I'm on backorder. Lets hope the factory in Axminster will be burning some midnight oil and ramping up production. I'm looking forward to receiving this. thanks again.

 

[rmwarren]

I volunteered to be the test case in NA, the system accepted the order but note that they have to "quote" shipping.

I recall having this happen on a previous Axminster order, so I expect to receive an email with the shipping quote, from which I have a link to complete the order. Pretty nice system, customer friendly.

RMW

PS - Peter, excellent design. It is no small matter to overcome all the design challenges and end up with a viable product that can be mass produced and marketed for a reasonable price. Kudos to you!

 

[Stone Message]

I volunteered to be the test case in NA, the system accepted the order but note that they have to "quote" shipping.

I recall having this happen on a previous Axminster order, so I expect to receive an email with the shipping quote, from which I have a link to complete the order. Pretty nice system, customer friendly.

RMW

PS - Peter, excellent design. It is no small matter to overcome all the design challenges and end up with a viable product that can be mass produced and marketed for a reasonable price. Kudos to you!

Hi Richard,

That is a brilliant idea to describe the North American ordering process - it will help a lot of people. I am sure that once things settle down there will be a friendly NA stockist or stockists that will make life much easier.

It has been a really interesting and educational process taking the PGS from a germ of an idea with wooden mock-ups to the final product. I have to say that the clever people at Axminster did make sure that finished design was viable in terms of both  manufacturing process and final cost. My final AutoCAD drawing would have taken twice the machining, twice the raw material and hence twice the cost but you could at least have used it as a weapon of mass destruction !

I realise I might be expected to say this but the PGS does truly deliver near CNC accuracy. I have some timings as well - to drill the 3 mm holes at the start of the process takes an average of 20 seconds each and then the boring of the 20 mm holes takes 15 seconds (yes less time) each. I can now do it faster than that but I have been doing it a lot recently. A chap just doing the odd slab from time to time should be able to achieve those figures.

On the subject of timing - someone said to me that he could use the PGS to do a complete new bench top in less time that it would take him to drive to the local CNC workshop.

Cheers.

Peter

 

[tms0425]

I emailed Axminster last night and had an email already this morning asking for shipping info to the US. I provided the info, exchanged a couple more emails, completed the order, and paid via Paypal as requested. I found they were very efficient

I already have a variety of bench dogs - Precision, Qwas, RipDogs, but no Parfs yet. I decided to order a small set of Parf Dogs from Lee Valley, just in case, so that I was using the entire system as designed.

I'm just at the point of outfitting a new shop and building all the work benches, so this timing is perfect.

 

[Stone Message]

Well done Axminster for being on the ball, especially with the export orders.

Good luck with the new workshop.

Peter

 

[cperren]

Really cool design -  Will the 20 mm bit be offered as a replaceable item by Axminster.  From the video, this bit appears to be custom sized to fit the jig.  I'm assuming after a hundred holes it may need to be replaced.  Thanks 

 

[Stone Message]

Really cool design -  Will the 20 mm bit be offered as a replaceable item by Axminster.  From the video, this bit appears to be custom sized to fix the jig.  I'm assuming after a hundred holes it may need to be replaced.  Thanks

All of the components will eventually be available as individual replacement parts. The only ordinary item is the 3 mm drill bit and you can replace that easily enough without any fuss.

I have used my system (lets call it PGS One) to provide photographs for Axminster (about 140 holes cut in ordinary MDF). I have then made my 3 videos - about another 100 holes. I have not made a video of this (but you may see clips of it in my first 3 videos) where I make a 77 hole custom bench top (11x7). On Tuesday I had a visit from an amateur wood worker and we did about 55 holes whilst he was here. On top of all of that I have had some practice goes to check timings for the production of holes. I estimate that I am now over the 400 mark with PGS One.

The 20 mm cutter is a fine piece of precision engineering and not a cheap import. It is so important to the overall success of the PGS that a lot of thought (not mine - but clever chaps at Axminster) has gone into it. I understand that the grinding angles, lapping and so on (or whatever terms should be used - not my area of expertise) are all designed to make the cutter very efficient at removing waste. It certainly does not get hot and just keeps going.

One thing to watch for when you get your PGS. Like many Forstner style cutters, one often gets a disc of material stuck on the end after doing a cut - I have shown this in one of the videos (probably Part 2 of the detailed work). It is there because of the scoring cutting flanging widgity things that help create the near zero breakout. Just make sure that you pull this off before the start of the next cut otherwise it behaves like a washer and nothing happens when you try to do a cut.

I will be releasing a video soon showing the most recent cuts and they are all perfect. There is no breakout on the underside and the sides are very clean. I have a number of videos up my sleeve and they will all use PGS One. I will say if I need to replace the cutter and I will keep everyone informed of any wear and tear.

Peter

 

[cperren]

Thanks Peter - Are there any plans to bring PGS One to a US store.  Or is it an exclusive item for Axminster Only?  I'm happy to order it through Axminster although if I can save few dollars in shipping costs then I would prefer to wait until a US store stocks it.  Thanks for the reply. 

 

[Stone Message]

Thanks Peter - Are there any plans to bring PGS One to a US store.  Or is it an exclusive item for Axminster Only?  I'm happy to order it through Axminster although if I can save few dollars in shipping costs then I would prefer to wait until a US store stocks it.  Thanks for the reply.

I am sure that there will be a North American distributor soon. This is not something I am involved with. In the meantime I am advising people to order direct. I have no timings of any changes I am afraid.

Peter

 

[Shane Holland]

Guys, we are working to be able to offer this product in the U.S. market. I will keep you posted as more information becomes available. Thanks.

Shane