Your thoughts on stackable slot cutter bits?

[Victor Robinson]

Versatile? Good value? Problems?

[Bill Pitz]

Had one hanging out of my thigh about six years ago, when it ejected from the collet.

Seriously, though, no serious injury, and certainly should never have happened. I don't use mine much, but it's very useful in certain situations.

[pat warner]

Bad news.
Very power hungry.
Under-designed & stressed for router use.
Get this function in a shaper where there is the power & stress resistant components (spindles) to handle this much waste/load.

[David DeCristoforo]

Well it's going to depend somewhat on how much steel you want to stack on the mandrel. I have a bunch of 1.5" diameter slotters in various thicknesses (from 1/16" to 1/4") and I use them without hesitation. I don't see any problem with them as long as you keep things in perspective...

[Lee Schierer]

I'm with David, it depends on what you are doing. I also have several slot cutters and they work very well. The Freud T&G set I have is the best adjustable one. I also have several fixed width slot cutters. I never had a problem with any of them.

[Paul Murphy]

Two additional points to consider:

If you have tongue and groove or door cope and stick sets, take a look at the cutter diameter/bearing/depth of cut. If you get the same size stackable cutters, you likely can extend the range of your present cutter sets. For example, cut for glass panel, or a different thickness wood panel.

If you like a certain depth of cut, make sure that is a capability of the set you choose. I wanted to be able to cut 1/2" tenons on cabinet doors, so that narrowed the choices for me.

FWIW, I have some Amana adjustable stacked sets, and like them. They cut to 1/2" depth, and an available bearing will yield a 3/8" cut, making the set very flexable in use. The slot cutters are the same diameter as my Amana door making set.

Another interesting product is the Amana E-Z Dial Slot Cutter. Just turn the dial to adjust width of cut, no shims. I haven't bought one, but it's tempting...

[Victor Robinson]

Thanks y'all.

Paul - no T&G set yet. The slot cutter was going to serve as that for a while until a large project requiring T&G comes along.

I was considering the Amana E-Z Dial but what turned me off was the minimum width is 1/4". There is a separate bit for 1/8" to 1/4" width slots.

I will probably get the stackable set from MLCS. For $60 I can make slots from 1/16" to 11/16" with everything in between. 1/2" depth is fine, and I can always get additional bearings if I need a larger depth of cut. If I use the thing enough to really be annoyed by bargain-bit flaws, I'll invest in a higher quality bit/set. For now, the versatility certainly seems appealing, but I'm wondering if I'm missing something...which is why I posted.

[bennie blackwell]

Victor: Did you follow through on the purchase of the MLCS stackable set. I am considering purchasing it.

[Victor Robinson]

Victor: Did you follow through on the purchase of the MLCS stackable set. I am considering purchasing it.

Whoa, blast from the past!

Bennie, I ended up purchasing Amana's Timberline slot cutter set (TRS-310). I can't remember exactly why I chose that set over MLCS' - probably some combination of the brand name and differences in the included components between the two sets. It has done a fine job over the years - of course, in the eight years since my original post, I also ended up adding a T&G set or two, including an adjustable Freud.