There is flex designed into the gates, tool rest and blades. If it was too rigid, things could break. I believe it angles down a bit also. Then when you add the pressure of the cutting action, it goes down some more. If you have a very well used blade, it will have a twist to it, just lay it on your table saw and watch it rock. Just the torque pressure of many cuts over a lot of time, even with out many spectacular catches. You can clamp it in a vice and twist it back. I had thought about cutting in a bit, then raising the tool rest, but didn't want to do that. Starting 1/4 or slightly more will compensate for the down pressure and flex, and it does not interfere with the use of the tool. Again, it is a scraper, and on the inside of a bowl, you do not want to cut below center height with them.

With the original blades, they had the cuter edge all off to the outside of the blade. I did every conceivable profile I could think of (bevel to the outside, inside, square and spear point), and it made no difference in how it will track. The blade will follow the direction the tip points, no matter what the curve of the blade is. If that tip is off even a tiny bit, the blade will wander. This is why I have 'fine tuned' my blades. I also ground the spear point off. It makes no difference in how the blade tracks, and it makes for a smaller cutting surface, and I get way fewer plug ups by shavings in the kerf.

Still the fastest and most efficient coring system to use. It does have more of a learning curve than the other systems.

robo hippy