I bought the new Frued box joint blade this week and gave it a partial test drive today. I got caught up in the Braves Astros marathon, so I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped. The bottom line is that the blade works as advertised. It produces dead-on flat bottomed 1/4" and 3/8" cuts for perfect box joints. Here is my report with some photos:
I have been using my regular dado blade with a home made box joint jig for several years and it has been satisfactory. My jig has replaceable inserts for various sized box joints, but I'd never gotten around to making anything but the 1/2" size for larger pieces. My first task was to make inserts for 1/4" and 3/8" joints. (First and second pic below).
Once the inserts were made it was a simple task to cut the joints (3rd pic below). The 1/4" joint was good for my first try (4th Pic below). Notice the flat bottomed cuts - no "ears" like I got with my dado blade. Actually, I never found the "ears" too objectionable, but I never used the box joint for anything remotely approaching fine work. For those of you who use this joint for nice stuff, you will appreciate the flat-bottomed cuts and the nice clean joint the blade procuces. I tried to get a photo of the "ears" comparing my old 1/2" jig insert from my dado blade with the 3/8" insert form the Frued blade. If you look closely at photo #5 you can see the "ears at the top of the 1/2" cut (top insert) and no "ears" on the bottom insert. I haven't tried the 3/8" joint yet (thanks to the Braves/Astros), but I anticipate it will be just as satisfactory as the 1/4" one. I'll let you know if I find out different.
The blade is easy to use and set up. No fumbling about with dado chippers trying to find the right combination. The Frued gives perfect 1/4" cuts with the blades faced together and perfect 3/8" cuts with the blades reversed. The only word of caution is that the space between the carbide cutters on one blade and the anti-kickback pawl on the other blade is tiny, o be careful when you are putting the blades on the saw arbor and lining them up. I imagine it would be very east to strike the carbide and chip it. Apart from that, the blades are almost foolproof.
Of course, how tight and consistent your joints are depends on your jig. The blades come with instructions for making a box joint jig, I didn't try them because I had my own jig, but they look pretty simple; and I'm confident they would produce a jig that would make a nice tight joint.
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