V Grove Fold joint

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monlover
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V Grove Fold joint

Post by monlover »

Hi,
I am trying to be able to use a v bit 45 to create fold able joint for small boxes or nice clean edge with no nails.
is there any Gadget or easy way to do it instead of creating toolpath for each foldalble edge?
thank you.

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Adrian
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Re: V Grove Fold joint

Post by Adrian »

You don't need to create a toolpath for each edge. Select the vectors and create one toolpath that does all of them. You could also create a toolpath template and load that for any new jobs so you don't have to create the toolpath at all.

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martin54
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Re: V Grove Fold joint

Post by martin54 »

If your going to be doing a lot of this then you might want to think about buying a mitre fold Bit, they have a 91 degree angle rather than a 90 which I believe gives some glue space. Not something I have used myself as I don't do that much of it. I just select the vectors I want & then toolpath them all together as Adrian has said. Not used templates so need to look at that myself.
If you are box folding ACM then the bits have a flat at the bottom the same as a lot of engraving bits but I believe its a 90 degree angle.

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sharkcutup
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Re: V Grove Fold joint

Post by sharkcutup »

If you should decide to use 45 degree Chamfer router bit for hand held router with bearing REMOVED.

You would have to compensate box side measurements in relations to the size bit you are using.
I would also recommend clearance passes to hog out the majority(2/3's) of the pass depth for the bearing flat of the bit to be used for edge profile.

Here is an example of 6" Box Sides Using a 45 Degree Chamfer bit which has a Diameter of 1.375" and a cutting depth of .625"
folding box edge.png
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Steve Misher
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Re: V Grove Fold joint

Post by Steve Misher »

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but if you use a 45 degree bit isn't 1/2 of that 22 &1/2 degrees?
A 90 degree would give you 2 45 degree angles to fold into a 90.

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martin54
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Re: V Grove Fold joint

Post by martin54 »

Steve Misher wrote:
Sat Mar 28, 2020 3:26 pm
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but if you use a 45 degree bit isn't 1/2 of that 22 &1/2 degrees?
A 90 degree would give you 2 45 degree angles to fold into a 90.
I have actually said 90 degree in my Reply but assumed the OP meant 45 degree angle on each end :lol: :lol: :lol:

You are absolutely correct though unless you want a box with more than 4 sides :lol: :lol: :lol:

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sharkcutup
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Re: V Grove Fold joint

Post by sharkcutup »

But I believe the OP is referring to the what is called a 45 Degree Chamfer bit to cut 4 - 45 degree edges to make a box. The 45 Degree Chamfer bit is actually built to 90 degrees. They are most commonly made with a roller bearing on the end which causes a flat if used for CNC edging. I was just providing info that adjustments would be needed when using that type of router bit to get the proper box side sizes.

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monlover
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Re: V Grove Fold joint

Post by monlover »

Thank you all for this valuable information, actually, this is a lot of information to digest.
so if material is MDF what is the thickens of skin i have to leave to have a clean fold assuming the CNC is perfectly flat :wink:
also what you recommend the V bit with flat tip?
Thank you.

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sharkcutup
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Re: V Grove Fold joint

Post by sharkcutup »

Monlover wrote:
Thank you all for this valuable information, actually, this is a lot of information to digest.
so if material is MDF what is the thickens of skin i have to leave to have a clean fold assuming the CNC is perfectly flat :wink:
also what you recommend the V bit with flat tip?
Thank you.
No not necessarily! I wrote about the flat tip due to the possibility of using a Chamfer bit which has a bearing attached. When the bearing is removed the chamfer bit is now flat at the bottom. I mentioned the Chamfer Router bit because of the possibility of its use and if used calculations would be required due to the way the bit carves a part.
measurment accountability.png
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martin54
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Re: V Grove Fold joint

Post by martin54 »

monlover wrote:
Sat Mar 28, 2020 6:35 pm
Thank you all for this valuable information, actually, this is a lot of information to digest.
so if material is MDF what is the thickens of skin i have to leave to have a clean fold assuming the CNC is perfectly flat :wink:
also what you recommend the V bit with flat tip?
Thank you.
You will need to experiment, not sure how it would work with MDF as that matrial tends to break quite easily if you try bending it. If you leave to thicker skin it may fold but give a strange look to the corners, personally I would do my own experiments & figure out what I felt to be the best look.
As for a flat size, I have no idea sorry, the ones I have & use are for folding ACM & are sold specifically for that purpose, not sure how they would be with other substrates. :lol: :lol:

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sharkcutup
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Re: V Grove Fold joint

Post by sharkcutup »

AH ha FOLDABLE JOINTS hhhhmmmmmm a different animal!!!
I second martin 54 on experimenting to find which works best!

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Phil
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Re: V Grove Fold joint

Post by Phil »

When the miter fold cut is made obviously you need to leave some material to hold the wood together. How much material should be left?

Phil

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Re: V Grove Fold joint

Post by rscrawford »

I've done many folding mitres in MDF using a 91 degree V-bit. If I'm making a complete box, I just draw a line between each part and cut on the line.

You need a pretty large bit to cut 3/4" MDF. The one I use has a 3/4" shank and is 1.5" diameter. I cut at 12000rpm and 200ipm in a single pass for the best results. I make sure I have a freshly surfaced spoil board and I cut right to the spoilboard. I then put a wide piece of masking tape on the back of each joint, making sure the pieces are tight together when laying flat. Then squeeze glue into the V-grooves, and fold the whole thing together. I then tape the last joint once its all folded together. Then put the top and bottom pieces in right away to make sure you are squared up and tape those joints to keep them tight. Clamps don't really work on folding mitres.
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rscrawford
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Re: V Grove Fold joint

Post by rscrawford »

Here is an example in 1/2" LDF. Took about 3 sheets, so you won't see all the parts on this one sheet.
folding mitre 1.jpg
folding mitre 2.jpg
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monlover
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Re: V Grove Fold joint

Post by monlover »

waw this looks great.
two questions
1-on your final product you show recessed panel on each side, why you do not cut the middle part at the same time since you have tool changer cnc.
2-do you lay out all operations manually? is there any software you design box and software grove joints by generating toolpath gcodes automatically?
Thank you.

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