McFly - Before and After "Moy Mod"

[ColdCoffee (Robert)]

I have owned an Amana 45525 for surfacing material. It performs well but it has a problem with the bitsetter in that it will not push the button. So it’s a pain to use with the bitsetter.

So I was excited to discover the McFly works great with the bitsetter.

But after using the McFly a few times I discovered that it’s not a perfect solution, unless someone here can point out what I am doing wrong (fingers crossed).

I was surfacing a 20" x 9" bamboo board, and noticed some burn/rubbing marks.

After the surfacing was done I inspected the bit, and it was loaded up with bamboo chips and dust.

Here is a picture after some digging to give you an idea on the quantity of material that was stuck in the bit.

After cleaning the bit with some tool cleaner and a brush it was back to near-new condition.

But the next time I used it, those burn/rub marks returned within the first 9" of use.

So is there something I should be doing to increase this tools performance?
Not sure “performance” is the right word, just looking for a path to increase my use of the McFly.

[Julien]

Mmh. And that’s using the default feeds and speeds ? (18k / 60ipm / 0.02" DOC ?)

Does this happen when surfacing something else than bamboo ? (and/or if you surface it perpendicular to the grain?)

As much as I like bamboo (you know I do, a lot), its manufacturing process involves glue, and maybe the glue makes it susceptible to burning when using a large surfacing tool? (similar to some wood with lots of resin). I don’t have a McFly yet and surface all my bamboo with a 1/4" cutter, so I don’t know.

[ColdCoffee (Robert)]

Yes, using the default speeds. The cuts “sound” good, probably plenty of room to increase feedrate.

I just got the McFly bit, and I’m in the middle of a big project so I have not tried anything other than bamboo.

I have not had trouble surfacing bamboo with a 1/4 bit, so that is an easy fallback position. Was just looking to see if someone had some ideas/experience with McFly. Looking at the cutters, the angles under the cutting edges just look like natural places that material is going to build up. But this may be one of those times when using a conservative feed-rate works against you.

[wmoy (Winston)]

Subjectively, I’ve felt there are times where the bit works best with only the two inserts on the side depending on the character of the fibers in your stock. The angle of the inserts on the bottom can be excessively aggressive on say MDF, resulting in a fuzzier face as the compressed fibers are pulled upwards. They act like an upcutting endmill on steroids. It might be worth trying just a 2-insert setup for bamboo.

[ColdCoffee (Robert)]

McFly has been “@wmoy Modded”, will get it’s test this afternoon.

[ColdCoffee (Robert)]

Wow, perfect surface no burning.
And here is the bit after cutting the same amount of material as my initial photos…

I can also report that the bitsetter still worked after removing those two cutters (direct question). Thank you @wmoy this is why I watch every video you publish. Got to admire the experience on this forum.