I use the Aigner CounterMax (coping sled) if I¡¯m making a single door. ?I have experienced some inconsistent registration using the Aigner CounterMax at times, but it¡¯s pretty rare. ?It helps if the backer board is softwood (fir or pine) which helps eliminate clamp-slip.
When making several doors, this is the setup I use for cope cutting, employing three of Mac¡¯s clamps (including his new horizontal add-on) and tenoning plate on the X-Roll sliding table:
That¡¯s a lot to set up, which is why I generally make extra stile and rail parts in case one gets mangled in the workflow after the cope cuts. ?I did a whole series of videos on the process I use for frame & panel door work on the shaper that includes recovering from a post-cope-cut snipe that destroyed one of the rails. ?For that recovery I use the Aigner CounterMax in lieu of recreating the above setup. ?You can view the series here: ?
David Best
https://www.instagram.com/davidpbest/
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I am working on dialing in a "go to" custom profile for the rails and stiles of panels. ?I found that in a cutterhead from Great Lakes with custom knives (see pictures). ?Everything else I have is from Rangate, but I was looking for a custom profile. ?One way to use the shaper for that is shown in this very nice video from David Zaret, and that was referenced in a prior post.
For the cope cuts, David uses a sliding table bolted to the shaper along with some very nice mac clamps. ?I have a similar setup but not with the 2 clamp setup at this time (I have 1 that can press down). ?I also have the Aigner basic coping sled that is in the attached picture. I was talking to David today, and he feel the Aigner sled can be a bit inaccurate with some shift as you turn the knob to press the spring clamp to the wood, and the heavy sliding table can be pain to move and setup. ?Since he made the video, he started to pretty much exclusively use something called the CopeCrafter CC-10.?
I looked up "copecrafter" here on this forum and could not see it mentioned. ?Curious if anyone has experience with this.
For the stick cuts, the plan is to use the Aigner outboard fence. ?One option would be to remove one set of the 4 wheels on the feeder to replace them with spacers so the wheel profile is not so wide and the feeder will fit. ?However, David uses an accessory fence that provides the clearance to allow the feeder to be used without dealing with the wheels. ?That seems easier to me.
On thing I noticed is that he does not use the pressure jaws. ?David did not really find them of value for these particular cuts. ?It is my understanding that the very innovative David Best may have come up with an option better than the now discontinued Aigner product. ?I was curious what you all think of what would be the best option for this particular application. ?Obviously not dealing with jaws is the easiest and fastest way as long as there is no compromise in safety and/or accuracy.
<Easy Cope.jpeg><Great Lkes.jpeg><Panel.jpeg><Profile.jpeg><Stiles.jpeg><Jaws.jpeg>
David P. Best