FASTER THROUGHPUT
MARKLESS INDEXING SYSTEM
DEDICATED JOINERY WORKSTATION
EXCHANGEABLE & VARIABLE INDEXING

This video will point out and identify the many components of the Versidex MEGA, explain why they are included, and give you an idea of when and how they are used. We’ll work from the bottom up, because this is how the MEGA is unloaded and assembled once you receive it on its pallet. We’ll also cover the available accessories and kits that make up the rest of our product line.

Properly and cleanly laying out the array lines on your various template sets is critical to the efficiency of the MEGA. This procedure must be done with a lot of forethought and good concentration. We’ll show you a couple of techniques for marking out a template set, how to use the layout arc accessory that will help you, and an inking method that will give you beautiful, clean lines on both the platform and vertical templates. This can be intense work, because if you use the plain MDF that we recommend for your templates, you cannot undo inking mistakes. An inked line is permanent.

That said, the templates themselves are not works of art [some might argue that point] and in and of themselves, they do not save you time or make you any money. USING them is what makes you more money by saving you time, over and over, and for that the only thing that really matters is that the LINES are in the right PLACES. So you mess up the inking a little. It's not a big deal. If the lines get your joiner to the workpiece properly, your template is good to go.

What IS important is that the RED and BLACK lines are properly bookmatched. By following the technique shown in this video, you will always end up with bookmatched red and black lines. But it does take good concentration.

Versidex has created a visual “testing” chart to help you quickly choose which template arrays are possible and/or optimal for a given biscuit size used with a given panel dimension. Directions on its use are printed on the back of the chart. We’ll show you how it works and tell you what information is shown on it. From that demonstration, you'll see how this chart can save a lot of time in determining which biscuit spacing array you will use, and therefore which template you'll need to install, or inscribe, if your "library" does not yet have that array.

Proper milling technique helps the vacuum system remove more of the dust and debris from the mortised area than does milling improperly. While that might be a bit of a no-brainer, you might wonder, "What is the right way to mill"? Our technique can be mastered in about 20 minutes, although making it habitual will take longer.

It takes that long because there is a little “hitch” in the milling motion that is almost imperceptible, and a little hard to get the hang of. It feels awkward at first, because it breaks the milling rhythm, but with repetition it becomes a natural "hiccup", and that "hiccup" is extremely helpful in capturing more of the dust. Remember, “Dust is the Enemy”. We can’t say it enough, and you can’t hear it enough.

Multiple milling means milling more than 2 boards (which is DOUBLE MILLING), panels, or sticks at one time. By one time we mean one insertion procedure of parts into the Versidex. You do have to actually mill each piece. It’s not some magical thing. But it is a speed thing. By inserting multiple pieces across the platform at one time, you can reduce your total number of procedural steps, which saves time, improving your bottom line.

This may be meaningless for 10-20 pieces in a job. But how about 500 pieces? How about 1000 pieces? Multiple milling is a huge contributor to efficiency, and you should learn how to do it and take advantage of it.

The video will show you how to use the multiple milling accessory Keeper Bar listed as #16. #KB under Accessories under Products on the Menu bar. You will require this accessory kit to perform multiple milling accurately and efficiently. We will also show you how and why to make specific STOP BLOCKS for your particular milling set up. There is usually a gap between the fences and the LAST piece of a multiple milling group. The STOP BLOCK fills that gap and holds the pieces firmly against the referencing fence.

This video will show you how to index-mill beveled edge joints of two types: beveled-edge-to-beveled edge, and beveled-edge-to-butt-edge. The important point that will be made is that beveled edge joining is handled with very different RULES than are the three butt joint types. And certain referencing adaptations have to be correctly handled. But the video will explain that, and then it becomes no more difficult than the simple butt joint group.

Beveled-edge-to-beveled edge joints locate the SEAM of the joint at the true corner of where the two outside joining planes come together, presuming the pieces are of equal thickness. Some cabinetmakers don't like this when using a particularly splintering-prone wood, and the bevel angles are low, such as 45° and lower. In these cases, the saw-work may have already splintered the fine edge and pieces are missing.

Beveled-edge to butt-edge joints move the resulting corner AWAY from the true corner, again presuming the pieces are of equal thickness, and some cabinetmakers prefer this result, citing finished-corner strength and cleaner glue-up.

We don't take a position in this debate, but we will show you both methods and then you can decide.

The technique shown here is focusing on a broad, mitered, flat corner, like a simple picture frame, where the hypotenuse of a 45° corner measures more than 6” or so. Again we’re geared toward production shops and factories where they may have 100s or 1000s of these corners to mill. We want to do this with markless indexing as the Versidex MEGA always does.

So we’ll make a dedicated PLATFORM TEMPLATE (a vertical template is not needed) to add to our “library” of template sets, and it will look very different from any of the others, although it will still index the pieces from the dual stationary fences. In the indexing set up, we’ll also use FENCE SPACERS (for narrow pieces), FLIP-STOPS for repeated positioning, and T-track HOLD DOWNS when the outside mitered corner has to be positioned too far from the pressure bar for it to properly reference the piece from the template surface. As the width of the piece increases, so does the need for clamping help.

Next, we'll construct a 3-dimensional template to reference a held-together, unglued, assembled flat miter joint to take advantage of the pressure bar while we mill a double joint ACROSS the held-together joint, the second cutting using a crosspanel spacer to reference the joiner. Assembly is finalized using glue and Lamello's E20-L tight-drawing half biscuit (the elongated one). 

When you want to put the Lamello E20-H (the narrow, upright one) into the EDGE of the joint, the technique is similar to bevel-edge-to-bevel-edge milling. Pieces are loaded differently, though, so that you get a mortise cut straddling two pieces, just like with the E20-L cuts, but the E20-H mortises are cut into the beveled edges, using the joiner's front flap as the referencing surface.

This video will highlight a different kind of multiple milling, where you might want to build a bookcase that has a number of fixed shelves. We call this multiple-stop milling. We will use 84” high sides. These panels are too long for the MEGA’s standard fence to index all of the shelves with the flip-stops, so we will use the extension rails accessory kit #TTXR to lengthen our rails another 4’.

Then we will set TWICE as many Flip-Stops (#WFS) as we have shelves (using them on both the Left fence and the Right fence), because we will be DOUBLE MILLING. We will use GAUGE BLOCKS to set the stops, telling you how to make them so they'll work for your design, and demonstrating their use. We'll then mill our sides, followed by the top and bottom, then followed by the shelves, which will use FENCE SPACERS for their indexing.

The MEGA’s width capacity was designed around the euro-style kitchen cabinet, which is a simple box....always. For base cabinets, these boxes sit on adjustable legs, or on a continuous platform. The legs or platform raise(s) the top of the base cabinets typically to 34.5”.

American cabinets are often still made already at 34.5” high, and there is an integral toekick that is 4” high, made by notching the bottom, front edge of the cabinet sides. To join the BOTTOM of the cabinet to the sides, the line of biscuits starts at the top of the notch and runs to the back of the cabinet. This line of biscuits is in the same relative place as it is in a euro-style cabinet, which CAN be done in the MEGA, without any changeover. So how do we duplicate that milling procedure with a MEGA and a too-long side panel? We use a Riser Platform that you can make yourself with our accessory kit #P4RP4LV. This video will show you how to lock it in place, adjust it, inscribe one of its exchangeable templates, and use it, now that you know why you might need to.

This video demonstrates the ability of the MEGA to index-mill mortises for the attachment of face frames. We’ll use regular #20 biscuits and a Lamello Classic X to demonstrate milling and assembly as one technique, and then use the Lamello Zeta P2 to mill shouldered mortises for the Tenso P-14 mechanical spring connector, and finish with that assembly as another technique. When using regular biscuits, the face frame needs to be clamped onto the cabinet during assembly; with the Tenso P-14, the connector itself does the clamping, which improves production efficiency.

Flush-to-the-sides,top, or bottom face frames are milled as typical butt joints using typical template sets. Overhanging face frames are a different beast altogther, and some adaptations to the REFERENCING surfaces are required. We'll show you the principles behind dealing with the various overhangs, but the referencing specifics are something you'll have to work out for yourself relative to what you're building. We'll show you how to do that.

While waiting for the video, there is text explaining the procedures in the User's Manual under Instructions on the menu bar, pages 40-45.