Alex
Grumbler
Hi everyone,
In a previous thread, I mentioned that if I ever got a Hoffmann, I'd share my experience with you all. Well, I'm excited to say that I finally got one! After owning it for a month, I have quite a bit to share, though not all of it is positive.
Based on the discussion in the thread I referenced earlier (https://www.thegrumble.com/threads/purchasing-a-hoffman-mu3-go-pnuematic-or-manual.91592/#post-1176021 purchasing a Hoffman MU3, go pnuematic or manual?), I decided to go with the standard MU3—non-pneumatic and non-digital. I have no regrets about skipping the digital option. I work with a limited variety of moulding, and some of them even share the same stem thickness, so I didn’t see much value in going digital. Plus, I tried out the foolproof method that @David Waldmann mentioned in the thread, and it works like a charm. Using simple wooden setup blocks makes resetting for a specific moulding thickness very easy.
That said, I do have a couple of less-than-ideal observations. Around the same time I got the Hoffmann, I found a new mill for making my moulding, and they are outstanding. Their accuracy is within 0.1mm (³/₆₄ inch) on EVERY profile, and I purchased about 1,700 meters (+/- 5,500 feet) of moulding from them. I’m thrilled with the quality, and it's a good thing I switched suppliers because it's clear that the Hoffmann doesn’t work well with subpar materials. If I had used what I used to get from my previous supplier, the machine might have been useless. Your stock needs to be precise; otherwise, you won't get a good joint. For those in the U.S., I recommend purchasing from @David Waldmann .Just the fact that he can use the hoffmann with with accuracy on all of his moulding is a testament of the quality of the moulding.
As for not choosing the pneumatic version, I don’t have major regrets, but I do suggest thinking this decision through carefully. Every frame requires at least four slots to be routed, meaning you'll have to pull the handle down four times per frame. In my experience, I’ve found that to completely clear the slot of dust from the router, I need to make two passes, effectively doubling the number of pulls to eight per frame. If you’re doing a lot of volume, this can add up. While it's not a deal-breaker, it is something I initially overlooked. Another downside is that my dust collection system might not be strong enough. I’m not thrilled about having to route the slot twice to clear debris. It doesn’t require too much effort, but I worry that I might accidentally reposition the wood, causing the slot to be larger than intended. Again, this might be an issue with my dust collection system (I use a Festool vacuum dedicated to the Hoffmann).
Now, onto the positives. From the moment I hammered in my first key, I knew this system was superior for mechanically fastening frames, and I don’t understand why it isn’t more widely used compared to underpinners. I set up the machine with the W0 bit and used it to make very thin-stemmed frames of 6mm (¹⁵/₆₄ inch). Even without glue, I was amazed by the strength of the corners. The key alone creates a strong, immediate connection, and when routed properly, it runs almost the entire depth of the moulding. This makes it hard to imagine how such a joint could ever fail unless subjected to obvious damage, like a fall. This immediate connection also saves time since there’s no need to wait 24 hours before putting stress on the joint. You can move on to sanding and finishing without compromising the joint. To be safe, I let mine set for at least an hour or however long it takes to join the entire batch of frames for the day before starting to sand.
This revelation made me very happy, and I eagerly started assembling corner samples for my new shop. However, when I tried to join an entire frame, things took a downturn. The problem was that the tips of my corners began to open as soon as I assembled all four corners. Since @wpfay warned me that the Hoffmann is unforgiving with bad miters, I immediately reset my Morso chopper following the manual on the Vermont Hardwoods website. After a full reset, the issue persisted. I started to think the problem wasn’t the miters but the router bit setup. The machine came set up with a W0 bit, and since I had ordered an extra, I assumed they installed one as well. After resetting everything, the situation actually worsened. Now, even with single corners, there was a gap at the tips. I tried increasing the tension by routing deeper slots, but that made things worse. Loosening the tension made the joint flimsy, losing much of its original strength, also still a gap.
And that’s where I’ve been stuck ever since. I’ve reset my Morso three times, but I can't seem to fix this gap issue. It doesn’t change even when I adjust the angle to make it less sharp. Every time I drive in a key, the joint opens at the tip. It’s a small gap that can easily be filled with filler, but I don’t like it. Based on everything I’ve read about the machine, I don’t think it’s supposed to be this way. If it’s a problem with the miter, then I would say the Hoffmann is extremely unforgiving, which is something to seriously consider before purchasing.
One odd thing I’ve noticed is that on every routed slot, one edge is clean while the other is a bit ragged. What’s strange is that the ragged edge is always the edge towards the outside of the molding, regardless of whether the stock is fed from the left or the right. This rules out a bad edge on the chip breaker since the ragged edge switches sides on every slot.
My conclusion so far is that the Hoffmann is a fantastic machine, but it’s also extremely unforgiving of mistakes. Either that, or my expectations for its performance might be too high. I’m still struggling with the gap issue, and unfortunately, here in Belgium, there isn’t much support available to help resolve it. The people who sold me the machine don’t have deep knowledge of its finer workings, which I was aware of beforehand. My advice before purchasing would be to check if Hoffmann has support in your area or if there’s another framer nearby who can help you fine-tune your machine and troubleshoot if things go wrong.
I’ve also heard of an alternative approach where you first glue the joints (using something like Masterclamps) to get perfect alignment without gaps, and then drive in the keys afterward as a ‘mere’ mechanical fastener. However, this method requires waiting for the glue to fully cure before inserting the keys, which negates the speed advantage that the Hoffmann offers. I’ve tried a similar method where I glue the frame using band clamps and drive in the keys before the glue dries. While this does give clean results, I don’t think it should be necessary to go through these extra steps.
If anyone has suggestions for fixing the gap issue, I’d greatly appreciate it. I’ll also add some pictures later to show how ‘bad’ the situation is. Also, maybe I should try to reset my Morso again, any tips on how to fine-tune this further (I already used the vermont hardwoods online 'way')?
One last point about tension—I’ve read that the keys should be so tight that you need to be careful not to bend them when hammering them in (in the cas of W0 that is). However, after experimenting with the tension, I’ve never felt like the keys were close to bending. I stack 10mm and 22mm keys, and they always go in fairly smoothly. I use an Allen wrench tip to push them all the way in, but I’ve never had trouble getting them deep enough.
So, it’s a mix of good and bad so far… stay tuned for more updates.
Cheers,
Alexander
In a previous thread, I mentioned that if I ever got a Hoffmann, I'd share my experience with you all. Well, I'm excited to say that I finally got one! After owning it for a month, I have quite a bit to share, though not all of it is positive.
Based on the discussion in the thread I referenced earlier (https://www.thegrumble.com/threads/purchasing-a-hoffman-mu3-go-pnuematic-or-manual.91592/#post-1176021 purchasing a Hoffman MU3, go pnuematic or manual?), I decided to go with the standard MU3—non-pneumatic and non-digital. I have no regrets about skipping the digital option. I work with a limited variety of moulding, and some of them even share the same stem thickness, so I didn’t see much value in going digital. Plus, I tried out the foolproof method that @David Waldmann mentioned in the thread, and it works like a charm. Using simple wooden setup blocks makes resetting for a specific moulding thickness very easy.
That said, I do have a couple of less-than-ideal observations. Around the same time I got the Hoffmann, I found a new mill for making my moulding, and they are outstanding. Their accuracy is within 0.1mm (³/₆₄ inch) on EVERY profile, and I purchased about 1,700 meters (+/- 5,500 feet) of moulding from them. I’m thrilled with the quality, and it's a good thing I switched suppliers because it's clear that the Hoffmann doesn’t work well with subpar materials. If I had used what I used to get from my previous supplier, the machine might have been useless. Your stock needs to be precise; otherwise, you won't get a good joint. For those in the U.S., I recommend purchasing from @David Waldmann .Just the fact that he can use the hoffmann with with accuracy on all of his moulding is a testament of the quality of the moulding.
As for not choosing the pneumatic version, I don’t have major regrets, but I do suggest thinking this decision through carefully. Every frame requires at least four slots to be routed, meaning you'll have to pull the handle down four times per frame. In my experience, I’ve found that to completely clear the slot of dust from the router, I need to make two passes, effectively doubling the number of pulls to eight per frame. If you’re doing a lot of volume, this can add up. While it's not a deal-breaker, it is something I initially overlooked. Another downside is that my dust collection system might not be strong enough. I’m not thrilled about having to route the slot twice to clear debris. It doesn’t require too much effort, but I worry that I might accidentally reposition the wood, causing the slot to be larger than intended. Again, this might be an issue with my dust collection system (I use a Festool vacuum dedicated to the Hoffmann).
Now, onto the positives. From the moment I hammered in my first key, I knew this system was superior for mechanically fastening frames, and I don’t understand why it isn’t more widely used compared to underpinners. I set up the machine with the W0 bit and used it to make very thin-stemmed frames of 6mm (¹⁵/₆₄ inch). Even without glue, I was amazed by the strength of the corners. The key alone creates a strong, immediate connection, and when routed properly, it runs almost the entire depth of the moulding. This makes it hard to imagine how such a joint could ever fail unless subjected to obvious damage, like a fall. This immediate connection also saves time since there’s no need to wait 24 hours before putting stress on the joint. You can move on to sanding and finishing without compromising the joint. To be safe, I let mine set for at least an hour or however long it takes to join the entire batch of frames for the day before starting to sand.
This revelation made me very happy, and I eagerly started assembling corner samples for my new shop. However, when I tried to join an entire frame, things took a downturn. The problem was that the tips of my corners began to open as soon as I assembled all four corners. Since @wpfay warned me that the Hoffmann is unforgiving with bad miters, I immediately reset my Morso chopper following the manual on the Vermont Hardwoods website. After a full reset, the issue persisted. I started to think the problem wasn’t the miters but the router bit setup. The machine came set up with a W0 bit, and since I had ordered an extra, I assumed they installed one as well. After resetting everything, the situation actually worsened. Now, even with single corners, there was a gap at the tips. I tried increasing the tension by routing deeper slots, but that made things worse. Loosening the tension made the joint flimsy, losing much of its original strength, also still a gap.
And that’s where I’ve been stuck ever since. I’ve reset my Morso three times, but I can't seem to fix this gap issue. It doesn’t change even when I adjust the angle to make it less sharp. Every time I drive in a key, the joint opens at the tip. It’s a small gap that can easily be filled with filler, but I don’t like it. Based on everything I’ve read about the machine, I don’t think it’s supposed to be this way. If it’s a problem with the miter, then I would say the Hoffmann is extremely unforgiving, which is something to seriously consider before purchasing.
One odd thing I’ve noticed is that on every routed slot, one edge is clean while the other is a bit ragged. What’s strange is that the ragged edge is always the edge towards the outside of the molding, regardless of whether the stock is fed from the left or the right. This rules out a bad edge on the chip breaker since the ragged edge switches sides on every slot.
My conclusion so far is that the Hoffmann is a fantastic machine, but it’s also extremely unforgiving of mistakes. Either that, or my expectations for its performance might be too high. I’m still struggling with the gap issue, and unfortunately, here in Belgium, there isn’t much support available to help resolve it. The people who sold me the machine don’t have deep knowledge of its finer workings, which I was aware of beforehand. My advice before purchasing would be to check if Hoffmann has support in your area or if there’s another framer nearby who can help you fine-tune your machine and troubleshoot if things go wrong.
I’ve also heard of an alternative approach where you first glue the joints (using something like Masterclamps) to get perfect alignment without gaps, and then drive in the keys afterward as a ‘mere’ mechanical fastener. However, this method requires waiting for the glue to fully cure before inserting the keys, which negates the speed advantage that the Hoffmann offers. I’ve tried a similar method where I glue the frame using band clamps and drive in the keys before the glue dries. While this does give clean results, I don’t think it should be necessary to go through these extra steps.
If anyone has suggestions for fixing the gap issue, I’d greatly appreciate it. I’ll also add some pictures later to show how ‘bad’ the situation is. Also, maybe I should try to reset my Morso again, any tips on how to fine-tune this further (I already used the vermont hardwoods online 'way')?
One last point about tension—I’ve read that the keys should be so tight that you need to be careful not to bend them when hammering them in (in the cas of W0 that is). However, after experimenting with the tension, I’ve never felt like the keys were close to bending. I stack 10mm and 22mm keys, and they always go in fairly smoothly. I use an Allen wrench tip to push them all the way in, but I’ve never had trouble getting them deep enough.
So, it’s a mix of good and bad so far… stay tuned for more updates.
Cheers,
Alexander
