Shopsmith Forums

When looking the other day at the online catalog in the Molding section I didn't find the Molder Head available and on the Molding Knives page is the following

Say Goodbye. Shopsmith will no longer be carrying Molding Knives. We are offering a 25% discount on all in stock Molding Knives. Buy them while they Last!

As of this morning there are 3 of the old version knife sets available and 2 of the newer knife sets left.

I guess the Shaper Cutters are preferred over using molding. Both have been around since almost the beginning of the Shopsmith with the models 10E and 10ER. I know there are going to be those that prefer one over the other for different reasons and that is fine. I find they both have their place in woodworking for different kinds of projects.

So, Goodbye Shopsmith Molder.

I just got a 'used' molding head and and some knives. I say 'used' but they appear to be brand new. The website only shows two knife profiles left for the new style head which I believe I have. Have to check the knives I have and see if I need any of what's left to fill out the set. I may never use it though, I think I'd prefer using the shaper arbor and bits that I also acquired recently because I have some experience with similar shaping tools. I have some off brand bits I use on my 510 with a router chuck.

The heavy molder head was likely a better choice for the early machines with lower power motors. The head would carry a lot of momentum and operate at lower speeds with more torque from the motor. Maybe the mass also reduced radial pressure on the quill bearing also.

Check with Corob Cutters. https://corobcutters.com/molding-heads

They clearly made the latest generation of Shopsmith molder knives and possibly the last version of the Shopsmith molder cutter head.
viewtopic.php?p=204225#p204225

At a minimum, you could buy their head and knives and mount them.

I have a feeling there's a compatibility issue based on this statement:

Corob Cutters wrote:Please note that Shopsmith knives are NOT compatible with any of our molding heads.

edma194 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 6:33 pm I have a feeling there's a compatibility issue based on this statement:

Corob Cutters wrote:Please note that Shopsmith knives are NOT compatible with any of our molding heads.

I think that statement is true of the old Shopsmith knives with the new Shopsmith head or the new Corob knives with the old Shopsmith head. But sInce Corob branded cutters actually shipped from Shopsmith for the newest molder head, I think the new style Corob knives work with the new Style Shopsmith head.

See this photo? Corob brand from Shopsmith (RLF Shop).

I have a feeling that they may decide to do the same for the shaper cutters soon as well. If you compare the list of shaper cutters for sale against the list in Power Tool Woodworking For Everyone then you'll find a handful that aren't sold anymore.

algale wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 6:49 pm
I think that statement is true of the old Shopsmith knives with the new Shopsmith head or the new Corob knives with the old Shopsmith head.

But sInce Corob branded cutters actually shipped from Shopsmith for the newest molder head,

I think the new style Corob knives work with the new Style Shopsmith head.

I think Corob branded cutters actually shipped from Shopsmith for BOTH the old and new molder head. Which adds to confusion. I have 505564 and 555038 new in Corob packaging, both still listed for now on the SS site as "older-style." But your photo appears to have a Corob PN HD 23, mine have only the SS PN. Does you new-style SS molder head have a Corob PN on it? I'm thinking it is what Corob refers to as Delta.

- David

DLB wrote: ↑Tue Nov 23, 2021 9:03 am

algale wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 6:49 pm
I think that statement is true of the old Shopsmith knives with the new Shopsmith head or the new Corob knives with the old Shopsmith head.

But sInce Corob branded cutters actually shipped from Shopsmith for the newest molder head,

I think the new style Corob knives work with the new Style Shopsmith head.

I think Corob branded cutters actually shipped from Shopsmith for BOTH the old and new molder head. Which adds to confusion. I have 505564 and 555038 new in Corob packaging, both still listed for now on the SS site as "older-style." But your photo appears to have a Corob PN HD 23, mine have only the SS PN. Does you new-style SS molder head have a Corob PN on it? I'm thinking it is what Corob refers to as Delta.

- David

I own two molder heads. One I bought from Shopsmith directly in the last 10 years and one which came used in a box of assorted used parts I bought from a guy on Craigslist).

Both of my heads are identical. They both are engraved to say "Shopsmith." They don't mention Corob. Because the last head Shopsmith sold was engraved with the Corob name and the MKHD50 number (which Corob sells to the public as one of their "Delta-style" heads), I assumed both my Shopsmith-branded heads were the "old style" and I ordered old style knives from Shopsmith. What came from Shopsmith, however, was Corob "HD" knives. Corob says the HD knives are Delta-style knives for the Delta-style heads, including the MKHD50. But they fit my Shopsmith heads perfectly.

This made me curious. I went to the Corob site and they had a diagram of the MKHD50 head. It's dimensions matched my Shopsmith-branded heads exactly in every dimension (except for three holes bored in the face of the MKHD50 which my Shopsmith heads lack. But these holes have no impact on the operating dimensions. This made me think my Shopsmith-branded head was functionally identical to the MKHD50 and that maybe I had the "new" style heads. But if my head was new style, why, when I ordered "old" style knives from Shopsmith, did I get Corob HD knives for the MKHD50 that fit my Shopsmith heads perfectly??

The other molder heads/knives Corob sells to the public are what Corob calls "Sears/Craftsman" style. The Sears/Craftsman heads are very different from my Shopsmith heads and the Delta-style MKHD50 head. In addition the Sears/Craftsman style knives sold by Corob have an obvious groove in them. The Delta-style HD knives are smooth (no groove).

To make the mystery even more mysterious, in my box of used parts I got with my used Shopsmith head were a bunch of Corob-branded knives that were not marked HD and which lacked a groove. Not marked HD so not HD knives. And not grooved, so not Sears/Crafstman style knives. So Corob-manufactured knives that were neither Delta style and nor Corob Sears/Craftsman style. What are they?

When I measured these mystery Corob knives, they were slightly [edit] thicker at 0.129 inches than my Corob HD knives [edit] at 0.125 inches and had a smaller diameter hole in them They seem to work in my Shopsmith heads and I think I've used them in it but they plainly weren't made for it like the HD knives are. I infer from this that these mystery knives are probably for the "old" Shopsmith head, made by Corob for Shopsmith, but only sold through Shopsmith. All that said, this is surmise only because I don't have an example of a verified "old" style Shopsmith head that these knives would fit perfectly.

I'm sorry this is so long and confusing, but it is a confusing subject!!

Thanks for the information, guys. I guess since they were selling someone else's Molder Head and Knives they decided to stop carrying them in the catalog. The old Molder Head styles all allowed a direct connection to the Shopsmith's spindle with a set screw. No need for an arbor. The original Shopsmith Molder head was also made for Montgomery Ward under the Powr-Kraft brand but did require an arbor. In the picture below of the old-style Molder Heads it is the upper left Head.

_ .
I believe the knives for the newer Molder Head (September 2011 and later) are thicker. I have not seen, other than pictures, the newer head or knives. The picture above is my older style Molder Heads and all the versions made.

I guess it make sense for Shopsmith not to carry items available to us from other suppliers in their catalog thereby needing to buy them to have in stock. I think we may see more accessories dropped as time goes on.

I have the 'old-style' Shopsmith. The knives measure 0.125" thick and the grooves in the head are ~0.130". Corob has very detailed dimension drawings of their cutter knives, unless you want to know thickness! I recall a thread where we reached 'definite' conclusion on the old/new SS dimensions. The old knives were 1/8" (0.125") thick and the new were 5/32" (0.156") thick. viewtopic.php?p=268754#p268754 It seems reasonable to conclude that the SS new-style and the Corob Delta style are equal, they would probably be happy to confirm. And therefore that the SS old-style is no longer supported.

- David