Shopsmith Forums

Already a Day late! Dogonne Daylight Savings Time!!! Also, Did anyone else but me find all of the Shopsmith sites were down for Sunday afternoon and evening?

This Chapter covers Table saw molding. Here is a direct link to that chapter: http://www.shopsmith.com/academy/tblsaw ... /index.htm This is one of the attachments I don't have as I opted for the Shaper instead.

As I understand, the molder head may be more versatile than the shaper, as many personalized cutters can be machined for specific uses. It is easier to machine straight metal pieces rather than a three bladed head.

Now is the time for us to read Chapter 5 and comment on it and also the use of the molder on the Shopsmith.

Finally got down to the Community section and see the downed web site was universal.

Back to the Molder - - I am reminded of one of the things that can be done nicely with the molder is face molding. (Figures 5-16 and 5-17) Face molding may be one of the products of the molder that may cause me to invest!

I have knot done any molding nor do I have this accessory. I do plan on adding it to my arsenal when the need arises. Has any member ever designed their own knives? I think it is possible, but wood be interested in other members experience.

Hi,

I don't have the shopsmith set because I owned one before I got my shopsmith and figured there was no reason to change since the function was the same.

I got molding head before I got a router, it works different then a router but at the same time a lot of the profiles are the same. I don't recall how many sets of cutters I have but there are only a limited number of options out there. In the old catalog I have it shows 28 cutters plus a matched set for door panel/door rail coper... and a full set would run you $568.50 at the prices listed in that catalog. And like router bits you can combine sets to make unique designs.

As far as cutting your own... well maybe. You need to get all three cutters shaped the same and all the same length and so on so that might be a bit of an issue for most diy's. It might be more likely that a shop that specializes in such things would be the way to go if you had to have a specialized one.

Please take a look at:
http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/hops/blog/5688
for some additional information related to this subject.

Ed

a1gutterman wrote:I have knot done any molding nor do I have this accessory. I do plan on adding it to my arsenal when the need arises. Has any member ever designed their own knives? I think it is possible, but wood be interested in other members experience.

One advantage of the Molder over the Shaper or Routers would be the ability of making long, straight cuts with fewer passes (maybe?). Since the saw table is used with the Molder, the base (table) should be longer than many router tables with fewer obstructions than the other two.

I know some guys have super router tables set up where it is easy to make long straight cuts. Does anyone have any ideas of comparison between those two tools?

What special operations do you think you could do with a molder?

The differences between a Molder and a Shaper has mostly to do with working curved or non straight stock, but the Shaper is another chapter to come later.

charlese wrote:One advantage of the Molder over the Shaper or Routers would be the ability of making long, straight cuts with fewer passes (maybe?). Since the saw table is used with the Molder, the base (table) should be longer than many router tables with fewer obstructions than the other two.

I know some guys have super router tables set up where it is easy to make long straight cuts. Does anyone have any ideas of comparison between those two tools?

What special operations do you think you could do with a molder?

The differences between a Molder and a Shaper has mostly to do with working curved or non straight stock, but the Shaper is another chapter to come later.

Don't overlook the larger radius decreases the 'steepness' of the ridges produced from cutting.

JPG40504 wrote:Don't overlook the larger radius decreases the 'steepness' of the ridges produced from cutting.

I think I'm a bit lost here! Guess I might not completely understand width radius you are speaking of. Are you saying; because of the larger radius of the molder head, (as compared to the radius of either a shaper cutter or a routing bit) the molder makes a cut that would have shallower ridges?

Would feed speed and rotation speed of the cutter, have some effects on the ridges?

[quote="charlese"]I think I'm a bit lost here! Guess I might not completely understand width radius you are speaking of. Are you saying]

YES! (to all three questions.) Consider what happens as the cutting edge contacts 'new' material. A larger radius cutting edge strikes the 'new' material at a shallower angle than a smaller one.(closer to tangential) It contacts(cuts) the new material longer(both time and distance) for a given rotational speed and feed rate. This creates shallower AND longer 'valleys'. Hence the ridges left between the 'valleys' have a smaller height AND slope. As the material is fed, a new valley is created at a distance determined by BOTH speed and feed rate. The ridge is left because the workpiece has moved since the previous blade passed and the ridge occurs just past the 'top center' of the blade.

Feed and speed affect both shapers and molders(and routers) as to the spacing and depth of the ridges. The molder causes a shallower slope on those ridges.

A router minimizes all this by virtue of its rotational speed(valleys/distance) which creates VERY small ridges very close to each other.

Thanks, JPG! Very well explained!

One comment experience has taught me never to use the molder head on my SS unless I have stop collar on the main table leg.

Having the table slip down thus revealing more and more of the cutter not only ruins the cut but can cause a violent kickback. I simply will not trust the height adjustment lock alone, I will always have a stop collar on and adjusted so the table can not go any lower.