Spindle moulder or Planer/moulder

[HaydnG]

I am looking at making about 200 metres of 50 x 50mm scotia and some other simple mouldings up to 100mm wide. Just wondering if I would be better off with a planer moulder over a spindle moulder?
I notice Carbatec has them both around the same price, and I reckon I would get more use out of the thicknessser in the long run. Do you reckon I could make relatively small square profile mouldings with the planer unit? Don't mind saying the spindle moulder scares the ### out of me too, but its a better way to go I'll just have to be brave.

[ian]

if it were me, for that sort of quantity (200m) I'd pay a commercial outfit to run it through their moulder.
To do it safely yourself you'll also need an auto-feeder and the knives — the dollars quickly add up


ian

[Wood Butcher]

I would go with the planer if you are not confident with a spindle. They are dangerous and can sense fear in the operator. (I'm not joking) Plus as ian said you would need power feeders etc. The planer already has feed rollers.

[Ashore]

If you don't have a thicknesser go with the planer moulder, once you have one you will be amazed how you ever did without one.


Rgds

[fletty]

Rowan,
You are so right!
I've not heard it said so well before!
That b#*^&%y (b#*^&@y) machine can "smell fear"!
It just knows when to snatch the timber from your hands, never on the first pass ... no... it waits til the last pass when you should be finishing that complex moulding, or it destroys just enough that you have to cut more, or the best grained piece ... or all of the above!
and, if you sweat on the table, it knows, its taken it as the scent of fear.
I'm thinking of buying some of those fixed TCT one-piece cutters to at least overcome the fear of the cutter block and blades disintegrating .... I won't sleep now!
Fletty

[soundman]

spindle moulders are great for many things.
milling wide boards, hand fed is not one of them.
cheers

[HaydnG]

Thanks chaps.....I'm definitely going to be a sook and go for the thicknesser now.

[QldWoodie]

Every new post on this board that mentions spindle moulders is immediately followed by a host of replies about how dangerous they are. Well every piece of woodworking machinery deserves respect (the only tool that has ever bitten me was my bandsaw which is generally thought of as one of the really "safe" machines!) but spindle moulders have been around for a long time and deserve consideration analytically not emotively.

I owned a planer-moulder (a Jet 12 inch model) for several years before trading up to my current Jet 15 inch model, AND

I also own a Jet spindle moulder.
----

If you don't have a thicknesser now, then the planer moulder is the way to go .... thicknessers are so useful that it is hard to think of why anyone would consider buying a moulder of any kind if they don't yet have a thicknesser. Indeed, for only 200 metres of moulding, even if you already owned a planer moulder maybe you would still be better off getting the mouldings commercially machined, because the cost of the moulding cutters would exceed the cost of paying to get it done.

But don't rule out the spindle moulder. Spindle moulders also make very good router tables and can take all your router bits. In fact, when I make small lengths of mouldings I usually use a router bit in the spindle moulder not the moulder cutters. SO .... if you have a thicknesser, but not a good router table, then consider a spindle moulder because you'll get a very good router table for free.

For any significant quantity of moulding I agree that spindle moulders should be power fed, not just for safety but also for consistency of finish. But for small quantities you can carefully set up a zero clearance fence and backing boards that address the safety issue.

Another consideration:

For relatively narrow boards, where the moulding constitutes the biggest proportion of the board face, then a planer-moulder is preferred, because on these machines the back face of the board is the reference surface. You can theoretically cut a moulding across the entire face of the board and multiple passes are not an issue.

On spindle moulders the reference surface is the front of the board and this is the face that the moulding is being cut into. This means that support for the board on the out-feed side at least is reduced to just the part of the board that is not being moulded. Mouldings on narrow boards may need to be done first on wide boards using a high fence then trimmed later on the saw.

Hope this helps.

Qw

[John Saxton]

http://www.safetyline.wa.gov.au/pagebin/pg000684.htm

No apologies for being a recidivist and constantly re-posting this.

Some handy info on the operation of those WW tools.

Also read "Spindle Moulder Handbook" by Eric Stephenson
or "Shaper Handbook" by Roger W Cliffe & Michael Holtz

Buy Beg or steal(not Really) one of these books to get an insight on the full functional use of the spindle moulder.

Like QLD WOODIE I also have the Jet spindle moulder which can take router bits with forward and reverse funtion and find it easy to use and affordable enough to warrant its use with either a cutter head or a router bit.
On the combination it's a different story of only using it if large runs are intended or if the need for using a power feeder is warranted.

Cheers:)