Thread: Router vs spindle moulder

Your choice will depend so much on what you intend to do - purely as a hobby, semi-pro as you sell a bit on the side or fulltime cabinetmaker
A router table is very adaptable and the cost of tooling is minimal for a wide variety of moulds, however you will go through a few routers if you intend to use it everyday. Mounting a router upside down where the dust ( some sawdust is a lot worse that others ) can enter easily does seem to play havoc with the bearings and other parts on a router.
A spindle moulder is also adaptable for a wide range of profiles but dedicated cutterheads and knives will cost you a lot of money. They are however very handy to have and you can really chew through a lot of panels and sticks for moulding in a relatively short time.
They are also a lot more robust and geared up for heavy duty use.

Stewie

Thanks Stewie,

I am a hobbyist, and primarily I wanted to do dovetails and edging initially.

As it stands at the moment, it looks as if I will have the let the spindle moulder go and just concentrate on a router/router table set up.

Thanks for your advice.