Thread: Spindle moulder

Peter, a spindle moulder is used to do moulding on lengths of timber. Think of them as a super sized router table and you will be half way there.

Yes, like all machinery, they can be dangerous, but used safely, they can produce profiles in timber that no other machine can match.

Books that I have found useful in learning more about the machine : Spindle Moulder Handbook by Eric Stephenson, UK/euro biased and technically deep. Very detailed on safe processing of timber and Shaper Handbook by Roger Cliffe & Michael Holtz, more US biased and I am still reading it.

So a few more details would help in offering advice. First your personal level of confidence with machinery? Then details about the machine and accessories itself.

For me personally, I only use my dinky moulder when fully awake and take my time and double and triple check all parts are secured, use every form of safety equipment, feather boards, push sticks and take my time. I do not stand directly behind the piece, in case of ejection, I don't move that quick. If you have a visit from the Stuff up fairy, when using a moulder, you will be lucky if the piece is just ejected into the wall of the shed.

thanks for that pat i will try and get the book or a video. cheers peter

I have both of these books, with my preference being Stephenson. It is very detailed without being verbose, and you really need to think about each sentence. Some of the topics ( such as grinding tooling and metallurgy), whilst being a little over the top for occasional users, give an insight into the way that the cutters work. It is a substantial reference book despite being only about 160 pages.
The Shaper Handbook by Cliffe and Holz provides multiple photographs to cover each type of woodworking procedure which can be very useful in understanding complicated cuts.
They are complementary and you would not go wrong by purchasing both.
I have The Shaper Book by Lonnie Bird, which doesn't have as much info, but is ok for an overview.
Hope this helps.

hello anodyne, yep i am going to see if i can get those books and maybe a dvd as well so i can get a good insight to the moulder

The first thing is what type of head is on the machine, does it have top and bottom collar with slot's for the pair of cutters simply held by the clamping pressure of the nut on the shaft if this the case the first thing to look at is a new head where the cutters and block are toothed to lock the knives in to the block, some others have pins through the knife to positively locate them. (any new cutter block available should be of the safer type's) But it still come's back to user to check and double check that every thing is tight before you think about pushing that start button.
Regards Rod.

Have a look at this it will give you a basic understanding of the machine allowing for the fact there many levels of sofistication, but this one is fairly basic

Set up a Spindle Moulder - YouTube

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thanks for the input china and rod going to get some help from the mens shed,