TS molding head - worth it?

[John Moorhead]

Folks -

I've heard about molding heads for tablesaws and a bit about them. I can see that the extra power and control of a TS vs a router would be an advantage... Wif could use some profiled stock for her framing work...

I looked at Magic Molder, and the price for the setup and extra cutter plugs seemed rich. The basic set was mid 300 and additional cutters *may* give you chump change out of a hundred.

So who else makes 'em Sears? Freud makes shaper cutters, but nothing as far as I can tell, for a TS. Is this something worth pursuing, or is it a power tool version of a snicky Stanley 55?

I'd appreciate any remarks pro or con on this, especially from users.

TIA

John Moorhead

[Bay Area Dave]

I have the Sears unit and it works great for me. I don't use it often, but it can cut profiles that a router bit can't cut. I used mine to make single and triple beads. The cutters leave an adequately smooth finish. I looked at the Magic Molder; too pricey for this ole boy.

dave

John Moorhead wrote:

[Chipper Wood]

I have had the Sears' TS cutter for many years and enjoyed making one of a kind picture frame moldings. Like Dave I too have found it useful for beading. The wide flat profile makes for fast and easy half lap joints. My router makes most of the profile I use, so I don't use it as much as in the past.. I don't make moldings often enough to offset the cost of a shaper.

[bridger]

they show up regularly on ebay....

[Charlie Self]

John Moorhead asks:

Delta makes a set, too. I've got one and it's quite well made. I don't use it often--it will scare the bean soup out of you with its voice. It does work well, and it's really unlikely to lose a cutter with the safety bolt inserts, but it is loud (louder with some cutters than others). I don't see it giving any more control than a router in a table does, though. You need a special insert...probably best to make one.

Charlie Self "The test and the use of man's education is that he finds pleasure in the exercise of his mind." Jacques Barzun

[George]

Not to me. Scares me with the noise, and the memory of a shattered piece years ago which whizzed past my ears. You know how they have modified the router bits so they can't be overfed and kick? I'll (maybe) buy one for my saw again when that happens. Tabled routers and multiple level passes make all the broad moldings you could wish. Shapers make 'em better.

[JMWEBER987]

That's where I got mine. Note that there are two models of the Sears brand. A three cutter and a one cutter. Never used a one cutter so can't say if the work well but the three cutter model I got on ebay for a few bucks did a fine job of making some bead moulding for a bedroom remodel. There is almost always one or two for sale on ebay. Don't remember exactly, but I got mine for $20.00 or less. It included 6 or 7 different cutters. Mike in Arkansas

[Rumpty]

The Delta Moulding head and bits work well, and is quite useful on the RAS for shaping, moulding and irregular shaping. Quite often found on Ebay, a much better/stiffer/stable product than the "Sears" moulding heads. New, the 4" 3 knife head is about $80.00 USD and individual bits about $35 USD each. They work well.

[Upscale]

I bought a 4" 3 bit moulding head and three bit sets some thirty years ago for my tablesaw and never once used them. After the purchase, I had second thoughts about those bits whirring around a few feet from my body. They're still packed away somewhere, I never could sell them off. Sounds like ebay might be my answer.

[Charlie Self]

But that's a fairly constant chance with many of today's blades. I've got a friend who was a grunt in 'Nam. He said when he hit a hardened nail with a carbide tipped blade, the stuff whizzing by his head brought back very unpleasant memories.

Charlie Self "The test and the use of man's education is that he finds pleasure in the exercise of his mind." Jacques Barzun

[Rumpty]

We use them all the time in our shop and always on the RAS. Tucked behind a fence, moulding guard on etc and they are as safe to use as a shaper. Frankly I'd be scared to use ANY moulding head on a TS, but on a RAS the wood is nice and flat and stable on the table, safe to control etc.

Cheers!

[Upscale]

I guess so, but in my mind I think there was a difference between a much larger bit bolted down onto a moulding head and the one piece, non-carbide

10" saw blade I was using. It was when I was early into woodworking and didn't know about carbide blades, much less carbide tips shattering and flying off a saw blade.

As well, I didn't have a proper sized insert for this moulding head and it didn't occur to me to make one out of plywood or some other material.

[Rumpty]

Charlie,

The Delta moulding system doesn't use carbide tipped knives, they are HSS so that "danger" isn't there.

Rumpty

Radial Arm Saw Forum:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[JMWEBER987]

look here.

?ViewItem&category=20789&item=4305439640&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW?ViewItem&category=20789&item=4304529981&rd=1?ViewItem&category=20789&item=4305543669&rd=1

[Charlie Self]

Rumpty responds:

My point was not that Delta used carbide cutters in the molding head--I know they don't--but that a fear of things zipping around the shop is not confinable to molding heads. In fact, with modern fasteners, there should be almost no chance of cutters flying loose, short of a complete failure of the head or the arbor.

Charlie Self "The test and the use of man's education is that he finds pleasure in the exercise of his mind." Jacques Barzun

[J. Clarke]

Famous last words

[David Hall]

Dad used his with a single cutter on a RAS to make all the trim in the three houses he built across the street in the early 1960s as a "hobby". He got a three cutter set later on and said it worked somewhat better. Both the RAS and the molder sets went to my brother when dad died. I have a 3 cutter set that I use once in a while on my TS and on my RAS. The RAS looks and sounds scarier, but is probably safer and does a better job than the TS for me.

Dave Hall

[Charlie Self]

J. Clarke opines:

Fair enough. When was the last time you heard of a properly fastened cutter flying off a molding head?

Charlie Self "The test and the use of man's education is that he finds pleasure in the exercise of his mind." Jacques Barzun

[J. Clarke]

I haven't. Yet. And maybe if I don't tempt the fates the first one I hear about won't be mine.

[Todd Fatheree]

Well, you'd better not use your table saw any more, because there is a non-zero probability that the saw blade will fail catastrophically and turn into shrapnel. Ditto on the jointer. Better shelve your router as well. Statistically, you're probably in graver danger getting out of the shower than operating a molder in the table saw. I hope you haven't given up showering.

todd