I need to make/buy door casing moldings of white oak and hickory for a single house. There are about 15 doors that will need casing inside and out. I've just finished making the base and shoe moldings, and the door frames. Most are finished, and look really nice.
I can't seem to find a router bit profile that I like to make the door casings; nor can I come up with a combination of profiles either. I'd like to match or come close to the original casings; they are about
2.25" x .750", in the standard range. But online I have only found red oak for standard moldings, and custom-made jacks the price up to where the decision is pretty clear: buy a machine and make 'em. (SWMBO says "keep looking....")I saw this Grizzly machine, G1037 13" Planer / Moulder. It looks like it might be a bit touchy in setup, but it is a planer too, after all. I already have a Delta 12" planer that works ok, but snipes real good. (It's older, not much to adjust, and no head-lockdown feature...)
The cost of the G1037 13" Planer / Moulder including shipping, and also enough stock (white oak and hickory + 15% extra) is about equal to the cost of red oak standard profile casing at $0.77 to $0.95 per lineal foot, not including any extra.
I'd really like to get a shaper, but they seem to cost significantly more, and cutters are more expensive too. I have a fairly small shop, already have a 10" TS, 14" BS, 6" joiner, chopsaw on stand, worktable/bench filling it up,,,, but I could always make room for another, relatively small floor tool, ahem.
Just curious if anyone has used this tool enough to make moldings and as a planer to have a strong opinion of it --
-- ease of use
-- ease of setup
-- reliability
-- flexibility
-- suitability to task(s)
-- available knives: where do you get them anyway, Grizzly? Custom profiles?
Would anyone recommend a similar tool? Is it better to prepare enough stock (+ extra) and find a shop with a shaper and a suitable cutter, that will rent time on it? Anyone know of such an outfit in the Atlanta area?
Thanks,
/ts