I bought a molding head set today. Scared the he.. out of me when I used it the first time. Any suggestions for setup, use, safety? Better yet what shouldn't be done with it (failure to tighten set screws completely). Thx
" snipped-for-privacy@none.com" wrote in news:Xns9678EA68ED319nowaynonecom@68.6.19.6:
Many years ago I bought a molding head for my table saw. I have yet to find a good use for it. It does make a cool sound when it's running though.
Don
Yea...I remember when I fired up the molding head on MY tablesaw all those years ago. I had not heard that sort of a scary growl out of anything before. It really sounds like it wants to chew you into small parts. Now...here is what *I* do when I am going to use it. 1) Try and determine if I can use the router or shaper for the job first. If not...put the head on the saw. 2) I make sure that the cutters on the head are razor sharp. I usually touch them up on 1000 grit paper, and get a good, polished edge on them. 3) I use a zero-clearance insert matched to the cutters. If I don't already have one, I make one out of 1/2" plywood, and, make it zero-clearance by clamping it in place, then, after firing up the saw, bringing the cutters up through it to the appropriate height. 4) I use hold-downs of some sort for the stock. I have a few fingerboards that stabilize the stock. I suspect that some of the wheeled sort would work really well, too. If I had a power feeder, I would CERTAINLY use that. 5) I take several light cuts to get to the final shape, rather than one deep cut. 6) I ALWAYS have eye and ear protection, and, use push-sticks to move the stock through the cutters.
A firm hand is necessary here, but, you don't want to force the wood through the head. When the blades are really sharp, it should not take much more effort than it does to push a board through a regular sawblade. If you are having to push really hard...the blades are dull, and, need sharpening.
Regards Dave Mundt
I use the Delta moulding head system, this is the 4" dia head with 3 cutter knives on the RAS. Sharp bits are required, and multiple passes are recommended whether you use a moulding system on a RAS or TS. Finger boards and "orange wheels" types of hold downs are a good investment. Using a moulding head on a RAS is no more complicated than using a router table, plus you have the benefit to use the moulding head in the in rip and out rip positions to create mouldings you cannot make otherwise. Wally Kunkel's book "How To Master The Radial saw"
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