Molding Process

[Mike Bittel]

After several posts to this grouip and the advice of many I decided to purchase a Jet Planer/Molder. I found some cool profiles that I like at moldingknives.com and need to order those too.

I just had a few general questions about the process...

1. I am creating a 11/16" X 2 1/4" casing out of red oak. I was planning to buy 1-By Oak from my local lumberyard. I know that I need to plane the thickness down to 11/16" but what width should I start out with? I just want to minimize on waste.

1. Does it make sense for me to purchase stock from my lumber company (for example Red Oak 1x4 @ .59/ft) or would I get a better deal by going to a lumber mill?

2. I am planning to buy the knives from moldingknives.com. This seems like a decent supplier but I welcome other sources if anyone has them.

Thanks, -Mike

[Jeff Thunder]

You might want to rethink the planing part. Typically, your final molding thickness will be less than the thickness of the stock before you start to run it through the machine. It's safest to try things out on a small (scrap) piece first. FWIW, I usually do just fine with stock about 1/16" wider than finished dimension. It's important that your stock have a consistent width. Running it through a planer on edge works well for this.

Do you have the equipment to take rough stock and mill it to size?

The knives Grizzly sells for their molder work just fine in the Jet. They have a decent selection of profiles and good prices.

Have fun. These machines are pretty slick!