mickit

I've got a contractor saw with a 2HP motor. I'm thinking of trying an old Delta three knife moulder head on it. Is 2HP enough for a single pass cut, or am I looking at multiple passes?
Mickit

rrich

I'm not a fan of molding heads being used in any saw. However, you have to do a set up to get the positioning correct. By the time that you get the position and depth correct for your project you should have a feel for the feeding of stock through the saw.

In reality, I guess what I'm saying is, "Only you can tell."

Just when you do the cut, be sure to stand away from the kick back line of fire and use push pads to feed the stock through the saw. A left side feather board to keep the stock against the fence is a good idea.

If you are trying to make narrow pieces of molding, make the molding on a wide piece of stock and then rip the molding off the wide piece after the molding cut.

BTW - In another life I used a molding cutter in a RAS. I always made the cut in a single pass. You're not really removing that much material and positioning for the second pass may not be as exact as you want.

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Use the right tool for the job.

Rich (Tilting right)
Huntington Beach, California
Remember that when we have the "BIG ONE" everything east of the Rockies falls into the ocean.

woodnthings

What's your goal? A clean finshed product with no chatter? If so a one pass cut is not the desired method anyway. Depends on the wood, soft or hard, straight grained or gnarly, sharpness of the cutter, rate of feed etc. Unless your saw has an induction motor rather than brushes and runs on 220 V, you probably don't have 2 real horses, maybe a horse and a pony! Always sneak up on your finished cut incrementally, for best results and it's a whole lot safer.
bill

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Never stand directly in front of a horse or tablesaw that's running!
If you're not making dust, you're gathering it. After I reread my own posts, I agree with myself even more.

cabinetman

The best profile would be created by several passes. The last pass is just a skim pass.

GeorgeC

Even though your saw may have sufficient power, I think you will find that you get the best results with multiple passes. I have a Craftsman 3 blade setup and have never even tried to do anything in one pass.

In multiple passes it does a great job.

George

mickit

I hope to produce some furniture/cabinetry for my own use, not gonna go into business again, tried it twice and found that the boss was an idiot.
The wood I have available to me is FAS KD Ash, Oak, Maple and Poplar. I work for a hardwood moulding producer and get my wood for free or next to free.
Smooth finish is the goal, else why do it at all?
The power comes from a WEG dual voltage motor wired for 230V. rated at 2HP (1 1/2 at 110V). Its an older Delta Saw, one of the last produced at the Tupelo MS plant before the contractor saw series went off shore.
As to the incremental cuts, will alignment become a problem? Seems like a jig or sled would be called for, but I don't have the experience to draw on. Just a nice collection of tools I'm trying to learn to use.
mickit

cabinetman

If you are making incremental cuts, the thought here is machining lengths of moulding, and what is incremental is the height of the knives. For this type of machining, the fence is usually used as a guide, and at times a sacrificial add on.

duncsuss

I used a Craftsman 3-head molding cutter set on my Delta Super-10 table saw without problems.

First I attached a straight piece of 4x1-1/2 to the rip fence to make a sacrificial fence (i.e. one that I could safely position right up against the cutter heads). Then clamp a featherboard to the sacrificial fence as a "hold down assistant" to help keep the workpiece from lifting off the table, close to where the blades will be working. I used a second featherboard to hold the workpiece against the side of the fence.

I found it best to use a short piece cut off the main workpiece (about 18 inches) to test the setup.

Bring the cutter heads up to just above the table surface, run the test piece through. Use a push stick in each hand -- one to push, one to hold it against the fence and against the table. These cutter heads really try to lift-and-throw the workpiece.

Push the test piece through -- if that goes through okay, push all your workpieces through (I was making a picture frame and felt safer with two 3-foot pieces rather than a single 6-foot length) at this height.

Raise the cutter heads, try your test piece, if all's good push your workpieces through at the new height.

I aimed to take no more than 1/8th off at each pass, then just a hair for the final "smoothing" pass.

Duncan

ps. I used multiple molding heads, repositioning the fence for each one, to get a more interesting shape -- at the time I didn't have a router, so I used this setup to round over both sides of the frame, and to cut the rabbet in the reverse to install the picture

mickit

cabinetman: I recognize and respect the patch!I wear one on my heart, and on occasion, my right shoulder. SOCOM '72-'84
With all respect,
Mickey