spindle moulder

Hi, need to buy a spindle moulder........

question, is it worth the extra for a tilting head/shaft.....?

I'll be using a euro saftey cutter block with standard off the shelf cutter knives.......

the way I see it, u can just slighty custom cut the shapes of the mouldings.......

anyone using such a moulder.....?

cheers clogs

I've managed without a tilting spindle for 20 years, as you say if the need arises make an angled plate to sit on the table and similar on the fence if needed.

J

If its for industrial or serious hobby use allow for a power feed unit. Spindle moulders are high risk noisy dust making machines, the further your fingers are away from the cutter the better. The cutter try's to push the material away (or even throw it!), you need to apply a fair bit of pressure to the work that tends to be down and toward the cutter and back fence, the power feed will help a lot, depending on the work you are doing it may not be practical to guard the cutter. You only get one set of fingers. If you have not used one before try to find someone that has and take their advice seriously.

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One cutter set can produce a number of patterns, this is done by adjusting the position of the work and the up or down position of the spindle. When selecting them bear this in mind.

If you need a special design some saw sharpening / cutter suppliers can CNC generate a special cutter set to match your machine from a cad file of the outline automatically.

I did this for a recent project, we needed to match up existing heritage mouldings. The work was sent out to a wood craftsman's shop. as I no longer run a shop.

When in business we never needed a tilting head. I guess it depends on the type of work you do.

**LINK**

Look for a solid machine with a cast iron table, heavier is likely to be better. You may be able to pick up a good European made machine second hand machine make sure you can see it running. We rather liked SCM Italian woodworking machines, I still have an SCM sliding panel saw waiting for a bigger shed to put it in.

Regards
John

Same as Jason I put in 30 years working in a joiners shop and a non tilting head spindle did all the work that was required of it, mind looking back a tilting head would have been useful at times, as it was we used to grind all our cutter blanks to suit the job in hand.

Mike.

Edited By MichaelR on 06/12/2017 14:05:52

Hi Clogs,

I bought a spindle moulder many years ago,did a mountain of work with it,without ever needing a tilting spindle. Most cutters can cut more than one profile,and if you need a special,a company called "Whitehill" will make it for you at a fair price. I got several specials made over the years.

You do need a fairly sturdy machine,forget about light flimsy D-I-Y types for serious work.Cast iron table,3or4 hp motor,nothing smaller and a good power feed [gives a much better finish on long pieces ]

Also,MAKE SURE THE CUTTERS ARE LOCKED TIGHT !!

A dust collector also comes in handy [I know ! ]

I had a couple of spindle moulders a dankert which we had for many years & an SCM from new with a long bed.

I decided against tilting head as it introduced an element of vibration into the mechanism due to lack of ridgidity.

However, for a small machine doing wide splay cuts on cills it may help although it may be better to do the job in several passes

May i suggest that when buying- if you buy new- order a 30mm spindle & a 32mm one. This is because modern cutter blocks are generally 30mm but there are loads of old 1 1/4 inch cutters for sale at auctions fairly cheap & if you have the spindle you can buy them whereas others ignore them

I still have some parts in my shed if you are interested--

A ring fence, An EJMA block complete with weatherstrip grouve, Some straight tipped cutters,50mm wide that can be stacked & some tipped adjustable groovers , wobble saw & some saw blades I used for comb joints on lambs tounge sashes & some serrated cutter blocks 100mm diam. Might have some whitehill blocks if i can find them & a 7 degree cill block ( tipped cutter) Most of the tipped gear is Leitz

Sorry to the mods if that is miss selling - delete it if it breaks the rules

Edited By Sam Longley 1 on 06/12/2017 15:37:59

Hi,

thanks for the veiws.......pretty much as I imagined really.......I'll do without the tilting spindle......

I used to have a small Electra Bekam with 50kgs of balast underneath then upgraded to a Wadkin EQ........always regretted getting rid but a change of direction and the need for the space it occupied....

thanks again....clogs

If you need a dust extractor I have a brand new 1hp 3PH Siemens side channel exhauster and a load of 2" vac hose, free to you next time your passing. You'd have to keep the blower clean, so it would need to be an enclosed filter with the blower on the clean side. I was thinking two steel drums with a manifold made from two lids and a tangential inlet, one detachable to catch the fall out below, and one above with an internal 1/2" cage, 1/2" from the drum, so the filter material gets sucked up into the cage. You can buy the filter material on a roll cheap and add a sewing machine to your workshop skill set!

The only snag I can see would be the side channel type blowers tend to be more about creating pressure than moving volumes of air, so I'd have to check the velocity in a 2" pipe is high enough to carry wood chips (known as the interstitial velocity) but I have stacks of data on these values for a wealth of different material and particle size distributions. If it can't move the chip, the solution is a smaller diameter hose to increase velocity, we could make it work!

As for the euro standard cutters, you can make your own from gauge plate and heat treat - I guess a single cutting edge would be fine. I'd balance the cutter with counter weights secured to the unused blade slot or it'll probably start to walk around the shop.......

If you are going to make your own cutters,make two of them. Spindle moulder cutters are always supplied in pairs,for good reason. Any imbalance will show up very quickly and spindle moulders are very unforgiving machines.

We only ever ground one cutter for the Wadkin...