Spindle Moulder Tooling - Single Knife?

[Jacob]

Another thing - at the risk of causing anxiety attacks - is to treat it like an unexploded bomb or a bitey wild animal at the zoo. By which I mean - if anything appears to be going wrong step away, keep well back, hands up, don't grab the workpiece, just let it fly or let the machine eat it if that's what it wants. You might have a big bite in the workpiece but you still have all your fingers!

 

[RogerS]

CaptainBarnacles....why not see if Peter Sefton has any space on one of his machine courses....sometimes if there is room, you can just turn up for the spindle moulder day.

Failing that, I'm not that far away. I also have the Kity and IIRC same model as you.

 

[CaptainBarnacles]

CaptainBarnacles....why not see if Peter Sefton has any space on one of his machine courses....sometimes if there is room, you can just turn up for the spindle moulder day.

Failing that, I'm not that far away. I also have the Kity and IIRC same model as you.

I hadn't thought of taking a course, Peter is just up the road...mmmmm. And thank you for the offer Roger, I'll see how this next week goes.

I did some rebating on the moulder yesterday and it went reasonably well. I tried taking about 45mm x 16mm out of seasoned oak but it didn't feel comfortable so I reduced it to about 25mm x 16mm and that was much smoother. After the first thirty or forty pieces though (and having emptied the extractor bag twice) I thought there must be a quicker, easier way. I needed to remove 55mm x 16mm and it looked like I was going to have to do it in 2 or 3 passes on 40+ pieces. I was so fixed on using my new 'toy' that it took me a while to realise I should just cut out the bulk of the waste on the table saw then just go through the moulder for the final dimensioning. #-o

Not only was that much quicker, it required fewer changes of underwear and I was left with a load of quarter sawn oak strips that I can use as glazing bars etc. rather than just bag after bag of chips and dust. I kicked myself for a while about that one, then I came inside, told my wife and she kicked me some more! :lol:

 

[Sgian Dubh]

it took me a while to realise I should just cut out the bulk of the waste on the table saw then just go through the moulder for the final dimensioning.

Not only was that much quicker, it required fewer changes of underwear and I was left with a load of quarter sawn oak strips that I can use as glazing bars etc.

To do that you must have removed both the riving knife and crown guard from the saw and probably worked American style, i.e., guardless. Now, whilst it's not illegal for an amateur to remove those safety devices and undertake the task in that manner, it is illegal for us professionals unless we comply with HSE regulations for alternative guarding.

Generally I discourage everyone, including amateurs, from working without guards on the table saw as this is an American practice and US H&S regs for table saw usage are very different to UK regs, and US style usage doesn't comply with UK regs. Anyway, be that as it may, I'm not going to bang on about how you shouldn't operate a saw unguarded, because I don't know for sure if that's the case, but there is a better option than using the table saw for creating those beads, which is a perfectly acceptable and safe way of working -- you simply buy a groover for your spindle moulder. Fit the groover, fit the Shaw guards, and away to go with an excellent measure of safety.

Groovers such as the one at this link are suitable, assuming you can buy one to fit your machine, which I suspect is highly likely: http://www.wealdentool.com/acatalog/Onl ... m_869.html
You can also get all sorts of spindle moulder tooling from a range of people. Probably one of the most common suppliers for both amateurs and many professionals are Axminster. Here's what should be a link to their spindle moulder tooling page: http://www.axminster.co.uk/spindle-moul ... rc=froogle

I suppose I should close with a strong suggestion that you do sign up for some training, preferably with someone that's a qualified wood machinist. I don't wish to be disparaging, but self taught woodworkers (both professional and amateur) are frequently a real menace around some of the more technically challenging woodworking machines, and spindle moulders fall into the "very challenging" category. I've seen far too many self taught woodworkers undertaking very poorly set up and therefore dangerous wood machining operations, with the saddest part being they had no idea just how much danger they'd put themselves in. Slainte.

 

[Jacob]

I'd do a rebate in one (unless I was desperate for the small offcuts!).
I've got a "groover" - it's a wobble saw but you can set it to zero with a 4mm cut. But IMHO cutting a big rebate 45x16 would be much safer over the top of a TS (with riving knife) as the workpiece would be easier to hold down and in.
2 push sticks either way. The main thing is to have a false fence such that the offcut can fall free and not be slung back.
Suits my set up anyway - might not suit somebody elses I suppose.

 

[CaptainBarnacles]

To do that you must have removed both the riving knife and crown guard from the saw and probably worked American style, i.e., guardless.

That's correct, I did work without any guarding on the saw. In operation though the cuts on the saw felt much more comfortable and a lot safer (not to mention much quicker) than taking big bites on the SM with the rebating block. I hadn't considered using a groover on the moulder. I do have a wobble saw which will go down to 6mm but I don't think it has the diameter to get the full 55mm depth of the rebate. I suppose I could take out the maximum depth of cut and then use the rebate block to remove the rest.

But IMHO cutting a big rebate 45x16 would be much safer over the top of a TS (with riving knife) as the workpiece would be easier to hold down and in.
2 push sticks either way. The main thing is to have a false fence such that the offcut can fall free and not be slung back.

Before I cut the rebates out on the saw they had been through the moulder once and had some of the rebate removed so there was a clearance for the waste to drop into without getting wedged between the fence and blade. I have taken to using two push sticks as suggested and whilst it felt very odd at first I did quickly get the hang of it.

Thank you for all the information, wisdom and guidance, I very grateful indeed.

 

[Paddywack]

Hi,
I have a combi machine that has Spindle and Saw on it, I bought it only for the Saw secondhand. And after hearing about Spindle Moulders and the horror stories I put off using it for ages, I searched for courses on the Spindle Moulder and came across the Axminster one and booked a day on it, I enjoyed it so much I did another one a year later. While I haven't lost respect for the Spindle Moulder I have lost the fear of it and now I know how to set it up correctly and use it properly I have found it to be an asset in my Shop. I am still no expert but like to think I can use it without endangering myself or others (I work alone).
Regards.