Spindle Moulder vs Router

[Anonymous]

Hi,

Does anyone have any ideas on what the difference is between a "Spindle Moulder" & a router set in a router table?

From what I can see it seems like a router does pretty much everything, Norm seems to use his router table all the time on the new yankee workshop.

I have come to the conclusion a spindle moulder just does larger mouldings, like for door frames etc.. is this correct or havent I got a clue??

Norm Fan

 

[Anonymous]

yea - you pretty much got the picture there. both can do a similiar job

I much prefer to use an inverted variable speed router for smaller work - cause I dont like getting my hands anywhere near a moving spindle cutter block, I dont really care much for them when there sitting still. you see all wood machines you need to have a healthy respect for and in my opinion the spindle needs a whole chunk more.

there are plenty of holes in workshop walls that tell the stories of an awol spindle cutter slipped free from its housing at 100, 000 rpm (or what ever it is they spin). and it takes well made brick to stop em.

And as my favourite teacher (my father) taught me...

.............what cuts wood cuts fingers.......

....nevermind bricks and mortar .. he never mentioned them

 

[Anonymous]

The US term for a spindle moulder is a shaper and Norm does use this occasionally.

You cannot groove panels with a spindle moulder (you cannot run the wood over the top of a spindle moulder cutter, it cuts "side on".

I have both machines and tend to use the SM for the larger pieces of wood since it is physically easier to handle. If starting again, I would buy a powerful router and make/buy a substantial table with a good fence system.

 

[Anonymous]

I don’t recall Norm ever using a real shaper on his show, he has used the delta benchtop “shaper” which is really a bad version of a router table (I used to have one of theses things).

As for the differences, I have a “shaper versus router table” article on my web site if you want more detail. To me the issue boils down to what type of cutter you want to spin, not what spins it.

PMB
http://benchmark.20m.com

 

[sawdustalley]

I remember norm using a floor standing proper Shaper. Was another delta beast.

Unless you are in an industrial workshop, I don't really see the need for a spindle moulder (Or shaper).

If you have a nice big router (some routers you can buy do have the same amount of power as a small spindle moulder) I think you can do most of the stuff you can do with a spindle moulder. Things like Panel Raising, Cutting joints, Housings etc... With no problems.

You need to buy some good quality heavy duty 1/2" router cutters aswell.

 

[Anonymous]

Just to clear thing up a spindle moulder is NOT a shaper. They are two different machines. Shapers tend to be smaller than spindles, and take a block which is shaped to the profile being cut, (like a BIG router bit with a hole in the middle) with knives brazed permenantly onto them. Spindles take blocks that are a cylindrical, into which a set of cutters (and now limiters) is set, using a wedge or grub screw system.

Both routers and spindles have their uses, but for most things a spindle is far superior. The only thing it cant do is set grooves into the face of a wide board.

As for spindles being unsafe, set up properly thay are much safer than most router tables on the market.

Cheers
Doughnut

 

[Anonymous]

If you can afford a spindle moulder I would recomend getting one. You will find you will use it for most jobs over the router/table setup.

It is like getting a small nippy car and a big powerful car, both can do the same thing but with different performances.

I tend to use the big one (spindle moulder) unless it is too big rather than use the small one (router) unless it is too small, if you know what I mean. So I use the spindle moulder all the time, I buy cutters for that rather than for the router

 

[Scrit]

I think the answer boils down to what you are doing. In an industrial shop spindles make a lot of sense - do you know any router that can cut a 40 x 40mm rebate in solid oak in a single pass? Our spindle can. The smooth finish you get from a router inverted in a table is sometimes very useful, but so is the ability of a spindle moulder to cut tenon joints (with either a sliding table or a simple square jig) and do wide fielding (70mm plus, anyone?). A spindle can handle most of the small a router can do, too. I'd agree with the comment that, properly set up, spindles are safer and easier to use than routers. Oh, and one plus point - we can grind our own profile cutters for our spindle (having a profile grinder), something that I'd never be able to do for a router.

Broen

If you are getting your hands near to a spinning cutter block on a spindle then you're obviously not using either Shaw guards or push sticks! As for dislodged cutters, they are really a throwback to the days of square blocks and open-ended slot cutters, both outlawed in the UK (at least) sometime in the 1970s. Modern so-called "safety blocks" simply cannot loose a cutter in that way, even if you loosen the locking screws.

 

[Against_The_Grain]

Does anyone have any ideas on what the difference is between a "Spindle Moulder" & a router set in a router table?

Routers have high-speed low torque brushed motors, where spindle moulders will typically have low-speed high torque induction motors.

There isn’t much router can do that a spindle can’t (small radius work comes to mind), but there are plenty of things you can do with a spindle moulder that a router simply cannot do, or at least nowhere near as quickly as the spindle moulder due to it’s relatively weak motor, a 3kw brushed motor and a 3kw induction motor are totally different animals.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

Routers have high-speed low torque brushed motors, where spindle moulders will typically have low-speed high torque induction motors.

Given that this thread is roughly nineteen years old, I suspect the OP, Anonymous, may not spot your response, and if he or she does, I think it's likely he/she settled the router versus spindle moulder conundrum long ago, ha, ha. Slainte.

 

[scholar]

Given that this thread is roughly nineteen years old, I suspect the OP, Anonymous, may not spot your response, and if he or she does, I think it's likely he/she settled the router versus spindle moulder conundrum long ago, ha, ha. Slainte.

…but it is nice to be reminded of the immense knowledge shared patiently by Scrit. We should really have a UK Workshop Legends plaque - Scrit would be on it (and Alf to mention just one more).

Cheers

 

[Ollie78]

For me if I could only have one it would be a spindle everytime, much more capable machine for a lot of things. For small fiddly stuff and certain things a router table is much better.
I would suggest a proper spindle moulder and them a cheap and cheerful router table as well.

Ollie

 

[Against_The_Grain]

Given that this thread is roughly nineteen years old, I suspect the OP, Anonymous, may not spot your response, and if he or she does, I think it's likely he/she settled the router versus spindle moulder conundrum long ago, ha, ha. Slainte.

You never know, some people do take their time to sort stuff out and it may help someone in another 20 years time. I would be surprised if “Anonymous” isn’t still about, they seem to be a very prolific poster, their posts are almost in each thread I read.

 

[Bojam]

We should really have a UK Workshop Legends plaque - Scrit would be on it (and Alf to mention just one more).

I think Custard should be added to that plaque!

 

[Chip shop]

Spindle and powerfeed every time for me. I think after the planer it's about the most used machine in the workshop.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

You never know, some people do take their time to sort stuff out and it may help someone in another 20 years time. I would be surprised if “Anonymous” isn’t still about, they seem to be a very prolific poster, their posts are almost in each thread I read.

I haven't seen Anonymous posting for many years, probably twenty. One interesting aspect is that Anonymous doesn't have a profile; I suspect, but don't know for sure, that in the early days of this forum you could post without creating one. When I decided to respond to threads here in October, 2004 I'd been quietly browsing anonymously myself, but not posting, for at least a year, maybe longer. So, when I opted to say something in a thread back in that October 2004, I had to create the profile I use; I couldn't post without registering and creating a user name and a bit of a profile. What little I do recall of Anonymous's posts (and my memory may be wrong) is that he/she largely started a thread and then populated it with additional follow on posts, much in the same pattern as in this resurrected thread.

I find it interesting that you say Anonymous seems to be a very prolific poster in almost each thread you read. Given that Anonymous probably hasn't posted for nearly nineteen years that I can recall, unless he/she has since those times registered and created a user name to post, it kind of makes me wonder how you consistently find ancient threads to which Anonymous contributed, ha, ha. Slainte.

 

[MikeK]

I can't speak to the Before Time of the UKW, but on other discussion boards, any time a member was removed, the user name was changed to "Anonymous", "Guest", or something similar in the first step of making the member disappear. Given the number of software changes in the past 20 years, the identity of all of the sources for the Anonymous posts is gone. Based on the content of the first three or four posts in this thread, there were at least two former members who were merged into Anonymous.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

Mike, your explanation for the posts by 'Anonymous' holds water better than mine, and is probably something close to what happened. Thanks. Slainte.

 

[ajsimmo]

I prefer the idea of a swashbuckling "Anonymous" woodworker, dropping in on every post & thread and leaving pearls of wisdom (or stupidity) and then moving onto the next quest for ultimate craftsmanship!

I bet he/she even wore a mask! The Zoro of the woodworking community?