Replies

1. 
   RalphBarker | Sep 05, 2010 06:04pm | #1

   turn, turn, turn

   Even if you mount the teeth in an alternating arrangement, there is a chance they will still come in contact during a cut. If that happens, the carbide teeth might chip or break. Many people are allergic to flying carbide bits.

2. 
   KiddervilleAcres | Sep 05, 2010 07:15pm | #2

   How about making new molding

   If the profile is easily replicated I'd be inclined to make a new profile on a wide board (even both edges), then rip off what you need.  A LOT safer.

   If that isn't an option how 'bout a bandsaw with a fence/fingerboard setup?.  Again, a LOT safer.

   Let us know what you end up doing.

   Regards,

3. 
   swenson | Sep 05, 2010 09:13pm | #3

   How about setting the rip for the correct width of the final product, ripping the moulding once, flipping the wide piece end for end and ripping that piece a second time?  Then you would have two exact sized pieces and not have to perfectly center a double blade.  If you set feather boards above and beside the workpiece you would have a safe tunnel to push the wood thru with less of a chance of any kickback.

   While I think of it , never stack one outside and one chipper blade of a dado stack.  Without the second outer blade the stack runs in circles, or tries to, I'm not sure exactly as I took a dive for the floor.  I can be so dumb it's a miracle I'm still alive. 

1. 
   bduffin104 | Sep 06, 2010 12:00am | #5

   Swenson,

   If you have a flat surface on both side of your workpiece your method would be much easier than my other suggestions.

   Bret

4. 
   bduffin104 | Sep 05, 2010 11:51pm | #4

   this got a bit more wordy than intended

   I'm assuming that you have a flat surface to run against the saw fence. If so, I would make the first cut with the flat face against the fence using feather boards cutting all the pieces to the desired width. Then I would fashion a sacrificial fence by running the face halfway through the joiner at 1/16" depth. then fasten the sac. fence to the permanent fence securely, holding the thick half just past the saw blade on the out-feed side. Then, starting with the blade fully retracted below the table, align the outside edge of the blade with the out-fed side of the sac. fence and raise the blade into the sac. fence. The blade should be protruding away from the thinner in-feed part of the sac. fence 1/16". I would use a good feather board on the out-feed only, starting an inch or two past the blade, an in-feed feather board might pinch and produce a very dangerous kickback. I am assuming you are experienced at operating a table saw.

   If properly set up I think this would be a safe operation, however, I would not stand directly behind the rip piece and I would establish a safety zone in the event of kick back.

   You idea of stacking two rip blades together would work fine as long as the blades are identical and the teeth do not touch each other. Get the arbor nut nice and tight. It's really no different than a stacked dado and is a technique I've used before when I need to make a 3/16" plough although I think it would be harder to control your thickness compared to the first method I described.

   I would not do anything you are not comfortable with or feel is unsafe in any manner.

   Good luck,

   Bret

5. 
   ring | Sep 06, 2010 01:50am | #6

   You can do it, but...

   You can put two blades next to each other as long as the teeth are staggered.  The problem you will have is only that the chips don't clear easily and therefor the cut will heat up quickly.  So, it's doable but only for a short run, not a full-time way to do things.

6. 
   marktheshark | Sep 06, 2010 07:57pm | #7

   What I did

   Thanks to all who sent me advice.  I put the two blades together with the teeth staggered, tightened the arbor nut, got down on the floor out of the line of fire, and turned on the saw, let it run for 30 secs, and then shut it off.  All the teeth were still there (including my own), so a made a custom push stick and separated the moldings.  That worked fine.  But when I tried them on, turns out I really needed 1/4" removed rather than 3/16.  I thought about using a 1/4" dado head to separate the molding halves, but I'm not sure a dado head is designed to make a through cut.  So I made a planer sled out of a piece of MDF and attached some stops.  Put the two halves of the moldings into the sled, and shaved off the extra 1/16 in the planer nice as you please except for one piece where it chipped out along a grain line.  It took much longer to think about it than to actually do it, but all in all the procedure went very well and I never felt that my fingers were in jeopardy.  Thanks again.