I expect to get a moulder in the near future (probably a Shop Fox W&H style).
I need to make a pile of moulding for my house and it would seem to me the idea would be to make pieces as long as possible.
Now, when I prep stock for furniture, I go through the multistep process with jointer/planer tablesaw, because I want a flat/true piece of stock which will remain stable. Moulding is generally quite flexible, and it seems to me impractical to try and make a 12’+ piece of poplar flat and true unless I get a real honking long jointer.
Any tips on preping wood for moulding, or should I post to Breaktime?
Replies
Hi Piccioni ,
The answer depends on the profile you will be making or running .
whether or not you will be removing material off the edge or leaving part of the edges . If the edges will show I run the stock through the thickness planer and make S4S ( smooth on 4 sides ) .
I run my moldings through shapers and only do one side or edge at a time . A multi head molder cuts all sides at the same time and typically will not leave any of the original edges so the boards can be more rough with a molder then a shaper or a router .
I worked in a millwork shop for years. Long pieces like that never saw the jointer (who wants to face joint something 12 ft long?). Rough stock was straightline ripped with a carryboard, ripped opposite side to finished width, planed both sides to finished thickness, and then run on the moulder.
Bing, bang, boom. Looked beautiful. The moulding process cleans it up beautifully.
To be sure, particularly unruly stock was rejected. You don't get 100% yield from any order of rough lumber. The labor to fix it is usually more expensive than scrapping it.
Edited 3/24/2007 8:44 am ET by ThePosterFormerlyKnownAs
Thanks - that sounds like what I want to do!
When we needed to remove a tablesaw swirl mark from an edge, we used a handplane. Yep, a handplane.
Is that really you ?
Edited 3/26/2007 10:06 am ET by oldusty
dusty,
It's not him anymore, but it used to be.
Ray
Hello Ray ,
His style of post looked familiar .
Howz the sawdust treating you ?
soon dusty
Yes.
I run a W & H moulder in my shop. For a 10 foot piece of cherry crown that is going on furniture, I flatten and plane, just like stock preparation. For 1500 linear feet of base moulding for a builder, I plane both sides to thickness and rip to width. Don't use any stock that is winding like a spring, and you'll be fine. Mouldings are thin enough to bend and press a little.
Jeff
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