Which Woodmaster Moulder head to buy

[Travis Fatzinger]

I have an older Woodmaster 712 I have been using as a planer for awhile and I would like to set it up as a moulder.

I will only be doing small runs for my projects and my house so I would only like to buy one knife to keep the price down. However, having smooth knives worries me and I want to go with corrugated ones.

When I go to buy a knife I get four options:

700C - Single slot, is this corrugated? If so this seems like the way to go.

C2 Head- I have no idea what this is.

Directly in planer head- Obviously smooth. Do I need three knives or does it come with counterweights?

700S2 Corrugated, two knife slots. If I only buy one knife will they supply a counterweight for the other side?

Any thoughts are appreciated as it will be pretty pricey by the time I get the accessory shaft and everything.

Thanks,

Travis

[David Kumm]

My older 712 has a separate head with two 60 degree corrugated knife slots and gibs of various lengths. Replaces the planer head completely. I don't know if that choice is available but if you want the best shot at quality moldings it is the way to go. Knives are easy to set and generally two are the way to go for all but very short runs. If doing trim for a house you want both knives. The full head dampens some of the vibration that leads to chatter marks and lots of sanding. Dave

[Bob Falk]

I used a single knife configuration in my 718 for the window molding in my house (oak) and it turning out with a stain grade finish. When you order a single knife it comes with a counter weight to balance....I have never had a problem with chatter, but then again I run a pretty slow feed rate

[ed vitanovec]

I use the 700S2 on my 718 with 2 knives, I do not think you can get counter weights for this head and run 1 knife. Woodmaster has a new corrugated head that is similar in design to the planer head but for 1 or 2 corrugated knives, not sure if they make it for the 712. This head is full length and installs like the planer head does.

[Mel Fulks]

Ed, I agree. Don't think much of that one knife concept. I worked for a guy who had one and I absolutely refused to use it and always referred to it as the "vegematic ". When he used it once it moved across the floor from the vibration ;I asked
him if it was programmed to take the finished product to the truck.

[Jim Andrew]

When I had a Woodmaster 718, I bought the helical head, and when I used the moulder option, used the 3 knife cutterhead, as it is heavier than the optional cutterhead, and the salesman recommended I use it as the moulding head. I ordered some cutters, they were just one blade with 2 blanks to go in the head for balance. Made some nice molding, the variable speed allows you to go slow enough that the molding turns out very nice.

[Travis Fatzinger]

I appreciate all the replies. It sounds like people have had luck with all the heads including just the planer head.

I'm still thinking about it. We're doing base molding first and I'm just not sure if it's worth it. I think the lumber alone would cost as much as having the finished product shipped from Baird Brothers. Not to mention time or the Woodmaster tooling. But I do like doing things myself.

[David Kumm]

Making your own molding gives you some flexibility and works for me because i tend to do a room at a time, but it is a tough to make the economics work. Stock needs to be dimensioned exactly and run through at least twice ( front and back ) so there is a lot of prep work. A good molding shop with a big machine will give better results if you can get them to slow the machine slightly . The hold downs and mass of the big molders are hard to compete with. Having said that, my Woodmaster has given me great service. Dave