Question on making wider back relief cuts in moldings

[Wes Billups]

I was looking at running some wider than normal (>4") casing on my Williams & Hussey molder.
460035

The question for the group is can I just offset my back cutters in the head to give a wider relief cut without buying additional cutters. I don't have more than a couple hundred feet of molding to make so can't justify a new set of blades just for this project.

Here is the back relief blade I'm referring too.
460038

I'm proposing to shift one back relief knife over one set of holes in the cutter head from the other which would give me a ≈3-1/2" wide relief cut.
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I realize I'll only be getting half the number of cuts per inch where the knives are cutting individually but this isn't a finished surface so I don't see where this would be an issue.

I'd love to hear if anyone has first hand knowledge of doing this and what was the outcome.

Thanks,
Wes

[Bradley Gray]

I think your idea is worth trying given the 1/16" depth of cut.

You will know pretty quickly if you try it.

[Richard Coers]

I've always just moved the fences for a second cut. Never thought about moving a knife

[Wes Billups]

Richard, just trying to figure out a way to reduce run time. I figure the offset method would result in one fewer setups and 23 minutes less feeding sticks into the molder.

Thanks

[Richard Coers]

Richard, just trying to figure out a way to reduce run time. I figure the offset method would result in one fewer setups and 23 minutes less feeding sticks into the molder.

Thanks
I think it's a good idea and sure worth a try. Maybe just a bit more load on the motor, but at that depth I doubt if you notice anything.

[Mel Fulks]

Sure, they will be off- set properly. It’s often done on much bigger machines.

[Tony Joyce]

Short answer, Yes you can. I've done it lots of times on a full size moulder.

Tony

[Jim Becker]

What about leaving the knives where they are, adjusting the fence so you get the cut offset for the first pass and then reversing the material for the second pass to get to the same place on the opposite edge of the material? No knife moving that way and the second cut is very light because it's only a very small width area.

[David Kumm]

I stagger the back knives so I only have to run once. No point in running stock twice on the back side. I'm running corrugated back knives but the concept is the same. Dave

[Wes Billups]

Thanks everyone for the responses. Sounds like this isn't that crazy of an idea and what I'll use.

If things go south on my attempt I'll post so here but if you don't hear anything assume all went well.

[David Zaret]

i think that'll work just fine, but, if it's only a couple hundred feet, i would just move the fence and do a second pass. that way you can crank up the speed and just plow through it.

[Paul Haus]

Just saw this. Just a comment as I have the Shopfox clone of the W&H. The only concern I would have would be the feed speed while using 1 knife offset by one set of holes. I would think you would want to slow the feed rate down considerably over your normal speed rate to keep the knife cuts per inch similar to what it would be if all the knives were in alignment. I don't know but I would think this could a lot of stress on that off knife but that's just a guess on my part.