OK, I've just bought a molder!

[Christopher Ryan]

I just got a SF knock off of a W&H. My question is "how do I do relief cuts"? Do I just do multiple passes? I can easily see how to relieve straight runs, but what about eliptical work?

[Don Abele]

Christopher, I have the Shop Fox molder and love it. It's been a great addition and I've run almost a thousand feet of stock through it (base, casing, and crown).

For the back relief cuts, I bought several in varying widths. I run them through first, then mill the profile on the front - you can't do it the other way around.

I have the elliptical jig but have yet to use it. My impression would be that you would run curved molding the same way. Relieve the back, then mill the back. The jig guides it around.

W&H makes a multi-pass roller assembly. I tested it out and believe it would work on the Shop Fox. But, I was really unable to come up with a valid reason for it. It allows you to take smaller depth of cuts - why? When I ran my 5-1/4" crown, I just slowed it down - came out baby-butt smooth in one pass!

Without that attachment you shouldn't make multiple passes. You want the feed rollers in full contact so it doesn't bind or slip.

BTW - Congrats on the machine.

Be well,

Doc

[Christopher Ryan]

Thanks very much for the reply Doc. Although what I meant was that some of the knife profiles have the disclaimer, "Caution, relief of stock is needed". But if you've been able to run 5 1/4 inch crown, I guess that answers my question!

Chris

[Jim Becker]

Christopher, you could use a hand-held router with a bearing guided cutter to knock off corners, et al, if you feel you need to reduce the load on the molder cutters. The bearing will follow the curve. Of course, you need to be careful with the size of the cutter you use... ;)

[Don Abele]

Chris...gotcha. If I were to run a large cove, I would take some stock out using a dado set. The crown I used isn't that fancy so it didn't remove a lot of stock at once.

To remove stock prior to molding, trace the profile onto the edge of the wood and then use the dado to remove stock, moving the fence and adjusting depth as needed using the tracing as a guide.

Be well,

Doc

[William OConnell]

W&H makes a multi-pass roller assembly. I tested it out and believe it would work on the Shop Fox. But, I was really unable to come up with a valid reason for it. It allows you to take smaller depth of cuts - why? When I ran my 5-1/4" crown, I just slowed it down - came out baby-butt smooth in one pass!

Without that attachment you shouldn't make multiple passes. You want the feed rollers in full contact so it doesn't bind or slip.

BTW - Congrats on the machine.

Be well,

Doc
I have the shop fox also. I bought it to replace my old foley belsaw moulder.(wich I miss by the way). I did a run with the shop fox for a catering hall and was really wanting to sneak up on the profile as the stock was 7/8". Maybe it was my method of sneaking up I was used to with the old moulder but I kept thinking how violent it was cutting the deep chair rail I was running when the casting broke on the roller and I proceeded to hate my life. To there credit woodstock international ( the importer) had me on the phone with a tech guy and I told him my tale of woe and impressions of this style of moulder and why I bought it.
He was great and took my part off a machine in stock so he could ship it that day. I felt like a crazy person while I told him I thought it should have adjustable feed rollers and why. Talking to other moulder owners ( mostly WH owners most couldn't understand what I was talking about. Then I find the retro kit on WH site wich fits by the way as the shop fox is an identical clone of the WH and I knew I wasn't crazy or alone.
Theres something to be said about sneaking up on a profile especially a custom cut one. No more huge chunks of poplar clogging up things and easier on the machine and owner I think. It also alleviates any need for stock removal prior to moulding runs. Anyway thats my story and I'm sticking to it.
http://woodworkers.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=666&g2_serialNumber=1&g2_GALLERYSID=1bd5ca2146974d1c483dfa1b005d26d5

[Jim Becker]

Geepers, William...funny looking snow you have there...

[Christopher Ryan]

I have the shop fox also. I bought it to replace my old foley belsaw moulder.(wich I miss by the way). I did a run with the shop fox for a catering hall and was really wanting to sneak up on the profile as the stock was 7/8". Maybe it was my method of sneaking up I was used to with the old moulder but I kept thinking how violent it was cutting the deep chair rail I was running when the casting broke on the roller and I proceeded to hate my life. To there credit woodstock international ( the importer) had me on the phone with a tech guy and I told him my tale of woe and impressions of this style of moulder and why I bought it.
He was great and took my part off a machine in stock so he could ship it that day. I felt like a crazy person while I told him I thought it should have adjustable feed rollers and why. Talking to other moulder owners ( mostly WH owners most couldn't understand what I was talking about. Then I find the retro kit on WH site wich fits by the way as the shop fox is an identical clone of the WH and I knew I wasn't crazy or alone.
Theres something to be said about sneaking up on a profile especially a custom cut one. No more huge chunks of poplar clogging up things and easier on the machine and owner I think. It also alleviates any need for stock removal prior to moulding runs. Anyway thats my story and I'm sticking to it.


Ok, having read this with great interest, are you saying you did buy the retrofit kit, and you now love life again? Because for the most part (Unless I'm in a gawd awful hurry) I prefer not to take a huge "bite" out of materials that I'm running deep profiles in. Could you clarify this for me? Thanking you in advance!

Chris

[Paul Simmel]

Just for the record, the W&H was designed for a one-pass operation, and so is the SF knock-off (which I also own as well). Some profiles need to have wood hogged out, some don’t. The reason it’s difficult to “sneak up” on a final thickness is because after the first pass the rollers have nothing to grab on to except the profile itself (if there’s anything at all depending upon the profile). The SF has a model available with a speed control, which can greatly improve things for a one-pass operation.

Here’s a great thread on the Shop Fox Planer Molder:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=29695 (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=29695)

[Christopher Ryan]

Thank you very much Paul.

I had searched for threads on the SF molder, and the site didn't pull that up. I do have the variable speed model. But I sounds like I just going to have to play with it and go from there! I'm not a neophyte woodworker, just a neophyte molder owner! :) And I don't wish to destroy my new toy!

If I might ask, how deep have you run profiles, before you've felt the need to "hog" them out? And with what woods?

[Paul Simmel]

With sharp knives, and a slower speed, everything in one pass. This is a very powerful tool. 5.25" crown, for example. There's a multi-pass kit available. Don't know how it works exactly, but without it, just about everyone runs it in one pass with supper results. I've just been puttsing and gearing up for longer runs for the near future. I'll let you know how that goes when I get to it.... but I fully plan on taking one pass. Don't know about super hard wood. PM some of the other fellas from the other thread... particularly Keith Outen.

[fred woltersdorf]

i was at the JLC Live show last month in Providence talking to the salesman at the W&H booth and he said the Shop Fox wasn't in production anymore because of patent problems. does anybody have any information on this?

[Paul Simmel]

i was at the JLC Live show last month in Providence talking to the salesman at the W&H booth and he said the Shop Fox wasn't in production anymore because of patent problems. does anybody have any information on this?

I'd consider the source on that. Woodstock Int still lists the machine. If there were legal issues in the works I seriously doubt the machine would be listed on the WWW.

[William OConnell]

Ok, having read this with great interest, are you saying you did buy the retrofit kit, and you now love life again? Because for the most part (Unless I'm in a gawd awful hurry) I prefer not to take a huge "bite" out of materials that I'm running deep profiles in. Could you clarify this for me? Thanking you in advance!

Chris
Yes I have the retrofit kit and yes for me its the only way to go. Although the WH and SF are designed to cut profiles in one pass there are times when some material needs to be removed via the tablesaw. With the adjustable roller it alleviates that whole processs. Also when hogging off alot of material chunks of wood are removed, let me say that again chunks, not shavings. The less material to be removed the smoother things seem to run. There's far less vibration at the machine. I have the VS model and I also adjust the feed rate. Once I got the thing where I wanted it I became happy with the machine.

[Joe Von Kaenel]

Christopher,

Depending on what type of knife holder your molder uses, a lot of companies make back relief knives. I did a search on goggle and found several companies that have these. http://www.moldingknives.com/ has back relief knives for Shop Fox. I've used them with my Woodmaster and they are super easy to use.

Joe