corrugated shaper heads

[Joe Calhoon]

I use corrugated for short runs on the shaper. We have a reputation locally for short runs of matching historic moulding on the old houses. Customer always buys the knives if I don’t have a profile that works. Some we run on the W&H but prefer the shaper as I can do it in one pass and the DC 40 feed is easy to rotate. W&H good for some though.

I just use 4” heads and add blanks for short knives. I have a 2 knife 12 degree head, (my least favorite) a 20 degree 4 knife head use mostly on the horizontal shaft of the CNC tenoner and a new 15 degree head that is now my favorite. I think it is a good all around head for the shaper.

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[jim mills]

So Joe, do you dedicate Knives to the appropriate angle head, or do you mix and match depending on the task at hand? I would hate to think I need two sets of knives depending on what type of wood I would be shaping.

[Joe Calhoon]

Jim, most of my knives were made for the 12 degree head. I have been running these in the new 15 degree head with no noticeable difference in cut quality. The profile may be a little different but for what I am doing it doesn’t matter. I don’t use these for profile - counter cuts. The 20 degree head has specific knives for the tenoner and I don’t use them in the other heads. No Idea how they would work.

From here forward I will have new knives made with 15 degree hook angle for the new head.

[jim mills]

Who makes the 15 deg head? Is having a knife ground at 15 deg hook angle simply a matter of specifying 15 deg hook angle? Would any knife shop be capable of that?

[Mel Fulks]

Jim, when you order a head you just specify angle. When you outsource knives you specify grind angle, but if you don't specify
they will sell you something! Some might check with you first. They all have machines that adjust to specified angle.
Some will not grind side clearance even when you specify it, best to tell them you will not accept them without it.

[jim mills]

Thanks Mel. Interesting on the side grind. I can see how a primitive profile grinder would be incapable of side grind. I wonder if it is hand done, or requires a more sophisticated machine?

[Mel Fulks]

Jim, the grinding machines tilt in both directions. Five degrees seems to be common. They even have automated machines, but I've never seen one. For the old square head moulders the grinding was done by hand, even the side clearance. Possible there were grinding machines for those that I just have not seen. Running the square head stuff
was often a life time job with each operator training his successor .

[Joe Calhoon]

Who makes the 15 deg head? Is having a knife ground at 15 deg hook angle simply a matter of specifying 15 deg hook angle? Would any knife shop be capable of that?

Jim,
my new head is a Zuani. Not sure if the 15 degree hook angle is a European thing or just specific to that company.
Mel pretty much summed it up. Some will ask and others don’t. Better to specify your hook angles with the knife grinder. I have been using Hot Knives for some of my corrugated. They are not the cheapest but are top notch if you are looking for precision and options for steel. A lot of companies do this type of work and I sometimes use others for short runs I will know will never repeated.

[Larry Edgerton]

I bought a Wadkin profile grinder, but have not had the time to learn how to use it yet. Looking forward to playing.

[brent stanley]

Ive always been a brazed cutter head user, and have sent my custom stuff out, but am wanting to start doing small runs by myself for obvious reasons. Time, cost, etc. My question is can I buy a 4" tall corrugated cutterhead, and use 4" or smaller knives in it, or should I buy a 2" & a 4" cutterhead? TIA

Jim, have you thought about using euroblocks instead of corrugated? Nothing wrong with corrugated, but they usually take much thicker steel and sometimes a bit more expertise to set in the head. The thicker steel permits greater projection, but that's only helpful if you need it. Euroblocks are handy for the type of work you describe and piles of cost effective knives are available off-the-shelf.

B

[jim mills]

Brent, yes, I've considered the euro block, but can you get custom knives for them? That would be a must for me.
What is a "hot knife"?

[brent stanley]

Brent, yes, I've considered the euro block, but can you get custom knives for them? That would be a must for me.
What is a "hot knife"?

Absolutely, I do it all the time. The thinner steel makes it within the range of smaller shops to grind their own steel too. I could theoretically grind my own corrugated, but I'd probably go broke on grinding wheels because the steel is so thick, so any of my corrugated I get done for me. With a small profile grinder, I grind my own knives for euroblocks sometimes, but even then I usually have it done for me.

B

[Jared Sankovich]

Jim,
my new head is a Zuani. Not sure if the 15 degree hook angle is a European thing or just specific to that company.
Mel pretty much summed it up. Some will ask and others don’t. Better to specify your hook angles with the knife grinder. I have been using Hot Knives for some of my corrugated. They are not the cheapest but are top notch if you are looking for precision and options for steel. A lot of companies do this type of work and I sometimes use others for short runs I will know will never repeated.

Schmidt's moulder heads are 15 degrees.

[Jeff Duncan]

You know I've never had a set of Euro knives ground. I know they do them, but just never even thought about it, just order corrugated, or sometimes modify an existing knife on the bench grinder. I need to run about 24k lf of flooring next week so will be having knives made up. I'm going to talk to the guy who does my knives and see how the pricing stacks up between the two. If they can match multiple sets to set in the head exactly the same it may be worth having the Euro head do the job. Figuring I'll need several knife changes even if I use carbide on the corrugated head, so maybe half a dozen sets for the Euro head.... but...it may save time on alignment if I can swap knives without touching the adjustment of the head..... something I'm going to think on a bit more.

[Joe Calhoon]

Jeff, it’s hard to beat the low cost of corrugated for a short run but 24 k of flooring would dictate carbide and moulder for me.

I have had custom knives made for the euro blocks. I would not waste time on the low cost steel that is stock for those.
Hot Knives recently made custom 45 degree knives for one of mine to insert a edge banding in thick doors to hide the lamination. I had another company try to make these and they couldn’t get the 45 to come out accurate. Hot Knives used good 5mm HSS for the knives. 5 mm will fit in these heads in place of the 4mm. They said they could also do carbide for these. The cost worked out to about 10 or 20% more than corrugated for the HSS. Worth it though if changing out knives often and needing alignment. Their hole tightness seemed a little better than the stock knives also.

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