Shopfox Planer Molder

[Keith Outten]

The ability to make my own molding has been in the back of my mind for many years. An old friend of mine helped me make the oak molding for my workshop when it was built many years ago, he owned a Belsaw planer molder and although it looked crude it really did a nice job. A recent thread here at the Creek concerning a new planer/molder that Grizzly was offering got me to thinking once more about adding the capability to my workshop. What is most appealing I guess is the ability to make circular molding and arches.

This afternoon a big truck stopped by the shop and left two boxes, the picture below is the result of about 1.5 hours of assembly time. As soon as I can get my new cutters ordered and some serious play time I will report in detail the results of my efforts and the capabilities of this slick little machine. A personal project replacing the almost one hundred year old molding in my home is on the horizon. A combination of the Shopfox planer/molder and my ShopBot router may possibly produce something very unique.

Life is Good!

[CPeter James]

I have looked at these and about the only Difference between this and a Williams and Hussey is the "Made in USA" sticker. Now that all their patents have run out, there will be lots of competition, just like the Delta DJ20 clones.

BTW, there is a company in Caribou, ME that makes a grinder so you can make your own cutters. It is about $700, if memory serves me right. At the price of store bought ones, you might be ahead after not too many.

CPeter

[Richard Wolf]

I have heard alot of good things about that machine. Hard to believe you won't be pleased.
I was I needed custom molding so I could get one.

Richard

[Dick Parr]

Nice gloat there Keith, I have heard good things on this tool.

Have fun.

[Jim DeMarco]

I bought the woodmaster, but the same concept. I actually just got a job out of it in which I will be duplicating the original trim in an 1850's home. I am not sure about custom cutters for the shop fox / w&h. I just made a dxf file, and emailed it to woodcraft, two days later the cutter was in my machine!!
You will not be dissapointed, and every time you use it, you will think of ten more things you can use it for!

[Keith Outten]

Thanks Guys,

This seems to be a very solid machine with one of the highest quality stands I have ever seen. Assembly was a snap and the fit and finish is excellent. It came with a link belt, molding fences and clamps. All I need is to order some cutters, I may try to find the company CPeter mentioned as it would be cost effective to be able to make cutters.

.

[Fred Anderson]

Do they sell an arch, I think that's what it's called, attachment for this machine? I've looked, and drooled, on the W&H version but could never justify spending that much money since the only moldings I routinely make are for kitchens.

Thanks,

Fred

[John Miliunas]

Keith, if that thing is anywhere near as sturdy as my old W&H, you'll be very pleased, indeed! Simply amazing what it can do. I did modify mine a bit with a "sled" of sorts, so that I don't have to dink around with the metal guides mine came with. With the "sled", it "automatically" indexes off the uprights and you need only set the outer guide, which I also made up out of some hardwood. Works slick! Congrats and enjoy!!! (BTW, if you get that grinder, I may throw some fixture work your way! )

[Keith Outten]

Fred,

Both the W&H and the Grizzly planer/molders are capable of producing circular or arched molding. There is a small attachment to purchase that is adjustable but I don't know yet what the size limitations are.

John,

Thanks for the sled idea, keying it to the uprights for position should be a real time saver. I need to do some research on the grinder and find a source for the cutter blanks. If the numbers work I would purchase one right away as it would both provide savings and capability. Since I own a laser engraver It could cut precision acrylic guide blanks if the machine uses that type of system.

I'm also wondering if the knife angle would need to be modified to make molding from DuPont Corian. I always have a boat load of Corian scraps around my shop these days and the possibility of being able to machine it quickly is interesting.

.

[tod evans]

keith, here are some pics of a w&h on steroids. you`ll notice a home made elliptical guide that uses air cylinders instead of a spring to guide the work piece through the machine. as for cutters, give wdr sales in kc a call i think you`ll find that they`ll sell you knifes for the same money you can buy the steel. making your own knifes on a veil is a very time consuming task with a pretty steep learning curve.......but that`s up to you?

MVC-138S.JPG

MVC-139S.JPG

be sure to keep us posted on the clones behavior,i for one am curious and shiraz totally ignored my offer to do a side by side comparison. so this may be the best we get......02 tod

[Paul Simmel]

I sure wish this conversation would continue… I’m in the market for a W & H, but after reading about the Sfox now I don’t know. I have a lot of Grizzly machines, and am very happy with them. But that Williams & Hussey machine is so highly renowned. I wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger on the W & H. But there is a significant price difference between the two, plus the SF is now available with multi-feed rate. After adding up, seems like about 50% less for the SF… plus you get a cord and magnetic switch. Any and all experiences with either machine would be greatly appreciated. Can someone expand on the “sled” discussed? I’m assuming it’s not a real sled, but a guide system which works better than the original rails and C-clamps? Paul

[Chris Barton]

tod,

It's about time for me to come to Mt. Home and combine some trout fishing with a tour of your shop...

[Corey Hallagan]

Congrats Keith, looks like a great machine!

Corey

[Keith Outten]

Paul,

I have ordered several sets of standard knives to get my ShopFox machine up and running. The moulding runs I have done have been excellent and the SF is built tough. Mine is the single speed model, I expect that with some species of wood it would be beneficial to have variable speed but I haven't had a problem yet. The SF is very powerfull, the machine spits out even wide profiles with ease, even in oak.

I can't help with the sled issue, I have been using wooden shims to setup my moulding runs however I can see that making custom sleds designed for each set of knives would be a time saver. The simple method is to make a set of wooden shims for each profile, you can then setup for any knife in a couple of minutes. I have done some research on the arch making attachment and it seems to be reasonably simple to operate. As soon as I can find the time I hope to take a stab at building my own arch attachment.

Earlier I mentioned how sturdy the SF cabinet/stand is. It is welded together not bolted so the stand is clearly one of the best I have ever seen that shipped with a machine. The price difference between the SF and the W&H mkes the decision easier to make in my opinion. Other than the color and the money you will save I doubt you will see any difference in performance.

I believe that I also mentioned that I ordered a set of custom knives. Aaron did the design in Corel Draw and I sent the vector drawing via email to a company that makes custom knives. It took a couple of weeks to get the knives but they were perfect and I think it is very slick to be able to use your own moulding designs.

If you have any questions that I can answer about the SF moulder let me know.

.

[Paul Simmel]

Keith,

Sorry about there being no paragraphs in my post. Went through the Quick Reply and it came out that way. And thank you very much for coming back.

That’s really great news to hear about the successes you’ve had with your moulder. I too have always had it in the back of my mind. I did a 3.5” casing run on my shaper for the last house, as well as baseboard. But I would not have considered doing larger crown, even if my spindle were larger enough.

Now there’s a new house on the horizon, and the machinery should come out of storage in about a month. During the really cold months I’ll be working in the shop doing all the cabinetry/mouldings, and that SF is looking pretty good to me right now.

I don’t know exactly what a 13/16 “ x 5.5” crown would cost me to have milled in any particular species, especially in “short” runs… but I think even the W&H would nearly pay for itself on this project alone. And with a good source for knives… well, the creativity and all.

I haven’t ordered yet , but here’s a place I found for knives for both machines. A one-man operation and seems very reasonable and very willing to talk/email: http://www.customouldingknives.com/

When you say “shims”, I’m thinking wedges. Do you mean guide rails, or tapered guides that don’t pinch the stock as it rolls through? I still can’t conceptualize the “sled” part, and hope someone will chime in on that. It’s hard without pictures. For my shaper, I have arched “rails” with a slot routed along the length about ¼ “ in from the guiding edge so there is some flex as the piece is fed through… not unlike a featherboard in its use. For the moulder, I can visualize a base with a fence on one side, and an arched rail on the other, permanently affixed for a particular width of stock?

Thanks again, Keith. I’m looking forward to learning as much as I can.

Paul