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Setup Tips for a Small Moulder
Question
I'm looking for recommendations from you folks with experience. What thickness would you recommend planing down to? I ordered the backcutters in addition to the crown profile and will cut the back first. Forum Responses
From contributor L: Yes, 1/16" oversize is usually about right. If you have the variable speed feed, go as slow as you want. I usually set mine at about 30% on most of the moldings I run. Makes for easy sanding and a smooth cut. Another thing you want to make is a support for the open side. This will eliminate any bounce in the machine and make your cuts that much smoother. I made this and it makes a big difference.  Click here for higher quality, full size image  Click here for higher quality, full size image From the original questioner: Thanks. I'll do a little experimenting on some scrap. So if the thickest point of my crown is 9/16", I'll plane to about 5/8" and see how it goes. I'll make a support like you suggest, contributor L. From contributor L: Makes a world of difference. Especially on larger moldings. From contributor K: I'll ditto what the other guys said. I don't have the variable speed, but will get it someday. I take the whole cut minus 1/16 and then the last 1/16 for a finish cut. On some moulding, depending on the profile, you may need to hog out some of that wood on the table saw using a dado head. From contributor J: I don't have the adjustable speed on mine, but I find that the multi-pass kit is worth every penny. It allows both feed rollers to drop further and seemingly take a lot more vibration out of the cuts even with just one pass. However, I do plane to almost final thickness in both soft and hardwoods and use usually only more than one pass in hardwoods with fresh knives. I also made a fence set up along the lines of the new fence system from W&H, only with wider guides it makes setup much quicker than C clamps.
From contributor C: Contributor L, I like that setup! Have you always had the variable speed on yours, or did you add it? I don't have variable speed on mine at this time, but am thinking of building a support like yours anyway. This has to help the vibrations. I just ran a job with a deep profile in some hard maple, a large cove, and I lost probably 35 percent of my boards from bad tear out. I wonder if contributor L's simple device would have reduced my loss.
From contributor L: No, I didn't always have the variable speed. But I started to do a lot of moldings in the 5"+ range in harder woods, so it was necessary. I have found that some cutters, no matter how you run them, will have chip out. Hard maple, sapele and birch have a good tendency to chip out. I have noticed a pretty good improvement by locking down the open side of the molder, even on smaller moldings. I spent a lot of time trying to get less chatter in my moldings and then one day it hit me like a ton of bricks - duh! - the open side is bouncing. Would you like to add information to this article? Interested in writing or submitting an article? Have a question about this article? Have you reviewed the related Knowledge Base areas below? 
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