On 20 Nov 2005 03:56:33 -0800, wrote:


Andy Hall wrote:
On 20 Nov 2005 02:58:40 -0800, wrote:


mouldings. I'm not going to screw up a job like that by letting a router
or a spindle moulder near it!

Spindle moulder is the best possible tool for accurate repro of period
mouldings especially if large quantity is involved - as long as you
make your own cutters to match, easier than it sounds.

So how do you, Jacob?

People seem to have different ways of making them......

I'm interested in the cutting, shaping and sharpening methods used.

Do you bother to make limiters for example?

Start with pair blank HSS plates big enough for the moulding you want.
You make a pair but only one cuts the other is for balance i.e. doing
it by hand and eye is difficult to make them both cut - not not
necessary anyway.

OK. Now it makes sense. Do you do the initial "square on" work with
two blanks clamped together, or simply cut a second roughly to match
the first, perhaps a cut a bit further back to avoid high spots?


Next transfer the design to the plates - I'm usually copying existing
so I simply trace around a cleaned up sample with a pencil on to the
plate previously paint-aerosoled to take pencil marks.
Next rough out the waste with an angle grinder.
Then grind out the profile with a bench grinder and various sizes of
wheel as necessary - checking by offering up the original. This is all
square-on so far.

Hmm.... I'm interested as to how you would get into very fine, acute
angled places. Do you have narrow wheels for this or is there another
way?


Next back off the profile to make a cutting edge.

Wheel as well? Do you use a jig of some sort to create a consistent
angle?


Then fine adjust the edge by offering up the original sample piece - AT
THE ANGLE OF CUT as near as possible - i.e. the hollows will be made
deeper etc.

Do you measure that using the knives mounted on the block and on the
machine itself, or is there another way? I hadn't really thought
about this aspect, but presumably this also depends on the block
diameter?


Grind away until there is a perfect fit and a sufficiently
backed off cutting edge. This sounds imprecise as it depends on hand
and eye but the results can be perfect with a bit of practice. Do it in
front of a good light so you can see where the cutter doesn't meet the
sample.

I guess that anyway on older mouldings the cutters may well have been
made by hand, so this is a good way.



You could make limiters if you really want to but I use the old
Whitehill blocks (pre-safety regs) as these permit very fine adjustment
and alteration of the angle.

OK, so they didn't have the peg arrangement of the new ones?


You just have to be more careful and not
allow anyone else to use the machine.




The other advantage of the old blocks is that you can cut more profiles
around the other 3 sides of the plates.

So there's some kind of a flat clamping arrangement?

I think that on some of the newer ones, one would have to put in some
kind of piece to act as a limiter to make the clamp work, even if it
wasn't cut to near the profile of the main cutter(s).


Forget about exact matching
pairs but just aim at balancing the block enough to stop it vibrating
or humming too much.

Presumably on the machine itself?




I now have hundreds of profiles in my box for very little outlay -
would cost thousands in router cutters which would be crap anyway as
they don't match old joinery - not to mention the noise, dust and
inconvenience. Many of them get modified slightly as new jobs come in,
but HSS doesn't seem to need much sharpening.

Are these generally relatively short runs anyway?


You could do it with safety cutters the same but you'd loose the fine
adjustability I imagine, but a tilting arbor might solve the prob.






cheers

Jacob
PS wear goggles - always start the machine with a large block of wood
in front of the cutters in case you have forgotten to tighten something
- use push sticks or power feed - put all guards in place, etc etc

Definitely. This is one machine that I treat with a great deal of
respect and always follow a check list twice for tightening things and
checking free running.


--

..andy