Finish and Feed Rates
Setup and operation tips for moulder operators. June 22, 2007

Radius Moulding Machinery Choices
Millwork pros discuss shopping for a radius moulder and the related knives. January 9, 2008

Moulder Purchasing Advice
A woodworker going into the moulding business gets advice on moulder choices and related issues. December 26, 2007

Setting Up a Six-Head Moulder for Machining Tall Baseboard
Here's a detailed discussion of how to arrange the top knives for cutting of the flat and the profiled part of tall, highly detailed baseboard mouldings. March 31, 2008

Compression and Chatter
Pros discuss the meaning and causes of "compression" and "chatter" in moulder operation. October 4, 2005

Acceptable Runout Tolerances for a Shaper Spindle
High-quality machinery has minimal runout. Excessive runout is a safety risk and a source of trouble. December 20, 2005

Troubleshooting Shaper Tearout
Solutions for a tearout problem include slower feed speeds, climb cutting, and larger-diameter tooling. April 5, 2007

Machining Knotty Alder
Rustic alder mouldings are in demand because of energetic marketing. But the material is extremely rough on knives, machines badly, and has a high waste factor. July 3, 2006


Repeatability at the Shaper
Advice on ways to set up shapers to consistently produce mouldings that are identical to a previous run. June 16, 2010

Troubleshooting Nicks in Moulder Knives
Newly ground knives can be damaged right away by hard mineral deposits within some hardwoods. Here's advice on knife material choices that could help avoid the problem. June 11, 2010

Climb Cutting on a Moulder
Molding manufacturers discuss the potentially dangerous but sometimes necessary practice of climb cutting. January 22, 2006

Re-Drying Kiln Dried Lumber
An architectural woodwork mill gets advice on acclimating stock before machining it. December 9, 2010

Avoiding Shaper Blow-Out
Various suggestions for achieving clean, sharp profiles without tear-out and blow-out when running moulding on a shaper. July 28, 2007

Tooling Considerations with a Moulder Upgrade
Shop owners and experts discuss the tooling costs and choices relating to a new moulder purchase. June 23, 2006

Cost for Staining Custom Moulding
A small shop does some basic cost figuring for unfamiliar work: an incidental stain job. October 19, 2013

Who Does the Wood Trim Takeoffs?
Should the wood moulding supplier do quantity takeoffs, or should the customer do it? January 19, 2011

Is It Worth It to Buy a Moulder?
A small shop owner gets advice on whether investing in a moulder would pencil out for his operation. October 28, 2014

Moulder Options for the Small Shop
Pros discuss the cost-effectiveness and convenience of various moulders, singly or in combination. November 9, 2005

Stock Moulding Start-Up Tips
A millwork installer moving into moulding manufacturing gets advice on running his new business. June 23, 2006

Trimming Defects in Moulding
Stock manufacturers describe how they control quality in runs of moulding and how they keep track of productivity. April 15, 2013

Setting Up for Finger Jointing and End Gluing
Practical advice on tooling up to make long boards out of shorter lengths using a finger-jointed glued end joint.May 15, 2012

Tolerance for Moulding Dimensions
Moulding manufacturers discuss the limits of perfection in wood machining. January 13, 2006

Keeping Tally of Moulding Runs
Moulding manufacturers discuss efficient systems to keep track of moulding production (including tracking defective and rejected pieces). September 3, 2005

Should I Sharpen My Own Moulder Knives?
The advantages may be worth the set-up cost and the learning curve. December 2, 2006

S4S Moulder: Is It Worth It?
A shop owner is considering buying a 4-head moulder to dedicate to producing S4S stock. Opinions vary on the value of that investment — the difference may lie in the quantity he needs to produce. October 22, 2005

Splitting Moulding Profiles
Technical advice on running two profiles on a single piece of stock, and splitting the pieces as they come off the machine. November 12, 2008

Wide Belt Sander Tracking Marks
Troubleshooting wavy, snakelike sanding marks left by a wide belt sander. December 21, 2010

Machining Mouldings from Flexible Stock
Running flexible moulding stock through your machinery is doable, but problematic. October 15, 2010

Measuring Line Feet Produced with a Straight-Line Rip Saw
Here's how you rig up a rolling measuring wheel to your ripsaw to count how many feet of wood you're running through the machine. July 9, 2007

Multi-Profile Knives and Heads
Shop owner gets advice on finding appropriate cutter heads for a set of nice knives (manufacturer unknown). Included are some set-up tips. July 13, 2005

Do ANSI B11 Standards Apply to Woodworking Equipment?
ANSI Standard B11 was created to apply to machine tools, not woodworking machinery. But an argument could be made for a broader application of the rules. October 26, 2011

Scheduling Routine Machine Maintenence
Ideas that can help you stay on top of regular shop machine maintenance tasks. July 23, 2007

Feeder Wheel Hardness
A shop owner asks about products to soften old power feed wheels. Instead, he gets advice about re-covering the wheels or switching to a replaceable tire system. October 13, 2005

Machinery for Running Radius Mouldings
Woodworkers discuss equipment choices for producing radius flat arch casings and curved crown mouldings. March 3, 2009

Marketing for a New Custom Mouldings Business
How to reach customers who want custom runs of moulding. January 22, 2006

Relief Cuts for the Back of Mouldings
Advice on dimensions and moulder setup for making relief cuts on the backs of mouldings. April 21, 2011

Machining Mouldings from Southern Yellow Pine
The stock may be cheaper, but what about the quality of the product? December 31, 2013

Fuzz and Tearout with Soft Maple
What's causing machining problems with soft maple? Could be the hook setting, the knife angle, or just too high a moisture content. July 13, 2005

Corrugated Knife Stock for Shapers and Moulders
Corrugated steel knives can be swapped between a moulder and a shaper. October 2, 2007

ITEMIZER - From R & R Drummond, Inc.
Use your computer to generate efficient layouts for cutting sheet material into desired sizes (a link to a demo download is provided)1998

Improving Rough Mill Yield at the Moulder
Attention to the typical causes of material loss in the moulder can improve the moulding producer's bottom line. June 21, 2007

Better moulder finish quality
Eliminating snipe on mouldings. August 13, 2002

Practical Lumber Tally Methods
A moulding manufacturer needs advice on a method for tallying lumber that his people can conveniently implement. January 27, 2007

Planing Warp out of Wood Flooring Stock
It requires hand labor, but you can use a moulder to straighten warped stock — up to a point.June 28, 2013

Pricing Lineal Moulding
Tips and advice on setting a per-foot price for custom moulding runs. July 23, 2007

Power Feed Roller Hardness
Shop owners and experts discuss the ins and outs of maintaining, resurfacing, or replacing roller wheels for power feeders. October 1, 2005

Pricing Moulder Services
How to charge for machining someone else's material. January 13, 2006

Preventing Tearout When Jointing Maple
A five-degree back bevel on the knives works like a charm. May 13, 2005

Preventing Pine-Sap Buildup
Pine sap is building up on the bed and rollers of his moulder, reports a shop owner who's milling up large batches of flooring from reclaimed pine. Others supply advice for cleanup and prevention. October 20, 2005

Priming MDF Mouldings
A solvent-borne primer may reduce MDF's surface fuzz after machining, but some sanding is almost always unavoidable. January 22, 2006

Buying Premade Moulder Blanks Versus Ripping Your Own
Purchasing pre-ripped stock for moulding manufacture has its advantages and disadvantages. November 19, 2005

Start-Up Manufacturing Millwork
It's harder than a beginner might think to make money producing mouldings on a shoestring. Old hands discuss the hard truths in this thread. April 4, 2011

Troubleshooting Finger Joint Telegraphing
Examining why finger joints telegraph through a gypsum undercoat and polyurethane finish. May 11, 2011

Moulding prices
Pricing product in a small, start-up moulding manufacturing operation. October 9, 2002

What's Involved in Starting Up a Moulding Supply Business?
Here are some business issues to think about if you're considering starting to both manufacture and install large volumes of custom trim. April 20, 2007

Warping, Bowing and Cupping of Moulding Batches
Expert input on what could make fresh runs of moulding move in unwanted ways. October 2, 2005

Entry-Level Tooling for Moulding Manufacture
A finish carpenter and cabinetmaker/installer gets advice on the gear he needs to make his own mouldings (and stock for sale). February 15, 2015

Troubleshooting Tearout With Maple Flooring
Check sharpening, settings, feed rates, and more. April 10, 2005

Focusing a Moulding Business
Shop owners discuss whether custom small-volume runs or large stock moulding jobs are the preferred path to profitability. June 12, 2005

Octagon Columns
Determining the width of staves. January 24, 2005

Are Small Moulders Practical for Small Runs?
Here's an extensive and informative run on the hows and whys of buying and using a small moulder to make short runs of custom profiles. October 19, 2013

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