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Table Saw

table saw

Molding Head

W Cove f

Vz" Roundover

V₄" Flute

V₄° Round

over

Turn your table saw into a shaper with this cutterhead and a handful of different knife profiles.

When it comes to making moldings, the first tool that comes to mind is probably a router table or a shaper. But with one simple accessory, you can make all sorts of moldings -— on your table saw. All you need is a molding head and a few sets of knives (photo above).

I Auxiliary Fence. Burying the knives in an auxiliary rip fence allows you to shape the edge of a board using just a portion of the knife profile.

A molding head is nothing more than a heavy steel disk that mounts in your table saw like a saw blade. It holds a set of replaceable, highspeed steel knives. And this feature allows you to swap out the knives to cut different profiles of moldings. So the molding head turns your table saw into a shaper.

Versatility. The great thing about molding heads is their versatility To start with, there's a wide variety of knife profiles available. But that doesn't mean you have to buy a lot of knives. Most knives can be used to create several profiles by exposing different parts of the cutting edge. And by combining profiles from different knives, you can create many complex moldings.

Molding Profiles. To give you an idea of just how versatile a molding head is, take a look at the opposite page. I made all six of the moldings shown with just four different knife profiles. (These are the basic profiles that came with the molding head, refer to Sources on page 51 for more information.)

Using a Molding Head. If

you've never used a molding head, there are a few things to know. To start with, you'll need a couple of insert plates for your table saw.

The first is a molding head insert. (This can be purchased or shop-made.) The molding head insert has a short, wide opening to accommodate the width of the molding head knives.

For profiles that are cut with the workpiece standing on edge, you'll want to use a zero-clearance insert to prevent the workpiece from falling into the insert opening.

Finally, it's a good idea to attach an auxiliary fence to your table saw rip fence. This allows you to bury the knives in the fence so you can safely use just a portion of the profile (photo at left). You may have to move the fence from the left to the right side of the molding head to get the profile you're after.

With a little creativity and some experimenting, you can make a wide variety of moldings to dress up just about any project. &

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ShopNotes No. 89