| What are Moulders? | | | | designed for domestic and lower level commercial |
| A moulder-also referred to as a wood shaper-is a | | | | use, while others are designed for industrial grade |
| woodworking machine that uses profiled cutters | | | | use. Naturally, the latter are more expensive, and, |
| to shape wood. A moulder's blades are typically | | | | unlike domestic and low level commercial models, |
| secured in a cutterhead that is mounted onto the | | | | are designed to perform like new for years on |
| machine's horizontal shaft, although some | | | | end. Therefore, purchasing a used industrial grade |
| moulders are designed with the blades bolted | | | | moulding machine can be a sensible purchase, as |
| directly onto the shaft. In addition to serving as | | | | long as the buyer has the space to accommodate |
| moulders, wood moulding machines can also serve | | | | it and has a production demand that necessitates |
| as wood planers, in which case the machine is | | | | industrial wood working machines. |
| referred to as a moulder/planer. Woodworkers | | | | How Do You Assess the Quality of Used |
| that desire a moulder and a planer in one unit | | | | Moulders? |
| must be sure to purchase an official moulder | | | | Assessing the quality of a used moulding machine |
| planer, as planing capabilities are not inherent to a | | | | follows the same four-step process as assessing |
| classic moulder. Although moulders come in a | | | | the quality of other industrial grade used |
| variety of sizes and capacities, they come in two | | | | woodworking machines. The first step is to only |
| basic types: single head moulders, which have a | | | | consider machines that are sold by professional |
| horizontal cutting head only and are generally the | | | | sellers of used woodworking machinery (e.g. eBay |
| most affordable; and multi head moulders, which | | | | merchants and company auctions should be |
| contain as many as four cutter heads: a top | | | | avoided). The second step is to make sure that a |
| horizontal head, a bottom horizontal head, a right | | | | seller is without unresolved customer complaints |
| vertical side head and a left vertical side head. A | | | | at the Better Business Bureau (BBB). The third |
| single head moulder generally works fine for lower | | | | step is to request a copy of a machine's official |
| capacity woodworking operations. But its slower | | | | logged service record to ensure that it was |
| feed and inability to cut more than one surface at | | | | regularly maintained by its previous owner(s). The |
| a time generally makes it prohibitive for high | | | | fourth step is to conduct a first person inspection |
| production operations, particularly those that focus | | | | of the machine to assess its overall wear, or |
| on furniture that requires detailed, deep cuts. | | | | have a trusted third party perform the inspection |
| Is it Sensible to Buy Used Moulders? | | | | for you. By following these steps, you should |
| Whether or not to buy a used moulder typically | | | | arrive at a used machine that operates like new |
| depends on two factors: its sticker price and the | | | | for years to come. |
| quality of its construction. Some machines are | | | | |