Cove cutter on the TS

[ChrisD]

So, what do you guys do when the project needs crown molding?

I saw this set a couple of years ago when it first came out and I'm now considering getting it (the Christmas list is still open ).

Do you see any issues with running the cove cutter on the BT3, other than the sheer volume of that thing spinning at 4,800 RPM?

[crokett]

I buy my crown moulding. If I wanted to make crown I'd get a shaper before I got that cutter to put on my tablesaw. That is a lot of mass for the motor to spin and is a lot of mass to be spinning. It would make me really nervous and I've made more or less all my mistakes when I was nervous.

[ChrisD]

That is a lot of mass for the motor to spin and is a lot of mass to be spinning.

David,

My rationale on this is that it's about the same as running a full dado stack, i.e. about 3/4" thick. It depends, of course, on the diameter of your dado blades. The cove cutter is 7". I know a lot of us here have the 6" dado sets, but a few have 8" blades.

[scorrpio]

I remember seeing an article on making crown molding on the TS using only standard blade. The cove is made by running stock over blade at an angle.

[AlanWS]

That big cutter is designed for use exactly as you would use a single blade on a tablesaw to cut a cove. The rounded edges should make for a much better surface than you'd get from a blade. The smaller diameter of the cutter compared to a blade limits the cove radius, but it makes a huge difference to the amount of energy it takes to spin up the disk. The thick plate will keep it from deflecting sideways under the force of cove cutting.

I think the comparison with a dado stack is valid. The best place to get definitive answers might be to contact CMT and ask them about the recommended power needed to spin the cutter. If the BT is underpowered, it could still be cautiously used by raising the blade in small increments to take a little stock off in each of several passes. You'd still have the strain of starting it spinning, so you'd want to avoid starting it up too soon after shutting it off.

[crokett]

David,

My rationale on this is that it's about the same as running a full dado stack, i.e. about 3/4" thick. It depends, of course, on the diameter of your dado blades. The cove cutter is 7". I know a lot of us here have the 6" dado sets, but a few have 8" blades.

Good point. But I took a quick look at the cost and . It is more than my saw cost new. How much crown are you planning to make? I think I could replace all the crown in my house for what that costs.

[onedash]

Using an angled fence to run the board through has always seemed like a less then safe operation to me. It obviosly works but I wonder what the accident rate is for that vs normal use.
What about the ones with multiple cutterheads/blades that can be changed? I imagine they would be cheaper but probably have fewer options than this.

[ChrisD]

That big cutter is designed for use exactly as you would use a single blade on a tablesaw to cut a cove. The rounded edges should make for a much better surface than you'd get from a blade. The smaller diameter of the cutter compared to a blade limits the cove radius, but it makes a huge difference to the amount of energy it takes to spin up the disk. The thick plate will keep it from deflecting sideways under the force of cove cutting.

I think the comparison with a dado stack is valid. The best place to get definitive answers might be to contact CMT and ask them about the recommended power needed to spin the cutter. If the BT is underpowered, it could still be cautiously used by raising the blade in small increments to take a little stock off in each of several passes. You'd still have the strain of starting it spinning, so you'd want to avoid starting it up too soon after shutting it off.

Thanks, Alan. Contacting CMT is definitely my next step.

Blade deflection and quality of cut are exactly the reasons why I want to get the cove cutter (BTW, www.mikestools.com is offering it -- without the bits -- at a discounted price).

When I used the TS stock blade, it deflected so much that part of my ZCTP got chewed up even though I was not cutting more than 1/8" per pass. Also, I spent a considerable amount of time scraping and sanding the cove to remove the blade marks.

I'm not expecting a 100% scrape-and-sand-free surface from the CMT, but test cuts shown on www.woodshopdemos.com were pretty convincing.

I'll let you know what CMT advises.

[ChrisD]

Good point. But I took a quick look at the cost and . It is more than my saw cost new. How much crown are you planning to make? I think I could replace all the crown in my house for what that costs.

David, I can get the cove cutter only for about $150. I know, the whole set is ridiculous. Useful but pricey.

[Brian G]

Chris,

Have you considered a crown moulding bit for use with a router?

Perhaps something like one of MLCS' bits would suffice.

There are probably other vendors with something similar.

[ChrisD]

Chris,

Have you considered a crown moulding bit for use with a router?

Perhaps something like one of MLCS' bits would suffice.

There are probably other vendors with something similar.

Brian,

I actually did. What I like about the CMT cutter that profile bits don't have is the range of arcs that it can cut. Granted that I will never fully take advantage of this feature, it's still nice to have such flexibility when designing.

[scorrpio]

By the way, another option is installing special blades in a planer. Of course, not every planer will accept them due to cutterhead clearance.

[ChrisD]

By the way, another option is installing special blades in a planer. Of course, not every planer will accept them due to cutterhead clearance.

This would have the same limitation as profile bits that I mentioned. Thanks for the suggestion, though.