Custom shaper cutters

Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
Will appreciate any recommendation for a manufacturer of custom shaper cutters.

Have to match a profile for rail and stile with 1 1/4" bore shaper cutters.
 

Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
Willem, Do you have any insert heads now? Or a Williams and hussey?
No, I have only brazed cutters from Freeborn, a few from Amana.
Looks like I am going to have to purchase an insert head.
My challenge is the industry right now when we order cabinets for new construction, there seems to always be one or two special SKU's out of stock, or the customer wants something which the vendor does not make, but the doors have to look exactly the same as the rest of the cabinets. So, right now I have to try and match CNC Cabinetry's Elegant style which we use most of the time. Their profile is shaker, but with a slight unusual bevel on the face side of the door. Any of the standard profiles are not close enough.
 

mquan01

Mike
Corporate Member
Try the Moulding source in Mooresville. They may already have the cutter and can run some through for you.
 

Gotcha6

Dennis
Staff member
Corporate Member
Stewart Enterprises in Monroe, NC may have what you need or can grind the knives and run the profiles for you in your choice of wood species.
 

bob vaughan

Bob Vaughan
Senior User
Over the years I've had to learn to grind my own slip knives and have been using them for decades. Its not something that's easy but if I can do it, I expect anyone can if they just take the time to try.
Here's a writeup I did a few years back Shaper steel grinding (27 pics) - Old Woodworking Machines


1   slip knives - 1.jpg
Running the cope of a set of cope and sticks I made for small work

1   slip knives - 2.jpg
Running the arched top stick

1   slip knives - 3.jpg
Finished panel

1   slip knives - 4.jpg
Example of some of the slip knives I use.
 

chris_goris

Chris
Senior User
Willem as you know or may have found out, dedicated , brazed custom tooling will be cost prohibitive. The cheapest and most flexible route is like what Mr Vaughan shows above but.... Those are old and outdated heads. They used to call those widowmakers beacuse they would sometimes throw the inserts!. The use of corrugated steel is the new method with amatching head like this one:
you can get corrugated steel and grind your own profiles or there are several sources (ill have to dig, its been a while) to have them ground at reasonable cost.
 

srhardwoods

New User
Chris
I'm fond of the moulder head and corrugated knives. 1 head, multiple knives allow a lot of flexibility. This one is a bullnose knife with multiple sizes, just raise or lower for what size you need.
 

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Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
Over the years I've had to learn to grind my own slip knives and have been using them for decades. Its not something that's easy but if I can do it, I expect anyone can if they just take the time to try.
Here's a writeup I did a few years back Shaper steel grinding (27 pics) - Old Woodworking Machines


View attachment 202794
Running the cope of a set of cope and sticks I made for small work

View attachment 202795
Running the arched top stick

View attachment 202796
Finished panel

View attachment 202797
Example of some of the slip knives I use.
Thanks Bob

My dad use to grind all his own cutters, his shaper was self built as well. I can still remember when I was just a kid, seeing the look on his face when he threw part of a knife halfway into a brick wall. To this day, I am still a bit nervous around my shapers.
 

Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
Thanks for all the input, much appreciated.

Used the knowledge gained here to do pricing.

I use two dedicated 7.5hp shapers which are always set up to do cope and stick.

So to set up initially, I need two molding heads, the knife backers and the knives. The initial investment is around $1,600. After that, new profiles are around $35 per single cutter, which makes it a viable proposition.
 

Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
Follow up how this worked out.

I ended up with a custom profile brazed set from Freeborn, less than 1/2 the price. No flexibility, I don't see the need for additional profiles in the future however and with 1/2" instead of 3/8" the individual cutters with heads are limited. Also, using a cutter head for cope and stick limits the ability to adjust the tightness of the fit, they are what they are.
 

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