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Molder/planer seeking advise

Started by buck65, March 02, 2015, 09:00:44 PM

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buck65

What can anyone tell me about RBI 816 molder?
Searched for a molder/planer on a Web site had a response says he has an rbi816 that is new his dad purchased it 20 years ago & never got it hooked up before he passed. Wants $1800 for it. He does not seem to know much about it,  so has been hard to ask questions. Planning on going to look at it, but it is 200 miles away. Thought I would seek some opinions before commiting. Price sounds resonable.

red oaks lumber

i know alot about planers and moulders,just not that one ..sorry :)
welcome to the forum!!!
the experts think i do things wrong
over 18 million b.f. processed and 7341 happy customers i disagree

sawwood

Buck the RBI company when out of some time ago. A company in Kansas bought it and if you look it up on the web
you will find it. Not sure if they still sell parts or not but would think $1.800 is a little to high. You would be better
off buying a woodmaster planer/moulder. Lot more option with them and good service.

Sawwood
Norwood M4 manual mill, Solar Kiln, Woodmaster
18" planer/molder

woodworker9

Depending on your size needs, there are a lot of planers and molders out there, and plenty still in business.  I used to run a Williams and Hussey single head molder, and for a small time operation, they are fantastic.  They're still in business, and you can still easily get parts, feed rollers, etc.....and all the tooling companies make knives for them.  They can be had pretty reasonably used, too.

If I were you, I would assess first what size constraints my planing needs are, and also what size moldings I want to make.  Combination machines are fine for extreme occasional use, but you will find changing back and forth frequently to become a hassle.  Get a good planer, and get a good molder.  That's my .02.
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MS 441, MS 290, New Holland L185

Kcwoodbutcher

Not for sure, but I think RBI was an offshoot of belsaw. The planer is very similar to the old Belsaws. The planers are very similar. I don't think they have a variable speed feed like the Woodmasters. $1800 is too high. You could get a used woodmaster with all the bells and whistles for that money.
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buck65

Thanks everyone for the comments my concern was the price and age even if it is new.
At this point this is a hobby I have my own timber, a woodland 126 mill and lumber that I can plane or mold. No major plan just going to follow the road to see where it goes. 
Thanks again for the comments. Any others are welcome. Buck

Darrel

If you are in the market for a moulder, you want at the very least a top and bottom head.  You should be able to find a good 2 headed machine for the $1,800.  That way you can run crown and most window and door casings, baseboards etc with just one pass.  4 or 5 heads would be even better, but then you start getting into spending more money. For about 5K you can pick up a good used paulson with 4 or 5 heads with a 3x6 capacity. 

The paulson moulder was one of the least expensive of the U.S. made machines.  I operated one of these machines in a furniture factory for about 6 years and know for a fact that for the $$$ you come out with a whole lot of options. Google "used paulson moulder" and see what you find.
1992 LT40HD

If I don't pick myself up by my own bootstraps, nobody else will.

GF

I currently have an RBI that is about 10+ years old that same model.  I can tell you that the one I have came with a 5HP Baldor Motor that has plenty of power.  The downfall I had with it that it only had two speeds for the feed that you changed by a belt.  I revamped the feed and installed a variable speed 90vdc gear motor.  Now when making moulding I can cut the feed speed down really slow to eliminate chatter marks which I could not do with the two speeds.  I only have it setup as a moulder, the planer did also work real well but I have a separate planer that I use.

When cutting crown or base I have both cutters setup at the same time in the head, that way I can cut the face on the left side, and turn it over and feed it through the right side to cut the back.  All in all I have made a bunch of moulding with it and was pleased with the results (after adding the variable speed).

The in and out feed rollers have rubber molded to them, mine has a couple of bad spots and not sure where I will find replacements when the time comes. 

I think the $1800 is a little high, even though it new its still old since the company is no longer in business.

TnAndy

If you don't want to go TOO much money on a molder, the Willams/Hussy is a decent small machine.  It only has 6" wide capacity, and I've never used mine as a planer, even though it came with a set of blades. (got an old cast iron monster Cresent/Rockwell 18" 4 knife planer)  I've run thousands of feet of molding thru it though.  I bought it because I planned to build some rental houses, and if you've priced molding, you know it's the "Prime Rib" of lumber apparently...ahahahaaa  I figure I paid for the machine on the first house....I put red oak moldings in them, and figure I had about a nickel a linear foot in it.  Sure beat finger jointed pine.

One thing you might check on that RBI, or any other small molder....How many knives does it use ? 

I know the old Belsaw was a single knife with two counter weights.  The problem you get into with a molder/planer is indexing the knives to each other....not only the UP/DOWN plane, but the LEFT/RIGHT as well. Trying to get them all to line up could be a nightmare.  Just a SLIGHT bit off, and you'd have all kinds of ripples in the finish.  I think that is WHY Belsaw only used one knife.

Willams/Hussy has a set of bolt holes in their knives, and planer blades, and you CAN'T get them wrong unless you move the knife one complete bolt hole left or right of the others.....it's just about Murphy Proof.  Also, it uses 2 knives (or planer blades) in the head, so you get a better cut (I'd think) than a single knife machine.

I bought my machine 'bare bones'....no stand, no motor.  Built a simple stand and threw a 3hp motor on it.  Planer in the pic is my old Grizzly, before the current OLD monster.



Hmmm....ok...what's the trick to posting a pic guys ?
Price, quality, service....
    Pick any two

buck65

Thanks for the info
I'll watch for the pic haven't figured that out myself yet.



i

ozarkgem

I think Belsaw, RBI and Woodmaster are all the same. Seems like Timberking owns Woodmaster now. I have a 12" Belsaw with a 5 HP motor. Extremely slow. 1800 does seem a bit high. I have seen them around here for under 800 pretty often.
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buck65

Here's an up date in my search for a Planer. Found a 12" belsaw with the accessory motor for milling t&g siding. Haven't picked it up yet it's about a 6 hr drive away. Going next weekend. Has new feed rollers & blades. He says it works really good he is upgrading to a new one. The deal is for 750 so yes it paid to wait. Thanks guys for all the advice. Will let you know if it works out ok.   

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