I own a custom cabinet shop and we get a lot of calls for architectural woodwork. I don’t usually like multifunctional machines because of the setup and changeover times. It is more efficient to have specialized machines in a shop with several employees. I did make an exception when I bought the 725 with the three head moulding attachment. It has been a great machine. It paid for itself within six months. We now offer a custom moulding service which has gone crazy with builders restoring historic homes in southern New England. The machine is well built and backed by a company who has been around for several decades. I would recommend the Woodmaster to anyone who is serious about wood working.
Totally agree on the "Great Machine"! At age 68 I know which one of us, me or my (two) Woodmasters, are going to the boneyard first! Just hope my son keeps up woodworking since he'll end up with these when I'm long gone.
If I were Woodmaster I'd pay you to take this video down.I was seriously interested in this machine until I saw this video. You are way more tolerant than anyone I know.
Lol. It's not as hard to start the feed as he made it look. I bought the 718 and backed the tension off the springs as they seem to come from the factory almost completely cinched down. No sanding the end of the board or any extra work. It's nice because you can test it without running the cutting head. It doesn't matter whether you're setting the tension on a 1x or 2x or any thickness because the tension is all relative to the max cutting depth that you would do for any thickness. You only do this once on initial setup and then after several thousands of feet of lumber as the rollers wear down you may have to tighten them a little more. Watch a Gary Striegler video if you want to see how the machine really works.
Steve. Thanks for you comment but it's interesting that you thought I was "tolerant". I think what needs to be realized here, and you'll see evidence of this in Jeff Kent's comments, is that this is NOT a one-off machine. In other words, if I were to only need 1, 10 or maybe even more boards then I would run them through the table saw. Keep in mind even that means two passes per board since you would normally over-rip one edge then flip it for the final run. The Woodmaster gang ripper does both in the same pass, in fact, for narrower boards you might throw a 10" wide board in and out the other end comes three perfect-width, ready-to glue-edged boards. Thus the "gang" in gang ripper. This machine is primarily for folks that plan to do a fair amount of sawing. I, in fact, bought a second machine and had it configured with the gang-ripper setup right from the factory. These are unbelievably so much safer than a table saw, even my SawStop and they are really good at dust collection. Mine might sit for months until I have a trim project or multiple bunk beds to make then out she comes.
@@durhamholtmeier8330 Thanks for the comment. One thing that makes things a bit more difficult is that much of my lumber is rough-sawn 4/4 from a local sawmill. That mill and another near here, produce a 4/4 that is actually about 1.1" thick. I like that because I can clean some of the rough surface off and still end up with a full 1" thick. If prefer to (almost) always rip a board before jointering or planing. On a jointer it is a matter of trying to put a 9" board on on 8" jointer. Plus she shakes like hell when you do that. So, if I can rip into two boards at 4" wide THEN jointer it's a lot easier on me and on the jointer. This added 0.1" thickness is just enough to really make things tight between the table top and the upper rollers. The folks at Woodmaster were very helpful by suggesting I place a slight bevel on the leading edge of the board. This was huge and solved the problem. I keep a hand-held router set up with a chamfer bit near the Woodmaster for this reason.
Sorry so long to get back to you but "Yes" it will create a reasonably straight edge on an imperfect edge board so long as that board is placed between two blades not between a blade on one of the two edges. In fact the gang ripper is ideal for cleaning boards that have two raw edges. The board might wander a little bit so I'd suggest making the initial rip wide enough so there is enough meat left to run one edge on a jointer and then rip with the jointered edge to the tablesaw fence. Good luck!
You need to read that safety label on the machine, with the red banner on top. Standing right in the path of any kickback. I've owned a 718 since 2001, only had a few loose knots come flying out, but they come out VERY fast. Also, I've never had that much difficulty feeding boards in. I suspect the rollers springs are way too tight.
Mike, good point about the "kick back". Fortunately I do normally stand off to the side. Sometimes this gets forgotten when also videotaping at the same time.
Brian. Good tip on the spacer blocks. Did that but, in the end, the machine has so much power combined with even a very small wobble from a blade that might no longer be true, will dictate what comes out the other end. I usually start with the spacer blocks, as you suggest, then run some test passes using the same species and thickness of wood. From there its SWAG method until the come out just right. As I mentioned to Steve below, because this is normally meant for production quantity it is worth the added time and materials. I do a lot of triple-laminate hardwood glue-ups so having every board come out the same width saves a lot of time after glue-up on the jointer or planer. Thanks again for your feedback. Mike
I own a custom cabinet shop and we get a lot of calls for architectural woodwork. I don’t usually like multifunctional machines because of the setup and changeover times. It is more efficient to have specialized machines in a shop with several employees. I did make an exception when I bought the 725 with the three head moulding attachment. It has been a great machine. It paid for itself within six months. We now offer a custom moulding service which has gone crazy with builders restoring historic homes in southern New England. The machine is well built and backed by a company who has been around for several decades. I would recommend the Woodmaster to anyone who is serious about wood working.
I agree... We've beat the piss out of our Wood master 725 in a live edge slab shop and it's never broken down period.
Nice video. I've been running my 712 for 2yrs now. Great machine!
Totally agree on the "Great Machine"! At age 68 I know which one of us, me or my (two) Woodmasters, are going to the boneyard first! Just hope my son keeps up woodworking since he'll end up with these when I'm long gone.
Can you make a video on how to properly set up the feed rollers?
Sorry but I dont own machine anymore.
If I were Woodmaster I'd pay you to take this video down.I was seriously interested in this machine until I saw this video. You are way more tolerant than anyone I know.
Lol. It's not as hard to start the feed as he made it look. I bought the 718 and backed the tension off the springs as they seem to come from the factory almost completely cinched down. No sanding the end of the board or any extra work. It's nice because you can test it without running the cutting head. It doesn't matter whether you're setting the tension on a 1x or 2x or any thickness because the tension is all relative to the max cutting depth that you would do for any thickness. You only do this once on initial setup and then after several thousands of feet of lumber as the rollers wear down you may have to tighten them a little more. Watch a Gary Striegler video if you want to see how the machine really works.
Looks to me like someone maybe set the depth off of the scale and didn't calculate sacraficial table thickness.
Steve. Thanks for you comment but it's interesting that you thought I was "tolerant". I think what needs to be realized here, and you'll see evidence of this in Jeff Kent's comments, is that this is NOT a one-off machine. In other words, if I were to only need 1, 10 or maybe even more boards then I would run them through the table saw. Keep in mind even that means two passes per board since you would normally over-rip one edge then flip it for the final run. The Woodmaster gang ripper does both in the same pass, in fact, for narrower boards you might throw a 10" wide board in and out the other end comes three perfect-width, ready-to glue-edged boards. Thus the "gang" in gang ripper. This machine is primarily for folks that plan to do a fair amount of sawing. I, in fact, bought a second machine and had it configured with the gang-ripper setup right from the factory. These are unbelievably so much safer than a table saw, even my SawStop and they are really good at dust collection. Mine might sit for months until I have a trim project or multiple bunk beds to make then out she comes.
@@durhamholtmeier8330 Thanks for the comment. One thing that makes things a bit more difficult is that much of my lumber is rough-sawn 4/4 from a local sawmill. That mill and another near here, produce a 4/4 that is actually about 1.1" thick. I like that because I can clean some of the rough surface off and still end up with a full 1" thick. If prefer to (almost) always rip a board before jointering or planing. On a jointer it is a matter of trying to put a 9" board on on 8" jointer. Plus she shakes like hell when you do that. So, if I can rip into two boards at 4" wide THEN jointer it's a lot easier on me and on the jointer. This added 0.1" thickness is just enough to really make things tight between the table top and the upper rollers. The folks at Woodmaster were very helpful by suggesting I place a slight bevel on the leading edge of the board. This was huge and solved the problem. I keep a hand-held router set up with a chamfer bit near the Woodmaster for this reason.
If you have a rough sawn board with an imperfect edge, will this put a straight edge on the board?
Sorry so long to get back to you but "Yes" it will create a reasonably straight edge on an imperfect edge board so long as that board is placed between two blades not between a blade on one of the two edges. In fact the gang ripper is ideal for cleaning boards that have two raw edges. The board might wander a little bit so I'd suggest making the initial rip wide enough so there is enough meat left to run one edge on a jointer and then rip with the jointered edge to the tablesaw fence. Good luck!
@@MikroFraming Thanks!
You need to read that safety label on the machine, with the red banner on top. Standing right in the path of any kickback. I've owned a 718 since 2001, only had a few loose knots come flying out, but they come out VERY fast. Also, I've never had that much difficulty feeding boards in. I suspect the rollers springs are way too tight.
Mike, good point about the "kick back". Fortunately I do normally stand off to the side. Sometimes this gets forgotten when also videotaping at the same time.
Agree. The front roller is too tight. They can be adjusted. That would save you a lot of time sanding and futzing.
just cut a spacer block to use as a reference
Brian. Good tip on the spacer blocks. Did that but, in the end, the machine has so much power combined with even a very small wobble from a blade that might no longer be true, will dictate what comes out the other end. I usually start with the spacer blocks, as you suggest, then run some test passes using the same species and thickness of wood. From there its SWAG method until the come out just right. As I mentioned to Steve below, because this is normally meant for production quantity it is worth the added time and materials. I do a lot of triple-laminate hardwood glue-ups so having every board come out the same width saves a lot of time after glue-up on the jointer or planer. Thanks again for your feedback.
Mike