Deal on G1035 Shaper?

[Travis Gunn]

I have found an unused G1035 shaper for $400. I would use it primarily in place of a router/tabe. I see that Grizzly has a spindle for $50 so it would accept 1/4 & 1/2" router bits
I am considering this as a lower price alternitive to buying a router & table. I currently have a 3 1/4 hp router that is a real pain to put in & out of my cheap table.
I have searched & read posts about the shaper's slower speed. Am I better off going this route or wait until & can get a good router And table?
Thanks for opinions.

[Josiah Bartlett]

If you are just going to use router bits in it you will be disappointed unless you are using very large diameter bits like panel raisers that are intended to run slow. However, as an inexpensive shaper it is pretty good, and Grizzly shaper cutters are reasonably priced. That's not a bad deal. I have an old Delta shaper and I love it, I use it a lot more often than I do my router table. I use the shaper for routing profiles and edge jointing. I only use my router table for pattern work and plunge cuts. The shaper is so much nicer to work on than the router table- it runs very smoothly, you can stack cutters for all kinds of profiles, it has a good fence, and you can flip your cutters over and run the spindle in reverse if you are having tear out or you want to capture the work between the table and the cutter.

A lot of shaper cutters have multiple profiles built into the cutter, so if you flip the cutter over or raise or lower it you get a lot of possibilities. You can make most classic shapes with a selection of about 10 different cutters. The place where shapers get expensive is if you want a custom profile without stacking cutters, production line cope and stick cutters, and molding heads. For a home shop a budget shaper like this one and inexpensive cutters will do a lot of nice work and not cost any more than a router table with a lift.

[Travis Gunn]

Thanks, I mostly needed encouragement to justify a new tool that I didn't know I needed. With what you said I can justify telling my wife that it's too good of a deal to pass up.