More shaper questions

[Dave Cav]

Thanks for all the input on the plywood shaper ring inserts. I got the shaper up and running this afternoon with the power feeder and got my cabinet edges profiled, so the immediate issues are past. I do have a few other general shaper questions, though. The involve feed direction, power feeders, miter slots, fences and maybe a few other odds and ends.

First of all, I'm using an early 80s vintage Delta/Rockwell HD shaper with a 2 HP motor. I have both wings installed. My fence is the Delta split fence with the dust hood, and I have it installed perpenducular to the miter slot. The feeder is bolted to a piece of 6 x 18" oak and clamped to the rear of the saw with two C clamps. For some reason I have the shaper set up to feed left to right, but I will probably change this to right to left as this seems more common.

First an observation on the design of the shaper. It's obvious that Delta didn't have power feeders in mind when they designed the HD shaper, because without the "rear" or left wing installed, there would be no place to install a power feeder with the fence set parallel to the miter slot. Even with the rear/left wing installed I don't think it would be a good idea to install the feeder on the wing as I suspect the stress would probably cause either the feeder or wing mounting bolts to crack the iron. This means that to switch from edge profiling to end coping you would have to move the fence 90* and probably move the feeder, too. Grizzly and Powermatic seem to have fixed this situation by putting their miter slots along the front. So, for those of you with permanently mounted power feeders and fences that cross your miter slot, how do you cope end grain? Break everything down and move to the miter slot, or use a sled that rides against the fence or table edge?

Speaking of fences, the 80s vintage Delta fence is kind of a PITA to adjust. It only has an offset adjustment on one side, and it's pretty sloppy. The new PM fence and the fence on the Grizzly G1026 both allow more precise adjustments and both sides of the split fence are independently adjustable. I emailed Grizzly and found the G1026 fence is available for $112.50, which seems like a good deal. The other alternative is the Accura fence, but I haven't got any feedback on it. So, does anyone have any comments about either the G1026 shaper fence or the Accura?

The power feeder (Grizzly 1/2 HP) seems to work fine and be a solid piece of equipment, but one thing about it bugs me. I have it all set up, and I can get everything adjusted but the bottoms of the rollers parallel to the table top. The rollers are (axially) tilted a few degrees up on the side away from the fence. It looks like the only way to fix this would be to shim the back of the mounting bracket to angle the vertical mounting post over a little bit. Is this normal? As I mentioned above, I have mounted the feeder by bolting it to a piece of oak and then clamping the wood to the table top at the rear of the shaper. This seems to work fine, but it blocks access to the dust port. I suppose I should go ahead and drill the shaper top and bolt it directly to the table, but I'm just reluctant to start driling holes in cast iron table tops. If I am going to set up for "normal" right to left feeding, I want to bolt it to the right rear corner, correct?

Thanks again for the help.

[David DeCristoforo]

First of all, the stock fence is a POS. I just make wood fences. Second, the miter slot is unlikely to ever be used in conjunction with the feeder so the feeder location relative to the miter slot is... well... irrelevant. Third, stop worrying about your shaper table top and drill and tap it for the feeder base bolts. My table has at least three sets of bolt holes at various locations. Just be sure you are not drilling into a rib or something on the underside of the table. Clamping the feeder on is not the best idea. When you are milling stock with the feeder, set the fence the "long way" so you have as much table support for the stock as possible. Forth, to get the wheels flat on the table, loosen all of the adjustments including the bolt that tightens the feeder head to the shaft. Then lower the feeder head until the wheels are touching the table. Play with all of the adjustments until the wheels are sitting flat. It can be done!

[Mike Heidrick]

Dave, you have Lonnie's Shaper Book or Cliffee's Shaper Handbook? Both a re cheap and great books to own.

Drilling CI is very easy. You will be suprised how easily it is done.

[Chip Lindley]

David is right on concerning your shaper issues. Heed his advice.

Relying on one shaper to perform all operations is like only having one router! No Fun! Too much bit changing and adjusting and re-adjusting!

Over the years I am blessed to acquire multiple shapers at really embarassing bargain prices. I have three dedicated shapers for panel raising, coping, and sticking. Two more just in case. Overkill? Yes! But really handy when doing raised panel doors in quantity! Especially handy when a door job is all set up and other shaper operations need to be done.

[Darnell Hagen]

Delta's "Getting The Most From Your -----" series is excellent, you can find copies cheap on eBay or you can download them here:

http://owwm.com/pubs/1141/1060.pdf

[Rod Sheridan]

[QUOTE=Chip Lindley;1346938] I have three dedicated shapers for panel raising, coping, and sticking. Two more just in case. QUOTE]

OK Chip, I vote you SHAPER KING..............All bow down before you:D

3 shapers with two spares, now that's impressive!

regards, Rod.

[Dave Cav]

Dave, you have Lonnie's Shaper Book or Cliffee's Shaper Handbook? Both a re cheap and great books to own.

Drilling CI is very easy. You will be suprised how easily it is done.

Yes, I have both of those books, plus the Delta manual. I think Cliffe's is the better of the two and would get my vote if I was only going to get one book.

I have drilled and tapped lots of cast iron and you're right, it's easy to work; I'm just reluctant to start drilling holes in the (unmarred) top. I suspect I'll be drilling and tapping some holes soon anyway.

[Dave Cav]

[QUOTE=Chip Lindley;1346938] I have three dedicated shapers for panel raising, coping, and sticking. Two more just in case. QUOTE]

OK Chip, I vote you SHAPER KING..............All bow down before you:D

3 shapers with two spares, now that's impressive!

regards, Rod.

I had enough trouble finding room for one shaper and a router table. Then again, if you like multiple shapers, check out some of the Weaver setups:

http://www.weaver-sales.com/

Some of their setups use up to 12 shapers.

[J.R. Rutter]

Doing cope and stick on the same shaper is not a problem with a thick coping sled that rides the fence instead of using the slot on the table. Stack sticking below the coping and space sled accordingly. Changing to panel raising is not very convenient, but if I were doing it, I would shop for a head that let me keep the fence location (and feed direction) the same as for the cope/stick. If all you have to do is pivot the feeder out of the way, and maybe raise/lower it, then you will be more efficient.

[Chip Lindley]

In fact, during the '90s I spent lots of time in Kansas City. I made several trips to Weaver's business in the Argentine district, and drooled over their shaper set-ups. No way I could afford their 3-Shaper Package--$5995! But, I did spend for Weaver cutters, jigs and fixtures. Good Stuff!

[Jeff Duncan]

Yup just drill and tap and be done with it, heck you'll outgrow that little guy in a short while anyway;)
Delta's have just enough room to bolt the feeder in the back corner but it's tricky. They (Delta) recommend not bolting to the wing, though many guys do. I'd avoid it if possible.
I've never use the miter gauge for anything, just seems like a goofy mickey mouse setup for coping. I use a sled which allows you to cut much smaller than if you tried using a miter gauge. Made my own and it's nothing fancy but it gets the job done.
Lastly you'll probably want your shaper feeding from right to left as you mentioned, cutter spinning counter clockwise. This is how most cutters are setup to run which will make it easier for you to keep track when ordering face up/down for sticking profiles.

good luck,
JeffD

[Dave Cav]

Thanks again for all the comments. I guess I'll be doing some drilling and tapping this Saturday.

[Peter Quinn]

Hi Dave,

Glad to hear you have been successful thus far. I have a Delta HD shaper, don't know if the top is the same as yours as mine is an older Delta, not a Rockwell. I have the miter gauge slot forward, the feeder mounted behind the fence and to the right of the spindle. The feeder base does fit on the tables footprint. Mine is bolted to the table in holes that I tapped. Its easy to do. I also have holes in a wing that allow me to feed across the full length of the table with both wings, but I rarely do this as I have built good tables to each side for stock support. I have a SCMI to the right of the shaper and a RAS to the left, all are at the same height and each acts as infeed/outfeed for the others. The wings are plenty strong enough to support the feeder in any event.

I worry about that feeder being bolted to a board. I would prefer to see a piece of steel bolted to the table and the feeder bolted to that. I think they call that a mending plate? There are some great examples in some older post here at on the creek.

The original Delta fences are crap. They should have been embarrassed to ever have produced them. The new X5 fences are great, and I dumped my old fence for one of those. No regrets, though I think they have raised the price of those greatly of late.