Power feed

[Randy Henry]

Just wondering how people set the power feed position on a shaper, in relation to the spindle. Is it best to center it, or slightly back or forward of the spindle?
Thanks.

[Glen Butler]

My feeder has 4 wheels and I center it.

[Steve Rowe]

My feeder has 4 wheels and I center it.
+1 - center it

[Dave Cav]

Mine has 3 wheels (Griz 1/2 hp); I center the middle and last wheels on the spindle.

[Peter Quinn]

On a three wheel feeder I go pretty close to centered unless I need to get in close, then I put the second wheel just before TDC, in as close as I can come without hitting the wheels. A few setups have required putting the cutter between the second and third wheels whose gap is typically greater. Depends on the stock thickness and cutter size to some extent.

The most important thing is that there is a wheel both before and after the spindle. I like to have two wheels out of three on the in feed side of the spindle because on standard rotation that is the direction of the greatest force. For curved template work I have pulled the first wheel and put one of the other two on each side of the spindle, sort of centering the gap on the spindle..