Shaper question - feeder or board buddies???

[Mike Tempel]

I have a Jet 1 1/2HP shaper that I would like to add some safety to. I would like to add a baby power feeder but I don't think the table is large enough to add one. I have thought about the board buddies that so many have spoken of recently but I have only the OEM fence. I use it for large diameter router bits as well as for shaper cutters (my limited supply consists of rail/stile cutters, an ogee raised panel cutter, 45° bevel cutter, and a couple of flute cutters). My question is do I have enough room to add a baby power feeder in your opinion (I have never seen one except in catalogs and the descriptions are generally quite lacking)? Or should I go for board buddies mounted on a homemade fence? If you suggest the fence or if you have a power feeder mounted on a small shaper could you enclose some pics or drawings of what you have so that I may be able to come up with something myself? My preference would be the power feeder as I would like to keep my fingers as far away as possible!!

Thanks in advance. Mike

[Larry Copas]

Just posted few minutes ago on this thread (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=16388). Take a peek and see what ya think.

[Bill Arnold]

Mike,

I've never used Board Buddies and when I asked a few months back on another forum, I got a majority of negative responses. The most consistent suggestion I received was to use Grip-Tites, the magnetic featherboard system. I bought a set of Grip-Tites and really like them. Take a look at them before making your decision.

Regards,

[Richard McComas]

It’s hard to beat a power feeder on a shaper for safety (keeps and block your hand from getting into the cutters) for quality of cut because the constant feed rate and it just plain ole fun to stick something in one side and watch it come out the other.

[Mike Tempel]

It’s hard to beat a power feeder on a shaper for safety (keeps and block your hand from getting into the cutters) for quality of cut because the constant feed rate and it just plain ole fun to stick something in one side and watch it come out the other.
Do you think I could mount a baby feeder on my shaper? It is a 1 1/2 HP Jet.

[John Edwards]

You might try looking at these links.

http://www.relcuttools.com/index.shtml

http://www.riessws.com/

http://www.wynmatic.com/

All super good stuff. I use all these products on a weekly basis in my home shop.
The Crafter series makes making doors safe and easy.
Freeborn cutters are great and priced right, here.
Wayne has some unique products that make difficult tasks simple.
None of this stuff is cheap but it is well made and the safety aspect is worth the cost.

[Richard McComas]

Do you think I could mount a baby feeder on my shaper? It is a 1 1/2 HP Jet.

I would personal prefer something a little larger but sure you could mount a baby feeder on the jet shaper physically speaking.

Having never used a feeder less that one hp I can't say for sure a baby feeder has the oomph to push stock thru a large panel raiser for any length of time.

What I do know is, if you do long runs the baby feeder will get hot and you’ll have to stop and let them cool down, the more hp you have the longer runs you can make.

I think you need to make an educated guess at what your going to be using the shaper for and how long of run your making and size the shaper from that.

Hopefully someone with some experience with a baby feeder will chime in here.

[Michael Perata]

Mike

I have a 1/4 HP Delta feeder 36-850. I would have/should have gone for a bigger one but at the time I only had one 220v drop for my MiniMax combo.

The 36-850 will work for you on a shaper in a none production environment and will definitely add safety to the Shaper operation. If you don't have room on the table (probably not with a 1 1/2 HP shaper) make a bracket to hang the shaper off the right rear of the machine.

Remember, feeders are heavy (36-850 = 70#, 36-851 = 133#) and could tip a smaller shaper over if not placed correctly.