Shaper fence questions

[jim mills]

When researching shapers, there is usually little info regarding the fence. What are important features to look for in a shaper fence?

[David Kumm]

Jim, Look at the size. Some are listed as 240,250,or 260 which is the largest cutter diameter they can handle. Heavy cast iron or aluminum. I prefer the fences with the long arms that are slotted and allow a bolt in the face to slide back and forth but many have a t slot type arrangement. Makes home made fences tougher to duplicate but often you can just clamp them to the existing fence. I would put a straightedge across the fence, with and without the faces and verify that they are parallel. That is the worst problem to overcome. If they are parallel you can deal with the other stuff. It is nice if the fence has an index pin so it can be taken off the table and replaced and a fine adjustment that moves the entire fence relative to the cutter in minute increments. Most have an adjustment on either infeed or outfeed side as well. Doesn't really matter which. Suva, Champagne, or similar guards to hold stock down and against the fence are nice although a power feeder makes a better guard. When the fence is locked down grab it and rolf it around. It shouldn't move ever. A good fence will weigh 40 or 50 lbs. The reality is you will never know what you like and dislike until you use it for a while. The Felder 240 has all the great stuff but I prefer both the SCMI and the Knapp. Had no clue until I had a choice. If it is heavy , strong, and parallel you will be OK. And if you ever run across a used Aigner run after it. Best addition to a fence of all time. New costs about the price of a shaper. Dave

[jim mills]

Once again, great info Dave. I've been reading as many shaper manuals as I can find to download and many say to "shim" the fence faces if not co-planer. Others don't say anything at all. The latest powermatic uses four 2mm set screws to "adjust" the fence. Doesn't leave me with a whole lot of confidence. I looked at a used SCMI T130; that machine is a beast, the fence is pinned to the table which seems right on to me. The smaller machines I've looked at seem like the fence is an after thought.

[David Kumm]

Jim, Look at the Artisan series from Stiles machinery. Machines are Taiwanese by Cantek but look pretty well done and the fences look really good. I have not seen up close or used but they would be on my list if I did not find used. All the ScMI shapers and
the larger Minimax are pretty well thought out with good fences. Scmi T130 came with several fence upgrades. Mine is the basic but I believe there are one or two others and a swing away mount as well. Dave

[Glen Butler]

Something you can do to overcome a lack a coplanarity in the fence is to use sacrifial wood faces and run the entire fence assembly across the jointer.

[Peter Quinn]

David pretty much covered it all, I'd emphasize fences should be dual micro adjusting for flexibility and precision. My Minimax fence has out feed micro adjust only, and that has serious consequences when trying to both tune out any snipe and take off a precise amount of stock per pass. Think of a shaper fence like a jointer. Out feed fence must be set to depth of cutters smallest arc, in feed fence determines depth of cut. For many operations I can use a back fence to create a precise width on a work piece, but this is time consuming on an assembly like an entry door with divided lites which has many different final widths that all receive the same profile and must be milled to precise widths for the thingmto work. I prefer a heavy cast iron fence though rigid box aluminum fences are decent in use and easier to remove from the machine. We have an SAC at work that takes two people to lift off! Most new fences should be pretty parallel or should be returned for replacement. PM's new fence is adjustable because ALL od there old fences eventually go out of parallel, and you are left with shims behind fence plates to deal with. Providing adjustments is a good idea. Think of a parallelogram jointer! Making it adjustable over it's life makes it more desirable, not less. If you go used make sure the fences are parallel AND square to the table, and not twisted which indicates both conditions may exist. Shimming fences is not an art I particularly enjoy.Research and manuals can only take you so far. At some point it's a good idea to get a look in person at a few different options to see what you are considering if possible.

[lowell holmes]

I use a piece of plywood that provides an oversize fence. It is about 9" tall and extends across the shaper table.

It is much safer than than a short two piece fence that came with the shaper.

When shaping panels with a vertical panel bit, it helps keep the panel vertical and hands out of the way.

[Trevor Remster]

Another option is to custom build individual fences from scrap like MDF tailored to the task and cutters being used. I believe Lonnie Bird's "The Shaper Book" has some excellent examples. I find these types of fences easier, faster and safer most of the time. Plus I can tailor them to maximize dust collection too.

[Rod Sheridan]

Another nice fence feature is the bars that span the opening between the infeed and outfeed fences, preventing work pieces from tipping into the opening......Rod.

[J.R. Rutter]

It is definitely nice to have at least one face adjustable, and also have the option to adjust the entire fence at once without unfastening it from the table.

[Jeff Duncan]

I had a Powermatic 27 and can confirm that those fences are pretty bad. I tossed the crappy oak faces it came with before I even plugged it in. Shimming is OK if you have to, but a pain when you need to move the fence in and out to the cutter. Delta had an aluminum fence that I think came on the X series machines. I had one of those too and I liked the fence a lot more than the machine itself. The fence on my newest shaper acquisition, a 69' Martin I just finished rebuilding, is the best I've used so far. It's heavy and robust and dead flat across the faces. Also the faces are secured by a single bolt for quick removal and replacement when you need to use a sacrificial fence. Both the indeed and out feed are adjustable.

I will say even though I haven't used one, the newer SCM Class machines are pretty darned appealing. They have some great features and I can't imagine you would have many regrets with the T-130. The T-160 is on my list of machines to buy if one ever came up at the right price and time.

good luck,
JeffD

[J.R. Rutter]

The old T130 fences on the base models were nothing special. They were a heavy duty version of the MiniMax fence that Peter mentioned. The newer fences with turn gauges on the handles are great.