Rockwell Heavy Duty Shaper?

[Wade Lippman]

I found one at and on-line auction. It will probably go way up by closing, but at the moment it is at a silly low price.
As nearly as I can figure, it is in good condition, but with a 1.5hp motor and only 3/4" spindle, I wonder if it is worth bothering with.
My 3.5hp router table has always done what I needed, but if the price doesn't go up.... Worth having?

What do you suppose it weighs? Getting it home might be a problem.

[Jeff Duncan]

It's an OK entry level machine, but any shaper is a step up from a router table. FWIW a 1.5 hp shaper motor is not comparable to a 3 hp router, the shaper will have a lot more power.

good luck,
JeffD

[John T Barker]

It's an OK entry level machine, but any shaper is a step up from a router table. FWIW a 1.5 hp shaper motor is not comparable to a 3 hp router, the shaper will have a lot more power.

good luck,
JeffD

Agree here and it is probably reversable with a nice heavy cast iron table.

[Jamie Buxton]

You sure it only 1.5 hp? For about a zillion years, Delta made their Heavy Duty Shaper, which was 3 hp. For a while, the Delta brand was owned by Rockwell. Perhaps this shaper is a Delta-Rockwell, and is 3 hp.

[Terry Therneau]

The older Delta shapers could be 1HP -- I have one. Essentially the same motor as in my 1948 Unisaw (different mount of course). Do not under estimate the power and mass of these old motors. It's pretty hard to stop the Unisaw if I have a decent blade on it. It wouldn't be up to ripping 3" oak all afternoon w/ a power feeder of course but has no trouble with anything I throw at it. Likewise the shaper may no be up to doing large door panel cutters in a single pass at speed, but still beefier than any router table.

Terry T.

[Rollie Meyers]

You sure it only 1.5 hp? For about a zillion years, Delta made their Heavy Duty Shaper, which was 3 hp. For a while, the Delta brand was owned by Rockwell. Perhaps this shaper is a Delta-Rockwell, and is 3 hp.


Rockwell owned Delta for a long time, about 1945 to 1984, my Rockwell HD shaper (former school machine of 1974 vintage) has a 2 HP motor, to the OP if the price is right, GO FOR IT!

[jack forsberg]

In the real world there is no router that plugs into a 120 volt 15 amp plug that will give you 3.5 hp. Sorry but the best you can get is about 1.5 HP. I don't care who makes it its not possible to get any more power out of that 120 volt supply .The question become than is an induction(shaper motor) motor better than a brush motor(router motor) for spinning cutters. First off the router runs bits(really not cutters because of the cutting geometry) off the motor shaft and there for the motor bearings take the thrust. If you have every taken a router apart for bearings you will clearly see the $8 sealed bearings are small and throw away and not suited to large heavy cutter blocks

The shaper motor runs a quill block with larger bearings from a belt and this quill supports a spindle ether solid or changeable(there where shapers made that did run cutters off the motor rotor /spindle with a frequency changer to change the motor speed but Delta never made one) The delta HD is about the lightest of the shapers but still has larger bearings and quill that is lacking in the router . The only thing HD about the delta is the name IMO but it is a shaper none the less and will out perform it with larger cutters. 1.5 hp is the bottom of the rung for shaper power but so is a 3/4" spindle.

Shaper's run slower than routers by as much as 75% and in so doing can run larger diameter cutters. this in turn keeps the cutters rim speed at the surface feet per minute that gives the best cut and knife marks per inch. Just think of the size of your table saw blades and how fast they spins . BTW the shaper will run saw blades too though i think the Delta runs to fast for a 10" blade.

The two machines are not better than one or the other but made to run small bits or full cutters and you need both. the shaper can run router bits but the router is better at it because of the speed.

[Wade Lippman]

It went for $500, which I thought was too much for a machine I couldn't even look at. Thanks for your help though.

[Matt Day]

I've thought about buying a shaper a number of times. The shaper can be the cheap part, and the expensive part being the cutters. Its quite an investment when all said and done, and personally I don't do anything in my shop that requires large cutter heads, at least yet.
Still would be cool to have one though ;-).

[Brian Lefort]

I've been buying the rockwell/Delta light duty shapers for about $150 to $200 each for a couple of years. I have 4 now. I keep one set up for rails, one for stiles, one for raised panels, and one open for one-off tasks.

The tooling is a bit more expensive, but the power and stability of even these light duty shapers outperforms ANY router/Router table.

Do not get me wrong, I also have a router table with a big PC router also. Works great, and I couldn't live w/o it.

[Rod Sheridan]

I've thought about buying a shaper a number of times. The shaper can be the cheap part, and the expensive part being the cutters. Its quite an investment when all said and done, and personally I don't do anything in my shop that requires large cutter heads, at least yet.
Still would be cool to have one though ;-).

I find that the cutters aren't any more expensive than router bits.

That's because I normally use a Euro block head with steel knives, which range from $20 to $30 per pair. (Suitable for solid wood only).

Once you have a shaper, you'll wonder why you didn't buy one sooner...................Regards, Rod.

P.S. Just corrected the typo, it's $20..........not 420........Rod.

[Peter Quinn]

I find that the cutters aren't any more expensive than router bits.

That's because I normally use a Euro block head with steel knives, which range from 420 to $30 per pair. (Suitable for solid wood only).

Once you have a shaper, you'll wonder why you didn't buy one sooner...................Regards, Rod.

Ditto the euro block. I'm making some v paneling presently in my home shop for my garage soffit, could be done on a router but the cutters are far more expensive and far less capable. That said I probably have $10k in shaper cutters, some of them alone cost more than every router bit I own together, but that investment is specific to what I do and what I plan to do, not certainly a necessity. I too can't imagine working wood with no shaper, it's part of almost everything I build.

[ian maybury]

Must say i've also been amazed to discover the ease with which a shaper (Hammer F3 in this case) strips away old - and leaves an excellent finish...