Cabinet mounted tools - wasted interior space!

[William Shelley]

Hi all,

I recently picked up my first shaper, a Shop Fox W1674 from a fellow on craigslist. I've gone through the whole machine and tuned and cleaned it up, did a few test cuts and it runs really well.

One thing is bugging me... The steel cabinet is almost empty! It's just a big open area inside that isn't usable for anything! The motor and spindle only take up a small part on one side. How crazy would it be to discard the steel cabinet and build a new cabinet from nice 3/4 ply, that had lots of built-in storage options, such as drawers for bits and cutters, wrenches, jigs, etc. Alternatively, I have a welder and metalworking tools so I could modify the existing cabinet to allow storage to be mounted inside it.

Lets assume that such modifications would be done to a high standard of quality - with that being said, if I resell it, would this destroy the value of the tool or make it better? No change?

I have a really small shop so I'm constantly looking for ways to pack things more densely.

[William Shelley]

This is the view at the back of the shaper. The motor and spindle only occupy about 1/3rd of the space inside the cabinet.
374744

[Steve Eure]

My concern would be air flow for the motor. If you use up more of the open space, there may not be enough volume of air flow around the motor.
I am not an expert on shapers, but in my experience a shaper is a stout souped up router. They need air and lots of it to stay cool.

[Matt Day]

If all that work for a cubic foot or two is worth it to you, go for it.

As for the resale value, I bet it would hurt the value or at least be a bargaining point for a buyer to say “well you know its been hacked up quite a bit”. But, you may find someone who will appreciate the extra storage.

I think most people would have just bought a bench top unit of space is at that much of a premium.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

[William Shelley]

My concern would be air flow for the motor. If you use up more of the open space, there may not be enough volume of air flow around the motor.
I am not an expert on shapers, but in my experience a shaper is a stout souped up router. They need air and lots of it to stay cool.

Thanks, really good point. I'll make sure to design around the airflow requirement.

[Cary Falk]

I vote for hurting the resale value. I won't buy something on CL that has been heavily modified unless the price is really cheap. If I modify something I make sure I can restore it to original in case I have to sell it.

[Andrew Seemann]

I admit, if I saw something that modified on CL, I probably would not even open the link to look at it. It could be very well done, but as a buyer, there is just too much risk.

[glenn bradley]

Here is the thread where I built drawers into a machine base.

https://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?193003-Add-Drawers-to-Enclosed-Machine-Stand

[John P Clark]

Wait until you run a raised panel bit and the bottom fills up with exhaust or shavings - drawers might not be the best use after you have run the shaper some

[William Shelley]

Wait until you run a raised panel bit and the bottom fills up with exhaust or shavings - drawers might not be the best use after you have run the shaper some

I think it'd be worth modifying the cabinet simply to improve dust collection, no?

[Yonak Hawkins]

I mounted my Craftsman shaper to an old dresser with drawers that I found at the dump. I put casters on it so I can roll it into the corner.

[Bill Dufour]

If nothing else put some cans of old nuts and bolts down there. I have several old motors as ballast in the riser base I made for my drill press. I cut a 6x6 hole in the side of my shaper base so I could reach the bottom of the spindle with a wrench without pulling the machine out from the wall.
B ill

[Robert Engel]

my concern would be air flow for the motor. If you use up more of the open space, there may not be enough volume of air flow around the motor.
I am not an expert on shapers, but in my experience a shaper is a stout souped up router. They need air and lots of it to stay cool.

this ^^^^^

[William Shelley]

Thanks for the feedback, folks. I think once I get a couple other projects knocked down, I will go ahead with this project. I have two sheets of kinda ratty looking 3/4 MDF that would probably be good to make the cabinet from, and would look nice once it's painted. I was inspired by this thread: http://www.owwm.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=87267

I like the idea of having front access to the spindle drawbar nut, instead of having to get into the machine from the back. So maybe a door at the front that also allows air to flow in and around the motor. I'll have to look at the motor mounting bracket, it may be possible to allow adjustment from the front side as well, so that the belt can be changed from the front too.

If the machine loses value because of the modifications, I guess I'll just have to accept that. I paid $400 for it on craigslist, and it's gone through several owners before me. I might end up keeping it for the long term, even if I upgrade to a bigger shaper. It seems most people with a shaper in their shop have more than one.

[Floyd Mah]

Besides the effect on airflow, there's also the possibility that your modifications can make the tool noiser, contributing to noise pollution.

If I really needed the extra space inside the cabinet, I would remove the panel and build a simple box and attach with magnets so that the original configuration can be restored easily. The other possibility would be a new panel to replace the original metal panel. This new panel can have a door to allow you to mount a recessed box inside the tool cavity, but isolate you from the guts of the interior.

[David Kumm]

It looks like the motor and quill are suspended by the cast iron top. Not the best design but more common now than using a base heavy enough to support the internals. If the top is the support, it still needs a base designed not to rack or twist when the spindle is turning with a cutter attached. It looks like the top and bottom have welded supports for that purpose. It would take a stout cabinet ( probably not mdf ) to ensure no vibration when shaping. Dave