New toy (Felder F 700 Z shaper) and question for fellow shaper owners

[Bryan Hunt]

I finally got my Felder F 700 Z shaper. I've run a couple of boards through it, and so far, I absolutely love it.

A question for fellow shaper owners - what feed rate do you typically use on your power feeder? It looks like I have a choice between 4, 8, 11, and 22 meters / minute. I've been running 8 and it seems to do fine, but I'm wondering if I should be going with a faster feed rate.

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[David Zaret]

I finally got my Felder F 700 Z shaper. I've run a couple of boards through it, and so far, I absolutely love it.

A question for fellow shaper owners - what feed rate do you typically use on your power feeder? It looks like I have a choice between 4, 8, 11, and 22 meters / minute. I've been running 8 and it seems to do fine, but I'm wondering if I should be going with a faster feed rate.

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i don't know your particular machine, but on mine, it depends on the cutter, and material i'm cutting. if i'm doing a 2 1/4" exterior door sticking cut in a single pass on hard maple, i actually speed it up a little so it doesn't burn. if i'm making cabinet doors in walnut, i slow it down so that the quality of cut is so high i barely have to touch it in the finishing room. some cutters are smoother and sharper than others, so it's a case-by-case basis.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Bryan, that’s a nice shaper.

That’s an 8 speed feeder, 4 via gears coupled with a 2 speed electric motor.

As David indicated it depends upon the material, the number of knives in the cutter and the spindle RPM.

If you run the feed too slow, the chip thickness is too small and burning can occur.

Too fast a feed rate and you can overload the motor and produce a poor surface finish.

Have fun with the machine, shapers are the most versatile machines in the shop.

What spindles did you get?

Regards, Rod.

[Bryan Hunt]

I got a 1 - 1/4" spindle and the router spindle that uses ER25 collets.

I'm a bit confused on the speeds. The chart on the side says it uses 4 gears, but when you take the cover off, there are only two gears. It came with two gears in a bag, but I thought they were spares and it is not obvious how I would install them. Maybe I need to take a closer look.

[Bill Dufour]

You probably only need 1/4, (maybe 3/8) and 1/2 collets. No need to buy a full set unless you plan to buy a bunch of endmills and use those. Possibly 1/8"
Bill D

[Larry Edgerton]

I got a 1 - 1/4" spindle and the router spindle that uses ER25 collets.

I'm a bit confused on the speeds. The chart on the side says it uses 4 gears, but when you take the cover off, there are only two gears. It came with two gears in a bag, but I thought they were spares and it is not obvious how I would install them. Maybe I need to take a closer look.

Two gears are a set, and there are two sets. By reversing the gears in a set it gives you a different speed. So two sets each producing two speed equals four.

I install them in a medium speed and use the motor speed to change slower/faster and that works for all but rare situations.

[Jared Sankovich]

I'm usually between 20 and 35 feet per minute depending on what I'm running. I can't say exactly as I tweak the speed based on the sound and finished cut.

[brent stanley]

I normally do what Jared does too. Was a time when I used to do chip loading calculations and all that jazz, but now that I have done that a bunch I just make sure the machine settings are to manufacturers specs and I'm not asking too much of the machine and then go by sound and feel to dial in the surface finish needed. No need for a glass smooth finish for a surface that will never be seen so the speed can be turned up to something faster but safe. The VS is a very nice feature that can quickly adjust feed speed to what sounds right.

B

[Rod Sheridan]

I got a 1 - 1/4" spindle and the router spindle that uses ER25 collets.

I'm a bit confused on the speeds. The chart on the side says it uses 4 gears, but when you take the cover off, there are only two gears. It came with two gears in a bag, but I thought they were spares and it is not obvious how I would install them. Maybe I need to take a closer look.

They are the other pair of gears giving you A, B, C and D number of teeth

If you put A on the drive shaft, B on the output shaft you get one speed, reverse that pair and you get a different speed.

Same for pair C/D.

Couple the above 4 ratios with a 2 speed motor and you have 8 feed speeds.

Regards, Rod

[Warren Lake]

different cutter heads, different cuts, different materials. Run it by hand then you can tell what is going on then match that with your feeder. I dont buy into the fast as you can. Its not a race and best cut has saved me time in other steps.

[Larry Edgerton]

different cutter heads, different cuts, different materials. Run it by hand then you can tell what is going on then match that with your feeder. I dont buy into the fast as you can. Its not a race and best cut has saved me time in other steps.

I agree. If I was doing thousands of feet I would but most runs for me are a couple hundred feet. Slower is less sanding except for woods like cherry that like to burn. Its custom work, not production.

[William Hodge]

I run window 5/8" x 1 1/8" x 7" long muntins over a 1 1/4" bore 4" molding head, I use a baby feeder and run it slow. 7 feet per minute. It's Sapele, and the cutters are sharp. I don't get burning. The wheels are close together on the little Grizzely feeder, so the muntins don't lose wheel contact.

[Warren Lake]

I like hand feeding.

[Rod Sheridan]

I like hand feeding.

Sounds great until you need to make flooring😎

Regards, rod

[Mike Wilkins]

Nice shaper; especially the fence upgrade and feeder. Both would be a sweet upgrade on my Hammer F3.
As for proper speeds for your cutters; material choice, tooling diameter all play a role in selecting the proper speed, as well as the rating printed on the cutter head itself.