J.R. Rutter
10-04-2006, 12:21 PM
One of the side benefits of having a woodworking business and being a bit of a tool nut is being able to write off equipment. I just moved from my garage shop to a commercial space 7 months ago. Now I’ve got room to focus on efficiency, and after hiring some help, realized that equipment costs far less than labor.
This post is a bit of a gloat, I suppose, combined with a mini review. About a month ago, I was browsing for equipment on the big auction site while having my morning coffee. I came across a late model MiniMax T40N shaper for less than half of IWF show promo price. And it was in Seattle, less than 2 hours away. Before I was done with my coffee, I was the new owner.
It came with a manual, tools, standard fence, and tenoning hood. I believe it is the 4.8 HP motor, and the whole thing weighs about 400 lbs. Here it is on the day it got to my shop:
You can see one of the mildly disappointing features sitting right on top. The fence is a lightweight, hollow aluminum assembly instead of solid cast iron. Only one side is adjustable forward and backwards. That turns out to be less of an issue than I first thought, because for some reason the table attachments go right through what would normally be the adjustable portion. So basically, you need to do a lot of fiddling to get the fence adjusted. So that helped define its new role as a dedicated coping machine:
Another argument in favor of a dedicated setup is the fact that the spindle lock and speed adjustments are behind a door. Not a big deal except that you have to slide the handwheel off, unscrew a bolt handle (instead of a cam lock). The motor pivot is locked by tightening a lever-handled bolt. Then reverse it to button back up. The vertical adjustment seems to be greater per revolution than what I am used to.
Here is a shot inside that shows the spindle housing, motor and belt adjust lock. The assembly is fixed to the bottom of the table and the motor seems to be located at a good balance point. Adjustment is smooth, and the spindle runs with mimimal vibration, definitely less than the Powermatic #27 that I also use for coping. The #27 speed changes are definitely not a model of efficiency. They are meant to set and forget. The T40N is doing a great job.
This post is a bit of a gloat, I suppose, combined with a mini review. About a month ago, I was browsing for equipment on the big auction site while having my morning coffee. I came across a late model MiniMax T40N shaper for less than half of IWF show promo price. And it was in Seattle, less than 2 hours away. Before I was done with my coffee, I was the new owner.
It came with a manual, tools, standard fence, and tenoning hood. I believe it is the 4.8 HP motor, and the whole thing weighs about 400 lbs. Here it is on the day it got to my shop:
You can see one of the mildly disappointing features sitting right on top. The fence is a lightweight, hollow aluminum assembly instead of solid cast iron. Only one side is adjustable forward and backwards. That turns out to be less of an issue than I first thought, because for some reason the table attachments go right through what would normally be the adjustable portion. So basically, you need to do a lot of fiddling to get the fence adjusted. So that helped define its new role as a dedicated coping machine:
Another argument in favor of a dedicated setup is the fact that the spindle lock and speed adjustments are behind a door. Not a big deal except that you have to slide the handwheel off, unscrew a bolt handle (instead of a cam lock). The motor pivot is locked by tightening a lever-handled bolt. Then reverse it to button back up. The vertical adjustment seems to be greater per revolution than what I am used to.
Here is a shot inside that shows the spindle housing, motor and belt adjust lock. The assembly is fixed to the bottom of the table and the motor seems to be located at a good balance point. Adjustment is smooth, and the spindle runs with mimimal vibration, definitely less than the Powermatic #27 that I also use for coping. The #27 speed changes are definitely not a model of efficiency. They are meant to set and forget. The T40N is doing a great job.