Aftermarket Shaper Hoods?

[Mike Waddell]

Good evening, everyone -

I am considering purchasing an upgraded shaper hood and am interested in alternatives from both the manufacturer of the shaper that I use and also from any aftermarket makers that are out there.

Do any of you know of aftermarket manufacturers of shaper hoods that I can look into?

Thanks in advance!

Mike

[Chris Rosenberger]

Mike,
What is a shaper hood?
Chris

[Mike Waddell]

Hi Chris -

It is the shroud that goes over the "spinning blades of death" that are the shaper tooling. Generally, the hood will have an integral fence or the ability to attach such a fence, and will also provide dust/chip collection as well as hold downs to stabilize wood passing in front of the shaper tooling.

Sorry that I wasn't extremely clear in my post.

Mike

[Rick Lizek]

You should tell folks what kind of shaper you have. You might have a better fence than you realize.

I'm involved with tools and machinery professionally and have never seen any after market shaper "hoods". You can purchase another companies hood, actually it would called the fence, and adapt it to your machine. Martins "Aigner" line of accessories has shaper accessories...
http://www.martin-usa.com/t_aigner.asp It's designed for their fence system but can be adapted for other fences with some work. Some pretty nice ideas.

[Steve Jenkins]

go to the link that Rick posted and scroll down to the "bowmouldmaster". You will have to drill and tap a couple new holes in your table top to mount it.
Aigner has some really neat products. Their extension tables can be fitted to anything. I mounted rails on my shaper and my bandsaw so I can use the extensions off the front or side.

[Mike Waddell]

Hi Rick -

Thanks for the reply. I've seen the Aigner link on Martin's site, but haven't seen that they have a hood (excuse my terminology) other than the BowMoulder, which is great for curved work but it doesn't look like you can attach a fence to it (correct me on this one... I'm not that sure).

I actually ordered the Aigner 500mm integrated fence system after seeing it at a recent shaper seminar that Sam Blasco (another Creek member) recently had. Beautiful work there by Aigner.

Thanks also for the tip to let people know the shaper I am using. I have a Minimax CU300Smart and am currently using the shaper hood provided by Minimax. When I saw Sam's setup that included a much nicer hood (also from Minimax, but for the larger 410 Elite S combo that Sam uses) I became interested in upgrading.

I'm looking into using an upgraded unit provided by Minimax, but thought I'd check out other options to see what was out there.

Thanks again, Rick!

Mike

[Jim Becker]

I've seen the Aigner in Steve's shop and it's a beefy and kewel product. They really thought things out. Aigner products should work just fine with your MM equipment and are a valid alternative to compare to the "native" accessories, which may or may not be third party in some cases, anyway. (The Euro guard for the Jointer table, for example, is a third party product. Worth having, too... ;) )

[Mike Waddell]

Hi Jim -

I purchased the Euro Guard also and find that I don't use it very often. Not that it doesn't work or is hard to set up, I just am a little thick headed on that safety addition for some reason. I promise to do better!

[Mike Waddell]

Steve -

I REALLY like the Aigner stuff too. I take it from Jim's post that you have the Bowmouldmaster? Do you also use it for straight boards in addition to curved work?

I didn't realize that you could do that if you indeed use it that way. Did you have to purchase any other Aigner products to allow you to attach a straight fence to the unit? Did you go with the Aigner fence with "fingers" or something else?

Can you tell I love this stuff?

Thanks in advance again!

Mike