Shaper features

[Dave Norris]

Hello all,
My wife says I officially have $984 in my "tool fund", so I am in the market for a shaper! I'm looking at three right now that are in or around this price point. The Grizzly 3 hp, the Steel City 3 hp, and one from a company called "Accura", also a 3 hp.

http://www.accuramachinetools.com/shapers.html

I'm fortunate enough to live in between a Grizzly store and the Accura "home office" so I'll be able to see both of them in person. I'm hoping to find someone close by who has the Steel City machine so I can see it in person too. Does anyone know of any other machines around this price to look at? The "fund" goes up every two weeks, so the longer I wait, the more I can I guess.

So, my main question is... what features should I be looking for specifically? I know a smoothly operating fence, nice size table, etc. Are there other specific things the machine should have to make it more usable?

Thanks for any thoughts!

[Randy Dutkiewicz]

Go ahead with the Grizzly. That is a great shaper! Also, I would seriously invest in a power feeder when using the shaper (of course the tool fund would need to increase about another 500 bucks for it, but will save those precious little things called "fingers").;)

[J.R. Rutter]

I would start looking for a used machine. With the stress on domestic furniture and cabinet production, there are lots of late model machines coming onto the market. Keeping an eye on ExFactory will give you an idea of what is out there, and basic internet searches on specific models will often turn up similar machines for less money.

I like everything about my MiniMax T40N except the fence, which isn't very adjustable. They run much smoother than my Powermatic, and have a smaller footprint.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Dave, I would rank them in order from best to worst as follows

Steel city, the shaper isn't any better than the General International, however the fence is better

General International, nice machine, large table, full assortment of spindle sizes, fence not as nice as the Steel City

Grizzly, neither shaper or fence were as nice as the SC or GI product.

Table size is important as it allows better use of jigs, also remember that many cutters are in the 100 to 125mm diameter range, so that eats up a bit of table space as well.

3HP is plenty of power for home use, a power feeder is a great addition, however it's not absolutely required.

If you can find second hand cutters in your neighbourhood, they are often 1 1/4" diameter bore, so a 1 1/4" spindle option can be useful.

I often use a cutter head with HSS knives instead of carbide tooling, it has great surface finish and is cost effective, although for solid wood only.

You will find a shaper to be a great addition to your shop.

Regards, Rod.

[Brad Shipton]

I think you should look for a used one too. Have you priced out many cutters? The cost of the shaper is little in comparsion to what you can rack up in cutters. If you want a power feeder try to get a fairly heavy shaper. I mounted a 3/4hp PF to my old 3hp 3/4" spindle shaper and it got very light on its feet depending where the PF was. Look carefully at the fence. The old GI I purchased pretty much came with an unusable fence. The split fence may seem nice, but really, how many use a shaper for jointing stock? Those wonderful looking hold down clamps are useless in comparison to mag switchs or feather boards, but that may only be the GI versions. It looks great, but after trying them I put the stock fence and hold downs in a box. I ended up building a wood fence for my old shaper.

Brad

Brad

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Brad, when making mouldings or cutting the stick profile for rail/stile doors I always remove the entire edge, so the split fence in those situations is a must.

You're correct about other applications, I normally back the sacrificial fence into the cutter to make a zero clearance fence, so the fence isn't a split application in that case.

Carbide cutters are expensive, however if you're working in solids, the HSS knives work great, and they are less than $20 for a pair.

Regards, Rod.

[Brad Shipton]

Rod, you must have an insert head. Which one have you found that offers the most profile options? I have not bought one cutter for the shaper that is $20. Usually the ones I find are more like $300 - $1,300. I have bought LRH, Garniga, Weinig and Felder's. Why remove 1/2 the fence? I could never get the stock fence to work. It would always catch on the outfeed and mess up the profile, but the one I made worked good for interior doors and cabinet doors.

Brad

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Brad, CMT have a 40mm and a 50mm wide cutterhead with aproximately 100 profiles of knives.

I don't have their cutterhead, I have a 100 mm steel head that takes the same knives. There seem to be several manufacturers of the same knives, and they are typically less than $20 per pair.

regards, Rod.

P.S. Felder, General and Dimar also sell the knives/cutterheads....Rod.