Shaper Gloat...

[Eric DeSilva]

...just picked this up today off CL. 2 mo. old, looks new, runs well. JET JWS-25CS 220V 3hp shaper for $700. Had to take off the cast iron table extension and its still on the appliance dolly, but have to figure out where to put it first...

94892

This should come in handy for some rail and stile cabinet doors I've gotta build.

Current project is Adirondack chairs based on a template. Any reason not to use this puppy to run a 1" template bit on a 1/2" shaft? It came with shafts for both 1/4" and 1/2" router bits...

[Russ Massery]

Wow! congrats great find. A shaper will only run the larger 3" router with any great results. Not enough speed for the smaller ones.

[Bruce Page]

They NEVER have deals like that on our local Craigslist!

Nice score http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/icons/icon14.gif

[Mike Heidrick]

What about running a straight shaper cutter and bearing for your pattern work.

Pick up the two shaper books next! Lonnie's The Shaper Book and Cliffe's Shaper handbook. Cheap at $29.74 for the pair on amazon.

[Dick Sylvan]

Not enough speed for the smaller ones.
Another woodworking old wives tale. I have run lots of small bit molding with router bits on a small shaper and never had any problem. I don't know where this idea comes from.

[Ron Bontz]

Please correct me if I am wrong but it is my understanding it comes down to cuts per inch. This then boils down to feed rate as well as RPMs and the number of cutter flutes. I personally use my router table instead of my X5 for dado cutting and smaller bits. I am more comfortable that way. Either way congrats on the shaper. Pretty good deal. They do come in handy. :)

[Jim Becker]

Great find!! Congratulations!

[Peter Quinn]

Very nice find. Your going to love it. If you don't have experience with a shaper please proceed with caution and learn to use it. It has a lot more power and is a lot less forgiving of mistakes than a router. Start looking for a power feed too. I think I'd rather do pattern work on a shaper with a proper shaper cutter and a rub collar than use router bits. You can try it to get started, but I'd bet that once you set that machine up with a shaper cutter you'll never want to go back to router bits again. Byrd and Grizzly both have shelix type heads for the shaper if you have some tough grain to deal with.

As for cope and stick work...no contest. The first time I used a shaper for doors was the last time I made a door with a router!

[Charlie Plesums]

I wondered what I was going to do with the 5 hp shaper in my combo machine, but I had to get rid of the router table to make room, so it is now my router table. The 9000 rpm works fine down to about a 1/4 inch roundover bit; anything smaller I switch back to the hand-held router.

Now that I have the shaper, and have invested in some good cutters, I am considering getting a second shaper... once you experience the power and precision there are lots of new opportunities. For example, I recently bought a shelix head with guide bearing to use for pattern routing... FAR better than router bits, even 1 inch bits in the shaper.

A router bit designer warned me about the "slow" 9000 rpm on normal router bits... I, too, made the argument about "just feed slower." He pointed out that the cooling of the cutter worked by the chips carrying the heat away, and with the slower speed, the chips wouldn't be thrown as well. Therefore watch out for burning with the slower speed and slower feed rate. (I haven't had a problem, but I watch for it, or for cutters getting hot).

[Eric DeSilva]

Well, I got it off the dolly and moved it into position, which seemed to require rearranging half my shop. Still need to get a more convenient 220V outlet and the DC hooked up. (Now feeling like I really ought to revamp all the piping for the cyclone, since things seem to be different that originally envisioned... it never ends). Cleaned it up a little (spots on table, but cleaned w/degreaser, steel wool, and re-waxed).

Charlie-where did you pick up your shelix cutter w/the guide bearing? That may be high on my list of accessories.

[Rafael Carias]

Awesome steal bud, congrats. you're going to love that shaper, like other have said proceed with caution. One thing you can do to great enhance safety is getting your self a feeder, also getting acquainted with your new tool's quirks and will also help you and build confidence

[Charlie Plesums]

...
Charlie-where did you pick up your shelix cutter w/the guide bearing? That may be high on my list of accessories.

The Shelix heads are made by Byrd tool, www.byrdtool.com Their web site is not intuitive... it took me quite a few clicks to find the page I ordered from - http://www.byrdtool.com/SHELIX%20shaper.html . Be sure to check your height under nut - I debated between 2 and 3 inch, chose 2 inch, and by the time I added the bearing realized it was a lucky choice - I didn't have room for a 3 inch high cutter plus rub ring plus spacers, etc.

Also don't believe Byrd's claim that they ship the same day... I called to see if the one I wanted was in stock... I figured if it shipped that day I would be able to use it over the weekend. The person who knew whether it was in stock would be back in an hour. Okay, called again, yes it was in stock... here is my credit card number. Okay, where can we fax the order confirmation. How about email. Okay, an hour later I get the email that says sign here to confirm we got the order right before we process the order. Okay, fired the approval back. No response, so I called the next morning... yes we got your approval yesterday ... we should be able to ship it today (so the cutter arrived on Monday instead of Friday)

The good rub rings/bearings are expensive. Fortunately I already had one the right diameter as part of my raised panel set from DeHart tool. But Byrd sells them also (not on the web site). You need the bearing for pattern "routing" but if you are just doing straight work (like a jointer) you can use the fence without the bearing.

[Peter Quinn]

Well, I got it off the dolly and moved it into position, which seemed to require rearranging half my shop. Still need to get a more convenient 220V outlet and the DC hooked up. (Now feeling like I really ought to revamp all the piping for the cyclone, since things seem to be different that originally envisioned... it never ends). Cleaned it up a little (spots on table, but cleaned w/degreaser, steel wool, and re-waxed).

Charlie-where did you pick up your shelix cutter w/the guide bearing? That may be high on my list of accessories.

Grizzly has a shelix head on offer. At work I use a big Amana (not a shelix) with a slight shear angle that works pretty well, significantly cheaper than a shelix head.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/H2875

[Charlie Plesums]

Grizzly has a shelix head on offer. At work I use a big Amana (not a shelix) with a slight shear angle that works pretty well, significantly cheaper than a shelix head.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/H2875

Peter, you are right that Grizzly now offers Shelix cutter heads for jointers, in addition to their spiral cutter heads (no shear angle).

The H2875 is a spiral cutter, not Shelix, for $159.95. I paid $140 for the real Shelix head, direct from Byrd. As I mentioned, their web needs help, but their cutter is superb. I could not find any Shelix shaper heads from Grizzly.