Small Shaper?

[Matt Meiser]

All of the sudden there are several small light duty (http://www.owwm.com/photoindex/detail.aspx?id=7311) shapers for sale near me at reasonable prices. I'm wondering if these are still relavant in the world of modern routers? Is there anything they can do better than a modern router? Strikes against them include a 1/2" spindle (I see there are bushings to use 3/4" cutters) and low power, usual an old 1/2 or 3/4 HP motor which probably equates to 3/4 to 1 HP today.

[Mike Ruggeri]

For what it's worth, I would not buy one of those. I owned one of the small Delta's for a while but found it much better to just use a big router. in a table The small Delta just took up space in my shop and I got rid of it as I wasn't using it. I did like the small shaper for cutting some things like slots, but not enought to tell me to recommend it just for that purpose. Remember these have relatively small motors and small spindles and the early Deltas need shop build table build-up if you are using router bits.

This being said, I think some of the "medium duty" shapers with 1 1/2hp can be useful as they accept 3/4 inch spindles and will allow you to do things a router can't do. Also, these serve as a solid base for using router bits and don't require a special table to be added. I had a Delta "medium duty" before I got my Delta 3hp and it was a nice little shaper.

M

[Wade Lippman]

They are NOT router tables.
They are production machines. If you run a particular job all day long you can leave the cutter in it and run it 24/7 without wearing the machine out. (although with a 1/2hp motor and 1/2" spindle, it had better be a light duty job...)
If that is not your need, then they are pretty worthless.
BTDT

[Don Selke]

Hi Matt:

Being the serious woodworker that you are, A 1/2" spindel shaper as shown will not fit your needs. The table is very small and the HP is not adiquate for large bits. I have a 3hp shaper that I picked up at a very reasonable price from a estate sale with all the shaper cutters for a very reasonable price.
The only thing I have used it for is for raised panels and other work requiring a 2 to 3" cutter. I make two cuts for raised panels and it cuts like butter. The second cut is for dressing up the panel edge.

[David DeCristoforo]

These machines can be very useful if you have very light duty shaping needs. Small cutters are very economical alternatives to their larger counterparts and if you need to run a lot of small mouldings, the smaller shapers can really fit the bill especially if they are outfitted with a small feeder. The entire setup can often cost less than a large carbide cutter. If you had a number of small mouldings that you made on a consistent basis, several small shapers that could be left set up could be a great production aid. But, barring this kind of need, I would have to agree with Wade.

[Charlie Plesums]

My shaper is 5 hp, and I think that is just fine. However, one of the other local professional woodworkers made the argument, at our woodworking club, that the light to medium duty shapers had better motors, tables, and fences than the typical router table (especially if you believe that induction motors are better than universal motors). The club did a fairly detailed comparison, and raised a lot of interest in smaller shapers, which were often substantially less expensive than a good router with good table.

I am sticking with my 5 hp with 1 1/4 inch cutters, but there did seem to be a place for the 1 hp 3/4 inch shapers.

[Peter Quinn]

I'd say skip um. If you want a shaper for general use, get a bigger one. Its not that they are useless, but their use is limited. My Dad used to make small picture frame moldings and such on a 1HP shaper. He offered it to me, but I declined. Some have tables that can make be used to mount a router, so if the price was right you could get a great router table?

[Matt Meiser]

Thanks everyone. I think you confirmed what I really already knew in the back of my mind but I though I'd check anyway.