Front tilting shaper also rear tilting in a pinch?

I don't own a tilting shaper (yet), but have been doing some research and one of the topics that comes up regularly is the tilt direction.

What I've never seen suggested or cautioned against is...

In a pinch, could you rotate the fence 180 degrees and use a shaper from the backside - making a front tilt machine into a rear tilt machine?

There are shop layout, dust collection, on/off/height controls, fence alignment and other considerations - like on my Northfield the back mounted motor would be a pain to work around.

Might not be very practical, but would it work without damaging me, the machine, or the wood?

mark

I don't see why not, as long as the hardware has the strength to take the cut. I have not flipped the fence on mine (does not tilt) but I've done many internal shaping where I've cut 100 percent around the spindle without an issue before.

Martin, Invicta, SCM i assume a bunch of other euro manufacturers have fences that mount in the outer table ring and can be swung and locked into any position.

I have ready about tilting shapers and always thought they were cool. I can't remember EVER saying to myself; this would be so much easier if I only had a tilting shaper. I am sure some people can make good use of a tilting shaper, I just don't think I am one of those people.

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Originally Posted by Mark Balmer

I don't own a tilting shaper (yet), but have been doing some research and one of the topics that comes up regularly is the tilt direction.

What I've never seen suggested or cautioned against is...

In a pinch, could you rotate the fence 180 degrees and use a shaper from the backside - making a front tilt machine into a rear tilt machine?

There are shop layout, dust collection, on/off/height controls, fence alignment and other considerations - like on my Northfield the back mounted motor would be a pain to work around.

Might not be very practical, but would it work without damaging me, the machine, or the wood?

mark

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I have a SCM Ti145EP. the machine is designed so you can remove the fence for profile and install the fence for tennoning. its 90 deg rotate.

To have it rotated 180 deg, you will be working from the backside of the machine, there will be ducting, cabling... etc. sure its possible. but you will need quite a large working space, but there will be constraints and limitations, I am not sure if its worth the trouble.

I was in a 200 person shop one day auction time and asked the shaper operator of one of several shapers no tilt? His answer was its not needed we just make jigs. sure it takes some time and doesnt work for all stuff but most.

I have a Minimax T50 with a tilting spindle and sliding table. There have been a handful of times that the tilting spindle has saved the day and provided a way to accomplish a task that otherwise would have required purchasing more tooling.

I somehow ended up with 3 tilting shapers in my shop. The T26 tilts both ways and find I am tilting both ways about equally. The other 2 are vintage and tilt forward 45 and back 5 degrees. Those 2 have fences that swivel around 90 or 180. I have never tried that but could certainly work if the DC and feeder can accommodate it. There is not a safety concern with forward tilt if everything is set up carefully.

I find tilting goes in spurts for me and is usually millwork related. I do a lot of short run moulding work locally. Customers pay for the custom knife grind but sometimes it is quicker to just use existing knives tilted. The labor cost goes up this way though and take it job by job.

below is one example of reproducing 10 linear feet for moulding for a local historical house. This would have required 2 knife grinds. I have 40 years of collecting shaper knives and that helps.
Attachment 494225 Attachment 494226 Attachment 494227Attachment 494228Attachment 494229Attachment 494230

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Originally Posted by Mike Kees

I have a Minimax T50 with a tilting spindle and sliding table. There have been a handful of times that the tilting spindle has saved the day and provided a way to accomplish a task that otherwise would have required purchasing more tooling.

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I use tilt about 5% of the time, it sure saves money on tooling…..Regards, Rod