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Thread: Power Feeder Mounting on a Shaper.

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
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    Providence, RI
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    517
    Mike, I am a complete amateur with a home basement shop. I saw a 1/4HP feeder on CL a little while back at a good price, brought it home, and then, like you, had to figure out how to mount it on the machines on which I might use it (tablesaw & router table for the moment). I had a left-over chunk of 8/4 white oak that I bolted the base onto & glued some 100 grit sand paper to the bottom. So far I have just clamped this base to one corner or another of the machine I'm using, and this has worked fine. It is a pleasure to be able to climb cut safely! This set-up probably would not be adequate for production runs or large, heavy timbers, but it works for furniture-sized projects and is easy to relocate. YMMV.

    The slowest speed my feeder is capable of is 13fpm, too fast for resawing, so it probably won't see any time on the bandsaw.

    -- Jim

    p.s. this is a good way to try out your feeder in different locations before committing to drilling your machine tables.
    Last edited by Jim Morgan; 12-07-2018 at 3:29 PM.

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Griswold Connecticut
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    James

    Thank you for the feedback.
    Being winter, and my shop unheated, I have some time to sort it out and try a few things. I think the slowest speed on the one I have is 9.5 ft/min. Right now it's set for 15ft/min. I don't do this for a living either, so it should be more than adequate for my needs.
    I see that you're in Providence. I bought the feeder from a gentleman in North Kingstown, a few miles north of 138 before it heads over the bridge to Newport. I've bought three items off CL from within a mile or two of the same location. Nice folks in that area.
    "The first thing you need to know, will likely be the last thing you learn." (Unknown)

  3. #18
    I dont think you'll have much luck retrofitting the feeder to a bandsaw for resawing but I will guarantee you the very first time you run the feeder your thoughts of hand feeding for one-offs will be over with. The ease, cut quality, reduction in operator fatigue, safety, on and on. You will want to put one on any and every tool that will be benefited by it. Its one of those thing that you will begin to look for any way to run a feeder operation as opposed to a hand fed operation.

    You'll see... Its a very good thing to have in the shop.

  4. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Cutler View Post
    Mark Bolton
    Yep, it's reversible.
    I've looked at the thickness of the table and I wouldn't be comfortable with tapped holes. I don't think there is sufficient table top thickness for the thread engagement of a 1/2" bolt. It would be through bolted.
    As an aside, it was actually your posts, and Martin Wassner's, in that thread a few months back, that convinced me to find a feeder and begin to use it.
    We put a feeder mount on our slider that has a web'd table and I too didnt feel comfortable with the tapped holes. I wound up drilling and tapping a piece of 1/2" plate we had laying around and I drilled and countersunk four 5/16" flat head machine screw locations with mating holes in the 1/2" plate so the flathead screws run through the cast iron table (in locations as not to interfere with the feeder mounts) and hold the plate tight to the underside of the web'd cast iron top. Then just bored clearance holes for the 1/2" bolts to attach the feeder (long bolts run through the table into the 1/2" plate below). We keep an impact with a 1/4" hex to 1/2" drive socket adapter and a 3/4" socket nearby because we pop the feeder on and off pretty regularly (which sucks).

    Ultimately I had seen a setup somewhere on the net where a guy inverted the column of his feeder (already have the work arounds for that drawn in cad) an mounted the column to a pier projecting down from the ceiling. That way when you dont need the feeder you just retract it 3" off the table and you dont have the column mounted to the table. We dont have room in our shop for multiple saws so we need to optimize. Havent gotten there yet.

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Bellingham, WA
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    1,933
    I have the Grizzly colored version of that feeder. It has a unique 45 degree connection to the feeder body that I think is easier to use if it is mounted back right, IIRC (it has been years since it was mounted to anything). But regardless, mock it up and see which side you prefer for ease of adjustments and clearances going from fence feeding to table feeding.

    All of my current feeders are mounted back right, FWIW.
    JR

  6. #21
    I'm sure I'll still do feeding by hand for the "one off" curved piece



    you need a spring hold down. Buy one or make one. I don't understand why gurus are all "safety this,that". "Don't wear a
    tie while using a machine.....yes,not even a bow tie!!" but mentions of hold downs are rare.

    Dont know what I did wrong .perhaps a Mod can patch this up
    Last edited by Mel Fulks; 12-07-2018 at 5:14 PM.

  7. #22
    Like Mel I have no issues with hand feed one off or on a custom piece and even enjoy it, its how we were taught. I have feeders for years and lots good about them. Ive had them mounted on low ceilngs twice before, both times on a large welded up thing that could slide from side to side. It worked very well as it was simple and easy to move, easier than the usual crappy things on the feeder and all I had to do was clamp it in place with a clamp. On the table saw I could rip any width more or less as there was never a column in the way

  8. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by Warren Lake View Post
    On the table saw I could rip any width more or less as there was never a column in the way
    Thats where I want to be. We use our saw as a combination panel saw, breakdown saw, and SLR. We dont have the room for all of them. A bit of my concern is the combined leverage of the column, the mast coming down from the ceiling, and losing the consistency of the feeder if the feeder were able to exert enough upward force to deflect. Im an overthinker. And all I can see is someone feeding something too thick and the feeder lifting the ceiling of my 4K sq foot shop off the ground and the building moves but the board stay still lol.

    Its a massive over thought but I have seen a few situations in my shop where someone has pulled a major bonehead maneuver and I am running from 40' away to get things shut down before all hell breaks loose. We have low ceilings (10'6") so the mast coming down from the ceiling would still be 5'+ long. The leverage of the feeder mast alone is massive. Add 5' to that moment.....yikes.

  9. #24
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    New England, in a town on the way to nowhere
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    537
    I uuse both sides as needed but mostly back right- that way if for some reason the tower or head knuckle is loose, the feeder will move away from the cutter. On the left corner, it will pull itself into the cutter

  10. #25
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Griswold Connecticut
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mel Fulks View Post
    I'm sure I'll still do feeding by hand for the "one off" curved piece

    You need a spring hold down. Buy one or make one. I don't understand why gurus are all "safety this,that". "Don't wear a
    tie while using a machine.....yes,not even a bow tie!!" but mentions of hold downs are rare.
    Mel
    No worries on the hold downs. I've used an assortment of them, mostly home made, as Shaw guards aren't really used much in the US.
    I used to have a stack of jigs I made through the years in the shop that I finally got rid of last year. Most had warped, or distorted, from just sitting in the environment. Some of those jigs I was actually more proud of, than the object they made.
    Lately I've been using the Feather Pro, feather boards. They're are nice and with a few extra bucks spent at the hardware store, you can stack them up.
    "The first thing you need to know, will likely be the last thing you learn." (Unknown)

  11. #26
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    Feb 2003
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    Quote Originally Posted by J.R. Rutter View Post
    I have the Grizzly colored version of that feeder. It has a unique 45 degree connection to the feeder body that I think is easier to use if it is mounted back right, IIRC (it has been years since it was mounted to anything). But regardless, mock it up and see which side you prefer for ease of adjustments and clearances going from fence feeding to table feeding.

    All of my current feeders are mounted back right, FWIW.
    That 45 degree knuckle does cause it to move in a weird plane.
    I won't put in a lifetime the amount of material through it, as you probably do in a few days. I'm hoping once I get it set up, I shouldn't have to adjust it to much.
    "The first thing you need to know, will likely be the last thing you learn." (Unknown)

  12. #27
    Thanks for the help ,Mike. They don't get enough ink!

  13. #28
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    May 2013
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Cutler View Post
    That 45 degree knuckle does cause it to move in a weird plane.
    I won't put in a lifetime the amount of material through it, as you probably do in a few days. I'm hoping once I get it set up, I shouldn't have to adjust it to much.
    I wish all my feeders had that knuckle, it makes the change over cake. You will be suprised how often you flip the feeder once you get used to feeding everything.

  14. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Wooden View Post
    I uuse both sides as needed but mostly back right- that way if for some reason the tower or head knuckle is loose, the feeder will move away from the cutter. On the left corner, it will pull itself into the cutter
    Unless you are using a back fence, then it's reversed as far as a loose feeder pulling into the cutter

  15. #30
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    Feb 2003
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mel Fulks View Post
    Thanks for the help ,Mike. They don't get enough ink!
    Are we referring to the Feather Pro's?
    They're nice. I like the fact that worst thing that can contact a blade is foam rubber, or maybe plastic. I had a wooden feather board end up rotating into a blade once. There were wood splinters flying everywhere!
    Are the Feather Pro's your design?
    Last edited by Mike Cutler; 12-07-2018 at 8:23 PM.
    "The first thing you need to know, will likely be the last thing you learn." (Unknown)

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