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Router table or Shaper

4K views 21 replies 14 participants last post by  JCCLARK 
#1 ·
Which do you prefer router table or shaper? I bought a Summerfeld router table a while back and not sure if I like it still. I'm new to making doors with it and having a hard time trying to cope even on it. The fence has a pin at one end and the other adjustable with a knob to tighten it down. You square it up with a straight edge like a metal ruler off the bearing on a bit.

Really can't run a coping jig on it as the fence is not straight with the edges in the aluminum table. I've tried using a push block with a board attached to it. First door did not come out to bad but not good enough either. Remember your first one lol.
 

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#4 ·
Ymmv - you can get reasonably cheap cutter heads for smaller spindle shapers, but most of those have such small tables that you barely gain any advantage over a high HP router. I have an old delta shaper I love using, but it's only a marginal improvement over a good router table.

You already noticed one of the challenges - that the miter slot isn't really parallel to the fence ever. I don't know how to combat that personally, so I end up just placing the face of the fence slightly off-square so it doesn't drag as I run a miter gage for end-cuts on rail & stile joints. They work fine, but it's certainly funky.
 
#5 ·
You already noticed one of the challenges - that the miter slot isn't really parallel to the fence ever. I don't know how to combat that personally, so I end up just placing the face of the fence slightly off-square so it doesn't drag as I run a miter gage for end-cuts on rail & stile joints. They work fine, but it's certainly funky.
Forgive me if I'm missing something here, but I don't really understand the problem.

For the long edges, as stated it rides the bearing on the bit and the fence can be aligned flush, but at any angle, right?

For edge coping the ends of the rails, you use the miter gauge, right? I've always just used a sacrificial back up board on the miter gauge and set the end of the workpiece flush to the end of it (no fence contact).

I've never used a combination of fence and miter gauge at the same time. I've also never used a coping jig. I guess I just don't understand why a round bit spinning laterally would ever care about parallelism...
 
#6 ·
I'm amazed to see you guys recommending a router table over a shaper for cope and stick joinery."a Advantages and disadvantages"? Where are the disadvantages of a shaper with a 1 1/4
spindle that is designed for large cutters at slower speeds to make these cuts?With a power feed? Air ride coping jig?Shapers were designed for this work.More powerful ,accurate and faster for cope and stick.How can you consider a router equal for this?
 
#8 ·
Nick :I understand that completely and think it's a very wise choice for your use.Just can't believe the opinions of these guys when asked this question without any details.
I think they are comparing apples to oranges as far as shapers go and I still disagree. The question was on cope and stick joinery and the shaper is a far superior tool for that operation.
 
#12 ·
The question was on cope and stick joinery and the shaper is a far superior tool for that operation.
I took it different, I guess. I thought it was a general which do you prefer with a by-the-way about the specific joinery. I guess it's just in how you read it...

Yes - and I think that's where my challenge has been in the past. I don't want a rounded over corner on my workpiece by accidentally starting the cut too deep, but it is really hard to figure out how far out to place that sacrificial board / fence face to get it set right against my miter gauge.
I hog out most of the waste in several passes. When I'm down to the last pass, I grip down firmly, plunge cut the piece into the bearing and carefully climb cut it out. I shut the router off, put the piece back onto the bit for alignment and screw the scrap to the gauge. Since this edge hits the bearing precisely, all I ever do is manually align the workpiece to this edge.

Plunging and climb cutting this way probably aren't the safest things in the world, but on my equipment, this feels comfortable to me. Maybe not so on a little portable router table or a dinky miter gauge...
 
#10 ·
Im sure a shaper is the bees knees for making doors. If thats all you do...

Or if you have money/space to have both.

but for most weekend warriors, the router will be more flexible IMO.

I keep a feather board on the fence to hold it down and just push it though... a coping sled wouldnt be missed though... I generally use 6" stock, cope the ends, then rip it. when its 6" I find theres enough material to just index against the fence. Otherwise I have to use a push block.
 
#13 ·
I seem to have a problem with coping lately and not getting it straight even. Was thinking maybe a coping jig might be helpful. Now that I have this Somerfeld router table just don't seem to happy with it. I'm running a Triton 3 1/4 hp router under it. Nice thing with this router is I don't need the holder to raise and lower it as its built in to fine adjust it. I just don't like the fence being uneven as it hooks up.

Maybe I'll try a jig. Would love to have a shaper too.
 
#16 ·
Shaper. But that depends on the shaper. I have a Grizzly shaper I don't care for and is gathering rust and cob webs. Then I have a Northfield shaper which is one of the best investments I every made. You can buy shaper steel and cut and grind your own designs of molding or even copy some old obsolete molding you can't buy anymore. It has enough power you can run cabinet door panels in one pass and run panels all day without it overheating.
 
#18 ·
depends on your shop

For a home shop, without question... router in a table with a lift. I have 3 of them.

For a production shop making lots of cabinets with thicker material, doors, moldings,.... 3 HP shaper or larger.

I have a small 1 HP shaper, an old Craftsman, rarely used.
I set it up "permanently" with a glue joint cutter. If I were joining a lot of 3/4" boards, I'd use it way more.
 
#20 ·
I have both but do use the router table more now that I don't make cabinets and a lot of raised panel doors.

The shaper is much better for panel doors. For one the cutters are full sized. On the router they are smaller and don't look as nice. I used a router on a shaker style because it didn't require a raised panel.

If you don't have a good router lift, table and fence your going to chase the settings more and be far more frustrated dialing it in. You may not even notice slight slippage or flexing that gives you undesirable results.

Shaper cutters run slower because they have 3 knives and a larger diameter giving you a higher tip speed.

Some cuts on a router table can't be done on a shaper.

Al
 
#21 ·
I have two Grizzly shapers (G1035's) and three routers lifts. For your first purchase, I would recommend a router table with a lift for the following reasons.

There are far more router bit profiles available than shaper profiles, just look at any web sites that sell both.
The shapers are good for production edge profiling since the bits last considerably longer, but if you want to make a dado or groove in the middle of a board on a shaper you are out of luck.
Trying to make a "zero clearance" fence for a shaper is extremely difficult compared with a router table.
Shaper bits are considerably larger, and for me, a bit more intimidating.
The dust collection on my router tables are better (I use http://www.rockler.com/dust-bucket-dust-collection-for-router-tables ), on the shaper, the saw dust that falls through the table just sits in the base of the shaper.
There is no such thing as hand held shaping like there is with a router, so you will need to buy routers and router bits anyway.
 
#22 ·
This is an age old argument that will never have an agreement.
I have both and use both.
Most router lovers have never used a good shaper,
once I did, I prefer it to the router when possible.
For the same profile cut, a shaper is smoother, more powerful,
(less passes) and just more comfortable to feed.
 
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