[Schultz]

Well I happened upon a Craigslist listing and ended up with a shaper. A grizzly 1026 with a power feeder and about 20 cutters that are mostly freshly sharpened. Only problem is I have never used one and don’t know anyone who has. was getting a dust collector and the shaper was a good enough deal I figured I’d give it a try and sell eventually if I doesn’t work out. Does anyone know of anywhere there is good basic info on using a shaper? I have used router tables but I can’t seem to find much in depth info.

 

[woodnthings]

There are several guys here with great shaper knowledge. I owned that same shaper briefly, but bartered it off for an awesome steel Mule Resonator guitar. Just remember that a shaper will only work the edges of the workpiece and can't plunge in like a router or router table. They are dangerous to even the most experienced woodworker, so watch as many You Tube videos as possible, but even better have an experienced operator give you some basic lessons on hold downs, feed direction and possibly getting a work "feeder". I still have a small 1/2" spindle shaper but it's rarely used as it's set up to make glue joints on 3/4" thick stock. Not a bad home shop size shaper in my opinion.

 

[Steve Neul]

Well I happened upon a Craigslist listing and ended up with a shaper. A grizzly 1026 with a power feeder and about 20 cutters that are mostly freshly sharpened. Only problem is I have never used one and don’t know anyone who has. was getting a dust collector and the shaper was a good enough deal I figured I’d give it a try and sell eventually if I doesn’t work out. Does anyone know of anywhere there is good basic info on using a shaper? I have used router tables but I can’t seem to find much in depth info.

What do you want to know?. I have a Grizzly 1026 shaper. It's the worst shaper I have ever run and almost got rid of it. I managed to set it up with cabinet door coping knives and just leave the machine for that.

Setting up a dust collector for a shaper doesn't work very well. The chips are so large it tends to stop up the hose unless you are using really small cutters similar to a router bit. There isn't much difference between running a shaper and a router table. Where you might have to make multiple cuts with a router you can usually do it in one with a shaper.

 

[Jar944_2]

This is the best general shaper video I've run across.

I'll disagree with Steve on dust collection, I have all of my shapers hooked up to DC, and don't have any issues with clogging.

I'll 2nd the what do you want to know.

 

[JohnGi]

If you don't know anything about shapers, the first thing you should know is this: they kick back. Insert heads kick back the least. The old 2 knife clamp heads kick back the most. The 3 wing cutters most popular today are somewhere in the middle. You can't just walk up to one and safely push a piece of wood through by hand. To get a smooth, safe cut requires at a minimum infeed and outfeed hold downs. Narrow pieces also require hold ins. Short, narrow pieces can be done with full length push boards wide enough to keep your hands back from the cut.

It's hard to see the cutter in this setup on a large shaper because of the guards around it. The spring loaded hold downs have brake rollers that turn easily in one direction but seize instantly in the other. Feather boards are good for this also.
You need to take these safety features very seriously, perhaps more seriously than those that came with the machine. Those may be ok for the simplest cuts on large pieces; but these are very versatile machines, and it's easy to find things to do with them that the factory accessories won't adapt to.

 

[Schultz]

Thank you guys. The video helped. I am going to try to run it some this week and I’m sure I will have some questions.

 

[B Coll]

Thank you guys. The video helped. I am going to try to run it some this week and I’m sure I will have some questions.

A shaper can be dangerous, please be careful. Avoid climb cutting until you really learn the machine. On shapers, climb cutting is feeding the stock in the direction of the cutter rotation and should never ever be done without a power feed. Usually for smaller cutters such as cabinet cope and stick. When you set up your power feed for a cut the pressure across the board should be firm and even. Power feeds are somewhat forgiving but you want all tires making equal contact. Also, the power feed should be tilted very, very slightly towards the fence to keep the stock firm against the fence. Even though your fence has locking nuts, it is a good idea to use wood blocks and clamps to back up and secure the fence from moving. I have a Delta spindle shaper and a 4 tire 1/2 hp power feed. I only have a 1hp piece of crap dust collector and it eats everything my shaper feeds it. I also found quality cutters make a difference. I do use inserts and a molding head rarely from time to time, but most of my cutters are Freeborn, a few Amana. Never hesitate to post a question here before you experiment. Sounds like you must have gotten a great deal. I usually advise against a spindle shaper due to costs people do not anticipate, such as power feeds and cutters. A good set of entry door cope and stick will run around $1,000.

 

[Shop_Rat]

Don't let anyone get you scared to death of your shaper. Respect the machine and pay attention to detail and it will turn out some nice edges for you. I do not have a power feeder on my delta, nor have I had the need for one (it might be nice). I carefully do infeed, outfeed and hold down setups for manual operation. Then I make a test cut or two and adjust things as needed. And finally I edge my project.

I would suggest to anyone not to climb cut at all unless they are very familiar with the technique and need a super fine finished edge. If the tool is sharp and the feed rate is correct, I find the difference in edge quality to be negligible. And rest assured, if you don't know what you're doing, you will very probably launch your workpiece clear across the room! That could be a best case scenario if things go wrong! Climb milling is one operation that does carry a significant a pucker factor.

 

[Rebelwork]

No reason to be scared to death, but they are dangerous. The one job I did not like to do at the cabinet shop was run crowns,

 

[Jar944_2]

I'll add that a good fence makes a huge difference. Assuming the grizzly is like the delta or powermatics its not great. If its like the larger grizzly shaper fences its awful.

Since you have a powerfeeder you can use a outboard fence and not have to deal with the factory fence issues for a lot of shaper tasks.

 

[woodnthings]

Don't let anyone get you scared to death of your shaper. Respect the machine and pay attention to detail and it will turn out some nice edges for you. I do not have a power feeder on my delta, nor have I had the need for one (it might be nice). I carefully do infeed, outfeed and hold down setups for manual operation. Then I make a test cut or two and adjust things as needed. And finally I edge my project.

I would suggest to anyone not to climb cut at all unless they are very familiar with the technique and need a super fine finished edge. If the tool is sharp and the feed rate is correct, I find the difference in edge quality to be negligible. And rest assured, if you don't know what you're doing, you will very probably launch your workpiece clear across the room! That could be a best case scenario if things go wrong! Climb milling is one operation that does carry a significant a pucker factor.

For the benefit of the newbies who don't know hat a "climb cut" is, that's when you feed the workpiece in the same direction as the cutter is rotating which causes it to "self feed" and take off at 100 MPH or more, UNLESS it's very well under control. And not with your feeding hand holding it at the end or you will lose somefingers. Even a climb cut on a router table must be done with a minimum depth of cut and push blocks or extended/longer workpiece jigs, even better. Always best to feed "into" the direction of cutter rotation" rather than "with" it.

 

[_Ogre]

Schultz, your a new guy. We have no idea of what you do or your skill level
Do you have a need for a shaper or just buy it to fill space in your shop?
Some people have the need, some people are just needy

 

[Schultz]

Schultz, your a new guy. We have no idea of what you do or your skill level
Do you have a need for a shaper or just buy it to fill space in your shop?
Some people have the need, some people are just needy

I have more need than want. I’m a general contractor but am working on my cabinets skills and Have several people wanting things like raised panel shutters that this will make easier I believe. I came across it while looking for a dust collector and it was cheap enough that I could see how I felt about it and get my money back if needed.

 

[_Ogre]

Sounds reasonable, just make sure a 3hp router table won't do what you need

 

[Jar944_2]

No reason to be scared to death, but they are dangerous. The one job I did not like to do at the cabinet shop was run crowns,

Crown (or really any full profile moulding on the face of a board) runs a lot nicer on a moulder than a shaper. Obvously the shaper will work but setup leaves a lot to be desired, even with a large stout shaper.

Sounds reasonable, just make sure a 3hp router table won't do what you need

Imho there isn't a good reason to downgrade to a router especially if you already have a shaper. The reason usually talked about is cost of shaper heads, but 40mm knives are cheaper than router bits. Brazed carbide is more expensive for shapers than routers but there are alternatives. There are some insert carbide heads that are relatively inexpensive.

 

[Schultz]

Crown (or really any full profile moulding on the face of a board) runs a lot nicer on a moulder than a shaper. Obvously the shaper will work but setup leaves a lot to be desired, even with a large stout shaper.



Imho there isn't a good reason to downgrade to a router especially if you already have a shaper. The reason usually talked about is cost of shaper heads, but 40mm knives are cheaper than router bits. Brazed carbide is more expensive for shapers than routers but there are alternatives. There are some insert carbide heads that are relatively inexpensive.

part of the reason I went with this used shaper. By the time I picked up a router and a lift I wouldn’t be right at the same price I paid. And I received all the cutter heads he had.