WalkingFish Posted September 6, 2011 Report Share Posted September 6, 2011 I am considering the purchase of a shaper cutter and my friend said that I should just use my router in a table. My question is what are the pro and cons for Shaper and a router table Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwacker Posted September 6, 2011 Report Share Posted September 6, 2011 I think once youve owned a shaper you will never go back to just a router. Dont get me wrong id prefer to have both. The router is great for small stuff where it makes little sense to invest in a shaper cutter. Climb cutting is one great thing with a shaper and powerfeed. Shapers are quieter. Shapers cut cleaner. Its a bit of a different beast all together. Alot of folks claim that the cutters are to expensive but places like mlcs carry inexpensive cutters. Shapers also use multi profiles so a inexpensive round over cutter will get you a few different profiles. Many will also claim you should go 3hp or bigger. This is not really the case unless you are cutting your own large mouldings. A smaller unit like a griz 1.5 or 2hp is just fine for cabinet doors and the like and will out perform a 3 1/4 hp router any day of the week. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanWilley Posted September 6, 2011 Report Share Posted September 6, 2011 I have to agree with Don on this. I have owned two router tables for a number of years now and got along fine with them....until I got a shaper. It is just a small machine with a 2.5HP motor and a small table but the difference is staggering. They do cut so much cleeener! Cutters are not very expensive compared to router cutters and you can take bigger bites with a shaper. you can even have special cutters made to your own specs for a cost which is about the cost of a good router cutter. I still use both as Don and use the router table for small mouldings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onboard Posted September 7, 2011 Report Share Posted September 7, 2011 I am considering the purchase of a shaper cutter and my friend said that I should just use my router in a table. My question is what are the pro and cons for Shaper and a router table WF, you might also want to read this previous WTO forum post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcustoms Posted September 7, 2011 Report Share Posted September 7, 2011 I have had a shaper for a long time in my shop and as a result have only used my router table a few times since. My shaper is the Jet 1.5 hp model with 1/2" and 1/4" collet router adapters and I do use router bits it in more times than not because that is what I have on hand. I believe that you get a cleaner cut in less passes with a shaper. There is defiantly more power but the only draw back is that the RPM's are a lot lower than the top end of a router so that means that some smaller router bits do not spin at an adequate speed. They will still cut fine there just might not be enough speed to clear the chips. Dwacker is right even the smaller 1.5 hp shapers will out perform large routers. Another thing to consider is that a shaper might be the less expensive than a good router table set-up by the time you purchase the router motor, the lift, make or buy a good router table with a good fence. Plus you can not beat the cast iron table with the heavy duty fence that comes with a shaper. Hope this all helps. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.