wood shaper tables

[trophyhunter]

I have been looking at wood shaping tables, and am new with this type of machinery. I am wanting to make raised panel doors and wanted to know what brand/type of machine does the average person look for. I didn't want to over kill, what horse power would I be looking for. I have seen various ratings on different machines and of course the one selling the machine has the best one. I would appreciate any help from someone who has one. Thanks.

[ImNo]

Welcome a "board" Brack.

Although I have a shaper, unless the panels are cathedral or arched, (requiring a follower bearing) I would typically create them by using a vertical panel raising bit in a table mounted router.

Before the advent of EVS on routers, the (my) shapers saving grace was the fact that it ran much slower than the typical 10,000 rpm router. And an acceptably priced variety of profile cutters for smaller shapers (5/8" bore) seems to be on the decline also.

[jasfrank]

I had a powermatic #26 shaper, 3/4 spindle, 3 HP, with a power feed on it and that could handle a pretty wide panel raiser. I traded it for a unisaw with a router mounted up in it. If you're set on a shaper, I would recommend getting a 3/4 spindle and the 3HP. Just about any good name brand would work fine. Tooling is higher priced for shapers than routers, but it is like comparing volkswagons to caddilacs. I guess they both get you there. Depends how you want to arrive.

[trophyhunter]

Thanks for your reply. I originally was looking at routers and I was told that the routers do not have the power to do raised panel doors. If this is true, I don't know because I am new at this type of work. I do have a very good router table and I have a Craftsman router but it is 1 1/2 horse. What router have you used and had good luck with this type of work? Thanks.Brack

[jasfrank]

Any router up around 3 HP will do fine. I use a porter cable fixed base.

[fshrmn43]

I have the PC 7518 3 1/4 hp and you can rout any damn thing you want to, raised panel to crown molding. I`d recommend the router table over the shaper cause I think it`s more versitle and probably the cutters are cheaper, also.

[JCCLARK]

Well I bought my shaper mainly for the raised panel advantage.
I have a router table, actually 2 of them and they serve me well.
But they don't compare to my shaper.
With a shaper you can get a smoother surface all in one pass.
Running the panel on the flat instead of vertical is so much
more stable, it lessens the chance of chatter marks.
Plus the shaper just feels so much better than the router does
with the larger bits. It's just more comfortable, smoother
and easier. I'll never do raised panels on the router again.
If you get a shaper get at least a 3hp one, this is one tool
that needs all the power you can get. Raised panels hog out
a lot of material. A 3hp router pulls about 15 amps, or so.
My 3hp shaper pulls 36 amps. It is more than twice the power
of the router. A true 3hp will be 220 volt.




Jim C.

[Deaner77]

http://wttool.com/p/2800-0455

Is the above machine very underpowered, and or not recommended? I (well, alright...my wife) would like us to purchase a shaper for making crown moulding. Does anyone have any experience with the thickness planer/moulder machine combos?

Dean

[Postman]

I have a 3 HP Porter Cable table mounted router and a 3 HP Powermatic shaper. Ditto to JCCLARK's comments.

[cabinetman]

Deaner77
Yup. I used to have a Woodmaster, similar to a Foley Belsaw. It was very easy to set up and operate. It's basically made like a planer, but you can take out the drum and replace it with a moulding head, sanding drum, see link. Had an infinite infeed speed control motor (separate) you could slow down infeed and wind up with little or no sanding. Can have custom profiles made with counterweights or select from a variety from mfg. Good machine. Be patient and you might find one for less than $500.00. Probably my old one!

http://www.woodmastertools.com
:)
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