Jeff Horton
Member
- Messages
- 4,272
- Location
- The Heart of Dixie
I have been using my restored shaper on my most recent project and I have to say I am loving this thing! Tod, you were so right when you said they were handy tools!
I have only bought a few cutters and only used one set. The straight cutters. So far I have cut some rabbits with it. I find the fence a little annoying when setting the width of the cut. But the height adjustment is sooooo simple.
But where it is really shining is cutting all the frame and panel joints. Since this is Craftsman style they are just square edges. But what I love is that I can cut my tongues first. Then I remove the cutter, put on a spacer the same size as the bottom cutter, the small slot cutter and clamp it and I am ready to run. With the spacers I don't have to adjust the height, it's still set and ready to run.
I was really dreading do these cuts with the dado blades on the table saw because of the setup. Inevitably I will miss one part and then have to go through the set up again and probably never get it exactly right. With the shaper it's a 2 minute job. It take longer to find my wrenches and the cutter than to actually change it over.
What I did learn was the importance of some feather boards to keep the parts tight to the table. A feeder would be nice but I don't really see the need right now. My shop made feather boards work just lovely and whole lot cheaper
I have only bought a few cutters and only used one set. The straight cutters. So far I have cut some rabbits with it. I find the fence a little annoying when setting the width of the cut. But the height adjustment is sooooo simple.
But where it is really shining is cutting all the frame and panel joints. Since this is Craftsman style they are just square edges. But what I love is that I can cut my tongues first. Then I remove the cutter, put on a spacer the same size as the bottom cutter, the small slot cutter and clamp it and I am ready to run. With the spacers I don't have to adjust the height, it's still set and ready to run.
I was really dreading do these cuts with the dado blades on the table saw because of the setup. Inevitably I will miss one part and then have to go through the set up again and probably never get it exactly right. With the shaper it's a 2 minute job. It take longer to find my wrenches and the cutter than to actually change it over.
What I did learn was the importance of some feather boards to keep the parts tight to the table. A feeder would be nice but I don't really see the need right now. My shop made feather boards work just lovely and whole lot cheaper