Shaper Question.

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68
Location
Baltimore, Mary land
Well lets see... This might seem like a stupid question, but I have to ask it. My wife gave me a 1.5 horse power shaper from Grizzly (anniversary gift). I purchased a set of shaper cutters from Wood Craft online. The problem that I am having is, I'm not sure which way is up on the cutters. I have never used a shaper before.

I installed the raised panel cutter and tried shaping a piece of pine, only to have burning, smoking as if it was a very dull cutter.

I'm assuming the cutter is installed up side down, but I haven't changed it yet. I was just to frustrated to deal with it! Ugg!

Thanks,
George
 
Hi George, welcome to the family! :thumb:

No such thing as "Stupid Questions!"

Saying that, I do not have an answer for you, but I'm sure someone will be along soon that does,

Smoke and frustraions on a new cutter would seem to indicate that something is not right.....:dunno:

Got any pics of the offening tool :D

Cheers!
 
Raised panel cutters on shapers can be installed either way.

Cutter down, material goes under the cutter, fed right to left.

Cutter up, material is on top of cutter, fed left to right. [Shaper rotation is reversed]

I run mine with the material under the cutter, fed right to left.
 
No doubt it was upside down if it was smoking. You were burning off the wood :D instead of cutting it.

Two things come to mind. One, most (many??) shapers are reversible, so you maybe able to change the directions of the spindle for that cutter. If you talking raised panel cutter or some other large cutter, I want the cutter under the board away from my hands!!

As for the cutter, you want the cutting edge, the flat face to be turning toward the wood as you feed it in. Does that makes sense? Going to find a photo for show and tell.

rotation.jpg

Here is what is on my shaper. But notice the flat face of the cutter? That should be facing the wood as you feed it in. I am betting you have your facing away from the wood.

Jeff
Waiting on the wife to wake up so he can go make some noise in the shop
 
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"You were burning off the wood :D instead of cutting it. "



Yeah.. I turned the machine off Immediately.

"Two things come to mind. One, most (many??) shapers are reversible, so you maybe able to change the directions of the spindle for that cutter. If you talking raised panel cutter or some other large cutter, I want the cutter under the board away from my hands!!

As for the cutter, you want the cutting edge, the flat face to be turning toward the wood as you feed it in. Does that makes sense? Going to find a photo for show and tell."


OK.. On mine the cutting blade is facing opposite from your picture. It is a raised panel bit, HUGE! for me anyway... 5" across... ugg. So, I'll flip it and give that a try. I'll try reversing it first, but I will still flip it because it is set up to be on top of the wood. The reason is because I was using a shaper sled to push the stock through and didn't want to cut the sled (its metal).

Thanks...for everyones help and oh yeah... I'm new here... heh
George
 
Raised panel cutters on shapers can be installed either way.

Cutter down, material goes under the cutter, fed right to left.

Cutter up, material is on top of cutter, fed left to right. [Shaper rotation is reversed]

I run mine with the material under the cutter, fed right to left.

I'll try reversing the machine and see what happens...
 
Update...

Well, last night I gathered the courage to undergo another attempt at the shaper. Well, I tried the thing in reverse and to my amazement it worked!!!

So I decided to flip the cutter and give it a go in forward direction...

Plowed through 3/4 oak in one pass without hesitation... NICE!!!


:D :D :D :) :) :p Time to finish the built-in in the living room... (17 feet long... 22 doors to make....Ugg)
 
:clap: :clap: :clap: :congrats:

One of these days I'll probably experience your challenge! A shaper is on my want list (gotta figure out how to get it to the need list:p )
 
please note!.........if you reverse a shaper to where the spindle rotates clockwise the locking washer MUST be installed under the nut! if you fail to install the keyed washer the nut can loosen with use and the cutter can at best gall the spindle.....at worse come off:eek:
it`s good practice to always use the keyed washer when stacking the spindle.....tod
 
Locking nut...

Mine uses two nuts, one tightened onto the other. Is that what you are talking about? Now I'm freaked out...:eek: Is it going to fly off like a throwing star and profile everything in the room? :dunno:
 
Mine has two nuts also.

One left hand
One right hand



I've got a third nut running loose in the shop here also.:huh: :D :rofl:
 
george, i`m not familiar with your shaper........here`s what i`m talkin` about....
MVC-327S.JPG

MVC-328S.JPG

MVC-329S.JPG

if you run your shaper counterclockwise the locking washer isn`t really necessarry, it`s when you reverse the motor and spin the spindle backwards that the nut can loosen up.......it`ll make an awfull racket, vibrate and let you know something is wrong.....if you`re feeding wood into a cutter that has come loose the spindle will spin inside the bore of the cutter and make a mess of both the cutter and spindle......if you`re really unlucky....or ignore the signs of a loose nut the worse thing that could happen is the cutter come apart from the vibration and throw shrapnel......use common sense! anything spinning at 7-10k rpm that gets loose will cause damage whether its a router bit, shaper cutter or a sanding disc........tod
 
tod.

3hp and below don't have the locking washer.
2 nuts, L and R hand threads. One on top of the other
 
Shaft has 2 sets of threads. Upper portion is smaller in diameter.

Lower is R hand
Upper is L hand

Tighten lower against cutter, spacers.
Tighten upper against lower nut
 
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sorry folks:eek: ......i`ve never seen or used a shaper with the spindle configured like that.....there`s no reason it wouldn`t work to lock the nut...
 
No problem guys. :D


Hey. I have an Alien :eek: from Rosewell working in the shop at night. [Night shift]

Want a picture? :p :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :D
 
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