woodworkers advise: router table vs shaper

[78scotts]

I am slowly getting into wood working and am in the market for a router/table. I won't be doing anything huge like kitchen cabinets or anything. More just hobby things benches, signs, maybe a table or two. I ran across a grizzly shaper. I think it would cost about the same to get a router and table as it would for this shaper. Which way would you go? Heres the link to the shaper.

https://stcloud.craigslist.org/tls/5154774561.html

 

[dave*99]

Here is some general advice. I have a shaper and 5 routers. If you do woodworking, one way or another you will want a router. Interchangeability is nice. I have 2 Porter Cable 690 router motors and a Plunge base, D-Handle base and standard 2 handle fixed base.

I have a horizontal router table that is rather simple and very useful. Look up plans on the web, they are not hard to build. I think I bought the hardware in a kit from a magazine. I do some nice tenon spline mortise joints with it among other things.

If you have a table saw, there are ways to mount a router in the saw table and use the saw fence. Lots of examples on the web.

As for the shaper, while you can put a router bit in a collet, I usually only use the shaper for bigger heavy cutters. Panel raising cutters etc. Stile and Rail cutters. The cutters are expensive too.

 

[buddyboy]

in the olden times one of the first projects for an apprentice woodworker would be to build his workbench.

nothing wrong with buying a table all ready to go, but I find I learn a lot from doing.

my advice is to buy a good router and make your own table.

I see those ads on craigslist for shapers all the time too... I'm tempted but then I think how often would I really use one

good luck

 

[Jon_E]

Had a shaper. Really beautiful 1950's vintage Walker-Turner with a boatload of cutters. The thing was mint. I sold it 'cause in the five or six years I owned it, I used it once. Conversely, I used my 2-hp Bosch router, mounted in the extension wing of my table saw, all the time. The shaper just wasn't useful to me. It was nice as a vintage machine, pretty to look at, but utterly a waste of space in my shop. I would say that, unless you are in the business of doing a lot of repetitive cutting, or complex shapes, don't bother with the shaper. Building an entire kitchen full of raised panels? OK, shaper, but 99% of it can probably be done with a router too.

 

[Jackfre]

I'd suggest for hobby work that you get at least a 2hp router with a good lift mechanism and make your own router table. I used 3/4" plywood and got a router plate from Lee Valley. I also installed the track for my table saw miter gauge. I did a formica top with maple edging. As well, if you build not just the top but a cabinet you can also add dust collection and drawers for your 1/4 & 1/2" bits.
Shapers are the real deal. They are a pro level item. Bit sets will be $ and less option than router bits. I'd do the router table project. Not buying the table and building your own will save you some money...that you can spend on a higher quality router and bits.
I'v run a 3.5 hp Porter cable in my old table. I was able to do raised panel doors with it with no problem. I have to build a new table myself as I did not move my old one from east coast to west. Now that I am in the shop....

 

[transplant_wi]

I built a router mount into the side table of my tablesaw and use the fence with it. Works great. I have built many cabinet doors using this setup.

 

[rsanter]

Get a shaper and never look back.
You may still need a router but a shaper is a great tool.
I have two of the bench top DELTA shapers and they are great to have. Adjusting them is easier and more precise than a router table

Uses
Routing edges
Profiling from a pattern
Edging
Rabbits
Etc

Bob

 

[rcktsled]

Shaper cutters are $$$.

 

[KenC]

Grab the shaper! I have one and really like it. Much quieter than a router and runs bigger bits. With the router adapter you can also run router bits but they require a slower speed since the shaper turns at about 1/2 router speed. That really helps when working with cherry or similar woods that burn easily.

With that and a small handheld router you will be set.

 

[Firebird 1]

I have a large, commercial grade delta shaper, and an old craftsman shaper. I used to do a lot of custom cabinet work. I keep one set up for panel raising and another for rails and stiles. That is about all I use them for other than stacking stuff. For a weekend hobbyist I would recommend a GOOD router. I also have half a dozen routers and use most of them quite often.

 

[Zeke]

Shapers are good for the bigger stuff, as mentioned. If you get a shaper and are cutting stiles, rails and/or raised panels, you probably should be thinking about a power feeder. Things can get out of hand (literally) in an instant. I mean so fast you won't even know which way it went. Just start looking for something new sticking out of the wall.

 

[tomd]

I fully agree with post #2.

Router first.

 

[Ross/Kzoo]

I have that same shaper. Runs very smooth and is a nice unit. I get my shaper cutters at MLCS. You can't beat their prices.

http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/smarthtml/pages/shaper_rail_and_stile.html

 

[78scotts]

Thanks guys. I think I will take the majority advise and get a decent router and build my own table.

 

[EricP]

I bought a router and then a shaper. The router is seldom used these days. Routers are great for hand held operations and nibbling small profiles, but a shaper can do everything a table mounted router can and a lot more. Start up costs aren't all that different and a used Delta or Powermatic can be had for close to the price of a new router, lift, table, and fence, maybe less. Shaper tooling is more expensive than router bits but you can add one cutter at a time for the job at hand. Over time your cutter library will grow. If you plan to use the router in a hand-held fashion, for example mortises or dove tail joints, by all means start with the router. If you want a stationary surface to work on and plan on feeding stock to profile then I'd go the shaper route.

 

[Ross/Kzoo]

I bought a router and then a shaper. The router is seldom used these days. Routers are great for hand held operations and nibbling small profiles, but a shaper can do everything a table mounted router can and a lot more. Start up costs aren't all that different and a used Delta or Powermatic can be had for close to the price of a new router, lift, table, and fence, maybe less. Shaper tooling is more expensive than router bits but you can add one cutter at a time for the job at hand. Over time your cutter library will grow. If you plan to use the router in a hand-held fashion, for example mortises or dove tail joints, by all means start with the router. If you want a stationary surface to work on and plan on feeding stock to profile then I'd go the shaper route.

That's a good summary, I agree.

 

[EricP]

I put my shaper to work a couple weeks ago making the ship lap boards for my shop walls. This may be a bit more than what 78scotts has in mind but then again when I bought my shaper I didn't have this project in mind. I don't think I would have enjoyed the task so much using a router even though I'm not taking off that much wood. There's an Oliver 287 shaper in the back of the pic but it needs some work. I bought it from a guy who went to a gov auction to buy a Cray supercomputer but came home with the shaper when nobody wanted it. Once restored it will take over the duties I give the PM26.

 

[drwheels]

I am slowly getting into wood working and am in the market for a router/table. I won't be doing anything huge like kitchen cabinets or anything. More just hobby things benches, signs, maybe a table or two. I ran across a grizzly shaper. I think it would cost about the same to get a router and table as it would for this shaper. Which way would you go? Heres the link to the shaper.

https://stcloud.craigslist.org/tls/5154774561.html

Look up oak park enterprise for some router table ideas and other things.

 

[mikeyr]

I have a older Delta shaper back from when I was in the business (dust in the lungs forced me to stop and become a computer geek), back in the 80's when I was in business, you didn't use a router for big things like raised panels, I am not even sure you could get the 3 1/2 cutters for a router back then. Now that you can, unless you are a business I would go for the router and skip the shaper. I am in the process of my first wood project in 20+ years, doing the entire kitchen and I just yesterday bought a router lift and 3 1/4 HP router to build a router table into my table saw extension table, looking forward to trying it and seeing if I can get rid of the shaper that has been in the corner unused for 20+ years. When I sold the shop I sold most of the shaper cutters with it and my wife wanted a different raised panel shaper along with different style rails&styles than the one I kept, so I had to buy new cutters for this project and decided to try router table in table saw extension instead of buying new cutters for the shaper.

It seems to me now that you can do almost everything on a router table that you used to do on shapers (at least the size shapers small business and home owners used to have). Now if you are a business its a no brainer, shaper.

 

[jar944]

Get the shaper, it will likely be cheaper then the router table, and have far more power. I have a 3hp delta shaper (in reality 3hp is small as far as shapers go) I also have a PC 7518 3&1/2 hp router in a jessem Mast-r-lift II

Both are nice to use, except the shaper is far more quiet, has a lot more power and leaves a much nicer finish due to the cutter geometry that can only occur with "large" diameter cutters.

Shaper tooling also isn't that expensive compared to decent quality router bits. Look into "euro block" cutterheads. You can get a euro block set with mutiple sets of knife profiles for a couple hundred (or individual profiles about $14 a knife set)


and because everyone says "skip the shaper, get a router" used shapers can be found cheap. My PC router and lift combo retails for about $650 (not including a table to mount it in) I picked up my shaper with a box of cutters for $450

 

[mikeyr]

remember that the shaper takes space ! if you have room then its a non-issue. For me with tight space, if my router table can do the work then my shaper is on the market since the router table is installed in my table saw extension table and not taking any space.