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+-- Thread: Wood Shaper Tips and Tricks (/showthread.php?tid=7327454)
Wood Shaper Tips and Tricks - Downwindtracker2 - 01-29-2017
I'm almost at the stage to turn on my 3hp BusyBee (Grizzly) shaper . It had electrical issues, it's Taiwanese after all, and the fence was a classic "they expected this ? to work ?". It was pretty mangled as someone had tried use it. If some, asks I do another post .However, I'm a bit hesitant , I have never used a shaper before. THX
RE: Wood Shaper Tips and Tricks - Stwood_ - 01-30-2017
Oversized router in a table with big torque and horsepower. Respect it like all machinery.
Suggest you looking up and purchasing The Shaper Handbook
If it doesn't have finger guards, make them.
RE: Wood Shaper Tips and Tricks - JGrout - 01-30-2017
Agree with Steve the Shaper book is worth the investment
Simple things:
check setups before turning on the unit. This amounts to making sure the spindle nut ( and the knives themselves)is tight, the knives are all orientated the same direction, the movable fence sections are set properly ( I set the clearances after I set the cut depth allowing about 1/4" between the cutters and the fence) as well as all lock points are tightened and that the motor rotation and speed is correct.
feed into cutters (this is more important than with a router as shapers and knives are reversible) use push pads for control and feather boards as hold downs if the spring holders are not available. On big cuts like raised panels make two or more passes on cuts I move the fence over the cutter but either works if you pay attention to what you are doing also on raised panel cutters I use a bearing along with the fence to set the cut; that prevents snipe at the ends from over cutting due to an inaccurately set fence
Joe
RE: Wood Shaper Tips and Tricks - PaulJohnstone - 01-30-2017
I am just a hobbyist, not nearly as experienced as JGrout and other people on this board.
i would recommend investing in the mag-switch feather boards.
Also, if you are doing doors, I recommend buying rub collars for your raised panel cutters and rail/style cutters. These are similar to the bearings on router bits. They are an extra bit of safety to help stop the board from being pulled in.
If you can afford a feeder, that is a good thing to buy too. But not totally necessary.
Also, keep in mind.. just because a shaper can make a cut all in one pass, it is not always a good idea to do that. The deeper the cut, the more potential for the wood to be pulled into the cutter. Yes, I am sure the experts can do some things in one pass that I can not, but as a new user, be cautious and make multiple passes.
Be careful to feed it through fast enough so you don't get burn marks. This takes practice.