I bought a shaper---now what?

[Arlin Eastman]

I was wondering if it would use regular 1/2" router bits?  If so that would be an awesome find and better then a router table.

[TGW]

I was wondering if it would use regular 1/2" router bits?  If so that would be an awesome find and better then a router table.

Very few spindle moulders have high enough spindle speed to cut properly with carbide tipped router bits.
Spindle moulders have a much greater spindle diametre and larger bearings. To get a decent cutting speed on a one inch diametre carbide bit the bearing speed on a 2 inch inner diametre bearing becomes huge.
Consequently the maximum speed on most spindle moulders is limited to the maximum speed one can maintain with grease lubricated ball bearings. A few have angular contact ball bearings with oil lubrication an that allows for slightly higher speed but the limiting factor is still there.
Back in the era of high speed steel router bits many spindle moulders (including my Stenberg) came with chucks for router bits but everyone who has tested says that they were awkwardly slow back then and with modern carbide bits they are useless.

[Arlin Eastman]

Very few spindle moulders have high enough spindle speed to cut properly with carbide tipped router bits.
Spindle moulders have a much greater spindle diametre and larger bearings. To get a decent cutting speed on a one inch diametre carbide bit the bearing speed on a 2 inch inner diametre bearing becomes huge.
Consequently the maximum speed on most spindle moulders is limited to the maximum speed one can maintain with grease lubricated ball bearings. A few have angular contact ball bearings with oil lubrication an that allows for slightly higher speed but the limiting factor is still there.
Back in the era of high speed steel router bits many spindle moulders (including my Stenberg) came with chucks for router bits but everyone who has tested says that they were awkwardly slow back then and with modern carbide bits they are useless.

You overwhelmed me with info.  Are you saying the shaper goes to slow for carbide bits or to fast?

[Huxleywood]

You overwhelmed me with info.  Are you saying the shaper goes to slow for carbide bits or to fast?

Too slow.  Most shapers max out at 10,000 rpm except the rare ones with high speed spindles.  There is a small amount of overlap in that the very largest router bits will mill fine at 10K.  Shaper tooling is generally larger and uses the large diameter to increase the tip speed at lower speeds.  I have some shaper tooling over 7" in diameter and there are some that are much larger.  

The cost of carbide tooling for shapers is quite high, but hobbyists can usually do fine with insert heads.  Knife sets can run as cheap as $14-15.  Pros also use them for short runs of moulding.  They are very cost effective and can be custom made MUCH cheaper than custom carbide tooling.

[timbrframr]

Bought at auction. Hope I didn't make a mistake but it looked like a good buy for $400.  Only came with what you see.





All I know about it is-- it runs. Couldn't find a 43-375 manual on line but found a 43-372. Close enough?

I was thinking of using it to replace my old table mounted Dewalt which has been struggling with hardwoods so I guess that would require a 1/2" spindle and cutters. Or should I think bigger? How about a base? It's heavy as hell and I have a small shop.

Any advice or information you can give me will be appreciated. I'm a competent woodworker but a newbie shaper operator.

I think Huxleywood and Stwood give good advice.  The small Whitehill combi head would be great for that machine, and way cheaper than buying separate heads and MAN rated to boot.  The shaper book by Stephenson is excellent too!
B

[Bob Vaughan]

Imagine using a table saw that runs at half speed.  It will be annoying but one can muddle through on the short term.  Same with router bits in a 10K rpm shaper.  Not something you'd want to do on a regular basis, but maybe a special profile is only on the router bit you have at hand and so that's what you make do with.

[GeorgeV]

Gave mine away and have never missed it!!