# When does a router table become a shaper



## Bogydave (Nov 14, 2008)

AT the cost of a good router table & router. When is it better to go with a shaper? I viewed some router tables (router not include) from $500 to over $900. A shaper & router are basically the same thing. A medium size shaper complete ($900) for the price of a good table.
Or am I missing something? Maybe just a rookie's question. Compared below & no motor on the rockler table ($900)

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=21297

http://www.grizzly.com/products/3-HP-Shaper/G1026

Which is better? 
Won't a 1/2" chuck in a shaper use 1/2" router bits?
What about stability?


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

A shaper has a mandrel which the knives are mounted on. Small home owner combination machines like the Delta shown can use both knives or router bits. Keep in mind that knives cost more than router bits although they tend to stay sharp longer. The big difference is that a router can be easily used on the interior of a surface. Shapers cut the same pattern from end to end. Shapers are best used in production shops running moulding all day long. For home woodworkers routers are less expensive, more versatile and a better choice. Mind you the Delta table when used with router bits is a nice combination of router and table which is fine if you have another router for free hand work.


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## dutchman 46 (May 23, 2007)

Hello Bogydave :
The biggest advantage is that you can run the shaper in forward and reverse.With the large shaper knives are able to be reversed and used. Now for routing, the shaper has no value, other that you can buy a router chuck and install bits in them. It can only route in one direction,and does nor have the range of RPM,s that the router has. SO, It would be better to get a good router and make, or buy the table. You can make a 600.dollar table for a lot less money and have the fun of building it to your specs. I hope that that helps.


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## dovetail_65 (Jan 22, 2008)

The shapers reverse is great, but the low rpms are its advantage, not its disadvantage when wanting to hog out huge amounts of material. I can easily remove in one pass on my shaper what a router table would take 3 passes to do.

So yes, for the little router bits it may not spin fast enough, that is not what it was designed for. Because of this many shapers now have two or three settings for rpm to accommodate router bits. If you can afford a collection of shaper cutters they do provide exceptional cutting ability with 3,4 and even more cutting edges! So at the slower rotation you are getting more cuts per rotation.

The best thing I like about the shaper is its quiet induction motor, it purrs, not screams.

A shaper is a great addition to your arsenal, but I would not replace my router table with it. Having both is best if you can afford it. When you want to spin that 3" or 4" profile you will be glad you have the shaper.


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## Bogydave (Nov 14, 2008)

Good points all
I'll use them when I talk to my buddy with a shaper.
He wondered why I was building a router table. Swears by his shaper.
Maybe I'll be able to cut circles around him, so to speak, after I get my router table finished.
Thanks


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Bogydave

Once you have your router done make the two items below and ask your buddy to do the same on his shaper 


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Bogydave said:


> Good points all
> I'll use them when I talk to my buddy with a shaper.
> He wondered why I was building a router table. Swears by his shaper.
> Maybe I'll be able to cut circles around him, so to speak, after I get my router table finished.
> Thanks


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## dovetail_65 (Jan 22, 2008)

That's a tad unfair isn't it?

I could post a picture up a huge handrail and ask if the router can do the profile in one pass.

Two different tools for different things. I do think what you asked is possible, but why try when I have both?

I am just saying you are comparing apples to oranges that's all. I love the shaper and would never give it up. Just like I would not give up any of the 6 router tables I have either.


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

They are very different tools that can accomplish many of the same jobs. You can also cut a rabbet or dado with a table saw. I think most people would agree that as a rule shapers are for professionals in job shops as opposed to home use.


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## dovetail_65 (Jan 22, 2008)

I don't know about that. I got my first little Jet 1.5 HP shaper for my home shop 9 years ago. As the shapers get cheaper and smaller it may be a benefit to add it to your arsenal if you have the space and of course you do the projects it excels at.

I used mine first solely for making raised panel doors for my old kitchen. It was worth the 699.99 for the shaper just for that.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

HI nickao65

I had a shaper at one time it was always a bit hairy to use it for making making raised panel doors because the cutter was always turning at 10,000 rpm's , the Horz. and the router table will put the shaper to shame for making raised panel doors  not to say anything about trying to make 
*Roman Arch, Country and Cathedral type door/doors panels 

But that's just my 2 cents   

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nickao65 said:


> I don't know about that. I got my first little Jet 1.5 HP shaper for my home shop 9 years ago. As the shapers get cheaper and smaller it may be a benefit to add it to your arsenal if you have the space and of course you do the projects it excels at.
> 
> I used mine first solely for making raised panel doors for my old kitchen. It was worth the 699.99 for the shaper just for that.


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## Hamlin (Dec 25, 2005)

Hi,

For the same price as listed, a person can purchase a decent table with a router. Not to mention that the router is portable. Don't wish to sound like I'm taking either side here. Each have their uses.


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## dovetail_65 (Jan 22, 2008)

I have made cabinets and cathedral arch doors for years with a router table. I prefer a beefy 3Hp shaper, the Delta is nice. 

I just do not see how you can say a router table is better for making arched doors with a big profile. I can run a nice 3" or 4" cutter and shape those doors lickity spliot on a shaper. A 3hP router would be screaming and would take me twice as long.

I will agree to disagree on that.


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## Barry the Builder (Dec 19, 2008)

Hi, new to the forum.

I've had this discussion with dad for the last year. He's got an old cast iron shaper that weighs about 1300lbs, plus a table saw with a sliding carriage and a built in shaper. He swears by his shapers, and is not interested in routers, while I think they are two very useful tools, especially if you have both. If you do a lot of heavy work, the shaper will outmatch the router quite quickly, and when the router bought in 2008 is worn out, the shaper from 1960 still has at least another 50 years to serve.


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## dovetail_65 (Jan 22, 2008)

Well you are comparing an induction motor to a universal motor which is apples and oranges. 

Yes for large heavy work the shaper is the way to go. And reverse is a godsend for some applications.

Unless the shaper can spin at 20,000 rpm though you can not do anything with a smaller bit. And some operations using the smaller bits are what make the router superior for certain things.

Jointing comes to mind and there are many others.

I do love a shaper though.


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## AxlMyk (Jun 13, 2006)

If I was in business and making doors, cabinets, arches, and such, I would most likely have a shaper. But since I, as well as most here, am a hobbiest. I have no need for a shaper.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

I suppose that I must add my 2cents worth. In the more than 50 years that I've been woodworking as a hobbyist and home handyman, the kind of things that I personally have made/repaired would not have been helped in the slightest had I had a shaper, or as sometimes called, a spindle moulder. As has been stated, it's a matter of having the right tool for the job and there is no point in taking up valuable workshop space with a machine that isn't used from one blue moon to another! I suppose this discussion could be taken even further by suggesting that a four- sider is more useful than a shaper!


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## Ray H (Nov 22, 2008)

"four- sider" ? not aquainted with that one.

Ray H


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

Ray, there are machines that will make cuts on all 4 sides of the material in a single pass.


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## Ray H (Nov 22, 2008)

Mike,

Thanks - Don't think I need one - sounds like a real meat grinder.

Ray H


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## Barry the Builder (Dec 19, 2008)

Well, luckily, you are not supposed to push the material through the four-sider by hand

And regarding the usefulness of the shaper vs. the router it all, as always, comes down to your needs crashing into the funding and space available. Used shapers don't need to be that expensive though.


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## Frank Lee (Nov 29, 2008)

SEMPER FI, Hamlin , Frank Lee


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Ray, this link will take you to an explanation of the four sider.

http://www.fdmasia.com/index.php?mid=013&nid=751


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## Ray H (Nov 22, 2008)

Harry, thanks for the link. That was some interesting reading.

Ray H


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