Popular Woodworking 2002-06 № 128, страница 8
Time to Shape Up Making the case for shapers in the woodshop. Let me be the first to confess: You haven't seen "boo" in this magazine about wood shapers. You haven't seen a tool review, a technique article or even a mention about using one during a project. On the other hand, we've shown you dozens of router table setups, router table reviews, even how to build your own router table and fence. And during the past several years I've groused time and again to the staff about how expensive these items are. It got to the point that I canceled a planned router table review and then threw down the gauntlet - "I can build a great router table for $50." It was featured in the June 2001 issue. Don't get me wrong, some of these aftermarket accessories are well made and will provide years of good service. One of the latest examples is the "router lift" mechanism. The engineering and performance on some of these products is tremendous. But throughout the years, woodworkers' love of the router (a passion I share) has been exploited by companies that have introduced one product after another to make the hand-held router more versatile. Looked at separately, a router table, a nice router fence and a router lift are all good ideas. But when you put them all together, the only thing greater than the sum of the parts is the expense involved. It's an expense that is far greater than a light-duty wood shaper, which provides superior performance. Do the math. First, you need a good medium- to heavy-duty router: $200. Add to that a router table and fence: $350. Put on a router lift mechanism: $350. OK, that's $900, and there's bound to be another gizmo that will get you to $1,000 faster than you can whip out your credit card. Compared to any router table setup, the shaper is a beast with a steel cabinet base, cast-iron top, split cast-iron fences, steel throat inserts and an induction motor. A nice light-duty shaper (as defined by its 11/2 horsepower motor and 1/2" to ^V' spindle size) is $700 from Jet Tools. Grizzly offers one for $425; Bridgewood's is $495. These machines feature two speeds; a reversing induction (not universal) motor, which means it is extremely quiet; a cast-iron top; and the cutters, mounted on the spindle, are easily adjusted up and down by tum-i/^L ing a hand wheel on the front. Cutters are installed from the top and it can more saf ely handle larger-diameter cutters than the router. Of course, what you can't do with a shaper is remove the motor for hand-held use like you can with a router. When it comes to tooling, you can easily install a spindle in the shaper that uses 1/4" and h" collets, so you don't have to replace or double up on tooling with one kind for the shaper and another for the router. But you can buy shaper cutters that sometimes provide greater value than router bits. That's because many shaper cutters come with more than one profile. For example, one shaper cutter will have both a 1/4" and 1/2" radius profile. It's high time the once-popular shaper should get another look. And I promise you that in future issues we'll be acquainting you in more detail about this machine's many benefits for the home woodworker. PW Stei'e Shanesy, editor and publisher Popular Woodworking June 2002, Vol. 22, No. 3 www.popularwoodworking.com Editorial Offices 513-531-2690 Editor & Publisher Steve Shanesy ext. 238 • steve.shanesy@fwpubs.com Art Directors Linda Watts, Tricia Barlow Senior Editor David Thiel ext. 255 • david.thiel@fwpubs.com Senior Editor Christopher Schwarz ext. 407 • chris.schwarz@fwpubs.com Assistant Editor Kara Gebhart ext. 348 • kara.gebhart@fwpubs.com Project Illustrator John W. Hutchinson Photographer Al Parrish Contributing Editors Nick Engler Bob Flexner Glen Huey Scott Phillips Troy Sexton Senior Vice President David Lewis Editorial Director David Fryxell CIRCULATION David Lee, Vice President Jennifer Shaffer, Group Manager PRODUCTION Barbara Schmitz, Vice President Heather Griffin, Production Coordinator ADVERTISING Advertising Director Don Schroder 331 N. Arch St., Allentown, PA 18104 Tel. 610-821-4425; Fax 610-821-7884 Classified Advertising Sales Joan Wright, Tel. 800-388-1820 Advertising Production Coordinator Debbie Thomas, Tel. 513-531-2690, ext. 219 ® SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES Subscription inquiries, orders and address changes can be made at www.popwood.com (click on Subscriber Services). Or by mail: Popular Woodworking, P.O. Box 5369, Harlan, IA 51593 or call 515-280-1721. Include your address with all inquiries. Allow 6 to 8 weeks for delivery. NEWSSTAND DISTRIBUTION Curtis Circulation Co., 730 River Rd., New Milford, NJ 07646 ATTENTION RETAILERS: To carry Popular Woodworking in your store, call RetailVision at 1-800-381-1288 ext. 6050 or write RetailVision, 23 Pond Lane, Middlebury VT 05753. Back issues are available for $6.50 ($8.50 Canada; $10.50 other foreign). Send check or money order to: Popular Woodworking/ F&W Publications Products, P.O. Box 2031, Harlan IA, 51593; or call 888-419-0421. Please specify publication, month and year. SAFETYNOTE: Safety is your responsibility. Manufacturers place safety devices on their equipment for a reason. In many photos you see in Popular Woodworking, these have been removed to provide clarity. In some cases we'll use an awkward body position so you can better see what's being demonstrated. Don't copy us. Think about each procedure you're going to perform beforehand. Safety First! 6 Popular Woodworking June 2002 |
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