Replies

1. 
   MarkMW | Dec 19, 2003 07:20pm | #1

   John,

   I will first qualify my statement by saying that I do not own this machine.

   I was considering purchasing this about 1 year ago.  One of my coworkers owns a Jet shaper (I believe 2hp before their colors shifted to white).  He went on at great lenghts to explain that he had replaced the spindle / arbor three time.  I do not recall the details and believe he was trying to explain the problem was associated with a bearing problem or a feature that was not machined into the shaft.

   This coworker owns a mix of Jet and grizzly tools that he is happy with.  The shaper (older version?) was the one thing he did not like.

   I appologize for not recalling all of the details but will inquire again on the details after the holidays if you are interested. 

   Bottom line for me was it was enough to make me wait for the full size 3hp shaper (delta).

   Hope this helps. 

1. 
   forestgirl | Dec 20, 2003 04:11am | #3

   It's been quite awhile since Jet went "white."  It would be interesting to know what changes, if any, they've made since then.forestgirl Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)  you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)

2. 
   ChippingWood | Dec 19, 2003 07:43pm | #2

   I have it- and I tell you what... I haven't used my router in ages. Simply a brilliant machine. It's really easy to set the cutter height and the fence works great. I also use it as a "router" table- couldn't be any easier to pop bits in and out.

   All that aside I truly like working on a table with a cutter coming out of it than holding a router. It feels a LOT safer. If you do get it keep this in mind- the Grizzly cutters are great and fairly cheap... but shop for them through Amazon.com- it's easier to get around the selection than on the Grizzly page.

   In short- the first time you turn the shaper on with the 3/4" lock miter cutter in... your face is going to hurt. From smiling.

3. 
   migraine | Dec 20, 2003 06:56am | #4

   I have a 5hp/3ph jet shaper(from the Blue era) and t has one of the tightest spindle adjustments on any shaper that I have uesed.  If you need to drop the spindle a few thousandths, no problem.  It will not drop past that, like many other name brands I have used.  Unfortunitly, I don't know any thing about the smaller(less horse power) models.

   If they have a larger model on sale, my recomendation is to buy bigger/more horsepower.  Especially if you plan on running larger moldings or raised panels in the future. 

   While your at it, if they have a power feeders on sale, I strongly recommend one

4. 
   MajorWool | Dec 20, 2003 09:36am | #5

   If you do get a shaper and have a local PC/Delta factory store, I noticed today that their shaper bits were, IMHO, very reasonably priced.

5. 
   fdampier5 | Dec 21, 2003 08:49pm | #6

   I had one and I liked it,

     it's obvious limitations are the amount of wood you can hog out in one pass.. to do panel doors for example in one pass you better have more grunt.. I sold mine and bought the 3 hp Grizzley and it's about all the machine I'll need.. I could have kept using my Jet and just spent more time with it..  Right now the time is worth much more than the money.. maybe after I get back to doing this as a hobby instead of building my timberframe I'll feel differant...

     Someone else commented about the grin on your face when you use one of these instead of a router table..

      all I can say is,AMEN!