Replies

1. 
   TKanzler | Feb 02, 2004 09:06pm | #1

   Which Delta shaper didn't you like?  I've been considering an old Delta 1/2", which started life half a century ago as a Homecraft, and was only recently (10 years?) discontinued. 

   Be seeing you...

1. 
   Hagen | Feb 02, 2004 09:09pm | #2

   I researched the SH-100 and most reviewers stated  it was very difficult to adjust the fences.  The SH-100 relaces the previous model which was also reviewed as poor.

1. 
   forestgirl | Feb 05, 2004 02:06am | #6

   Is the SH-100 the little benchtop model?  I looked at that a couple of years ago.  No way!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. 
   Napie | Feb 04, 2004 09:45pm | #5

   I have one, you will love it! Better than any router table any day.

1. 
   TKanzler | Feb 05, 2004 05:12am | #9

   Thanks for the input.  Maybe I'll give it a try. Be seeing you...

2. 
   robkelly1 | Feb 03, 2004 03:35am | #3

   Tom, I've got a lot of experience with a shaper and lock miter cutters. To begin with, power and rigidity are important. For me this means at least 3 hp and a 3/4" dia spindle. I paid $700 for a 1975 or so Delta 3hp 220volt and rigged it with a 3 wheel power feed. The power feed is a necessity for doing boards longer than about 3'-4'. With the 3 wing cutter from Grizzly I can handle from about 11/16" to about 1" in one pass at a fair rate of feed, about 13 ft/min. 

   A while back I had to do some 12' long 1/2" thick by 6" wide boards with a lock miter both edges. I got the 1/2" router bit chuck for the 3/4" spindle body ($90.00 from Delta, I didn't have time to look for a used one) and a 1/2" shank lock miter router bit either from Grizzly or Woodworkers' Supply.  With the power feed it gave me a seamless 12' joint. 

   Now that I'm set up to lock miter anything, I've done corner cabinets, blanket chests, display cabinets. fireplace mantels, jewelry boxes, etc.

   The benefit of a shaper with enough power is that you can also make base and case moulding up to 4" or a bit more.

3. 
   CharlieP | Feb 04, 2004 08:43am | #4

   I finally learned to use the lock miter bit with a table mounted router - so I am not sure a shaper is required.  The alignment has to be very precise, and I had to build some custom push blocks to keep the pieces perfectly aligned as they were cut along the table or along the fence, but it works. 

   Plan on quite a few practice cuts until you get the hang of using it. 

   ________________________
   Charlie Plesums  Austin, Texas
   http://www.plesums.com/wood

1. 
   forestgirl | Feb 05, 2004 02:09am | #7

   "...custom push blocks to keep the pieces perfectly aligned as they were cut along the table or along the fence...."  Eeeeek!  Can you post pictures, please, please, pretty please?!  I've used the LMB on one project, and would love to learn anything that will make it easier!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 ;-)

1. 
   riverr1 | Feb 05, 2004 02:24am | #8

   Those locking miter bits are intimidating aren't they?

   Not to pee in anyones wheaties here, but I don't know of anyone that was ever happy with the Grizz shapers. I think you'll find that true with some searches here and elsewhere.

   EDIT: that can't be said with their TS's and Band Saws.

   Don

   Edited 2/4/2004 6:36:31 PM ET by Don C.

1. 
   DaveBarker | Feb 06, 2004 12:41am | #11

   I've had the small Grizz shaper for about 10 years and it's done everything I've asked of it (which maybe hasn't been that much...) It includes 1/2 and 3/4 inch spindles and (I believe) a router collet. Granted, I haven't done any 4 inch moldings with it, but it's handled everything I've thrown at it including making raised panels. The weak point IMO is the fence system. The equivalent Jet shaper has a better fence system, but I'm not sure it's worth the extra $200 or so...

2. 
   CharlieP | Feb 05, 2004 07:18am | #10

   You asked for it!  I am embarrased by the world's ugliest jigs, especially since they show how cheap I really am, but they work!  Now that they are done, I see how I could have built one jig for both horizontal and vertical, but they evolved, and are opposite ends of the same board, and work....

   First, alignment is critical.  And the alignment depends on the thickness of the wood.  So if I am making a couple boxes, and the wood is different thickness, there are completely separate setups. 

   As you know, a Lock Miter (LM) joint can be used to join boards end-to-end, as well as at 90 degrees.  So my first test of the alignment is for the end-to-end joint.  If it isn't aligned for this joint, don't waste time going farther. 

   For the "horizontal" cut, I have a board with a stop block, exactly 90 degrees, at one end.  I use the lock miter for thin side boxes (typically 3/8") so the stop block or push portion of the jig is a scrap of 1/4 inch plywood, glued and nailed to a larger (approx 1x3x "long") board.  Added a piece of sandpaper to keep the workpiece from slipping.  (This happens to be some old black floor sanding paper).  See HorizLMJig....

   To help with the surroundings, note that all the pictures are taken at the router table - a white melamine wing in my table saw.  The router is mounted in a clear plastic plate.  The saw's aluminum rip fence is clamped to a sacrificial 2x4 router fence.  The 2x4 has a hollowed out groove to the PVC connection for the shop vac.  Rube Goldberg still lives here!

   Back to the jig... To use the horizontal jig, I put the work piece (a scrap of walnut in these pictures) under the jig, with both the jig and work piece along the router fence, and substantial down pressure as I move it across the router.  The sandpaper was critical to holding the workpiece firmly in position, but also can fool you into not having the workpiece firmly against the stop block/pusher.   See HorizLMUse....

   The vertical jig is a scrap attached to the end of a board, again at an exact 90 degrees.  This was also a scrap of walnut, screwed to the poplar.   This piece has two functions:  It sticks over the end a bit to push the work piece, but it also is longer to ride along the table and keep the jig perfectly vertical in both directions.  Again a major investment in sandpaper - a worn-out piece of 120 grit from the ROS.  See VertLMJig...

   In use, the jig traps the work piece (same scrap of walnut) along the fence, holding it vertical in two axis while it moves along the router.  See VertLMUse.... And yes, the walnut in the jig had seen earlier service in the drill press. 

   The resulting joint was hard to photograph, since it is so small.  The best I could do was the corner of an unfinished box where the grain made the joint show up.  See LMResult....

   And when I am all done, I have candy boxes made from scraps of wood, like the ones in CandyBox.... This part is bragging!________________________Charlie Plesums  Austin, Texashttp://www.plesums.com/wood

   
1. 
   mdresimprov | Feb 10, 2005 03:13am | #12

   Thanks for this post. I've probably spent 6 hrs and don't like the results I'm getting. Mostlty because the result is less than perfect. The wood seems to "catch" and tear pieces of wood out or it rides up on the bit as the wood passes over it. I'll try your jigs tomorrow. They seem to allow safety bearing in mind the pressure it seems to take to run a piece through.How wide is your bit and at what RPMs are you running it? I'm running a 2" diam. bit on a Bosch var. spd router. The bit manufacturer recommends #5 speed or about 21,500 RPMs.My practice cuts have all been with 3/4 pine.
   Any input is apreciated!
   Mark

1. 
   CharlieP | Feb 10, 2005 05:19pm | #13

   Wow - that post was just over a year ago.  But glad it helped. 

   My lock miter bit is small - the smallest one I could get - designed for wood less than 1/2 inch thick, so the overall height of the bit is less than 3/4 inch, the radius would be the same, and the diameter twice that (since the bit comes to a point at the top).  I probably ran it at or close to full speed (25,000 rmp?) in my Hitachi M12V router. 

   Since then I have sold the router and table (which was part of my table saw) as I moved to a combo machine with sliding table and shaper.  I haven't used the lock miter yet in the shaper, but it will then have a max speed of 9000 rpm.  With the precision of the sliding table and shaper, I have considered getting a larger lock miter, either as a big router bit or as a shaper cutter, but I have too many other things going right now with the new machine. 

   Tear out is an issue, especially since you are often cutting end grain (or at least I was).  Backer boards were always helpful but not a perfect solution.  Sometimes I would shorten the box after it was glued up by cutting 1/4 inch or so off the top in the bandsaw.  Throw away the tear out if you can't avoid it!

   Pictures are required of your results!________________________Charlie Plesums  Austin, Texashttp://www.plesums.com/wood