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Re: Getting started in shaper tooling #shapertools

 

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Thanks for all of the thoughts. ?We¡¯ve covered a lot of ground so I¡¯ll summarize what I think you¡¯ve all said:

For whatever reason, it¡¯s not a normal thing to have a 40mm interchangeable block that covers all of the meat and potatoes like standard 1/4¡± 3/8¡± and 1/2¡± roundover, cove, and ogees in a pre-packaged set.

Felder sells a roundover kit separate from the interchangeable block, but it costs 8 billion dollars (my editorial - I¡¯m still falling over a bit on the cost of all of this compared to a $19 Freud roundover bit)

Interchangeable heads are good and if possible get the chip limiter version, though in looking around, that seems to limit choices, too. Most interchangeable heads use HSS knives?

There are tools like this:??that may be a better bet for the basic stuff and are carbide instead of the HSS knives that interchangeable blocks come with. ?They don¡¯t have chip limiters though. Is that a big concern?

Custom grinding is interesting to me, but not something I¡¯ll be doing anytime soon; I¡¯m just looking to move away from my cruddy router table to the spindle in my forthcoming CF531. For my very short projects where I may need something custom I can make it on my CNC router. As a hobbyist I have more time than money and can wait 1/2 hour for the router to cut the 4¡¯ of trim I need rather than spending time and money on custom knives.

I still think it¡¯s strange in the era of cheap CNC grinding that there isn¡¯t an obvious insert tooling option that gives the advantages of carbide and cost savings with the use of the interchangeable head for basic things. I know I could get custom-ground CNC profiles in HSS or carbide, but I¡¯ve spent a couple hours on Amana, CMT, Freud, and other suppliers and there doesn¡¯t seem to be easy to find normal stuff. Maybe it¡¯s there; ALL of the websites I¡¯ve tried are terrible - Amana, Tools Today, CMT, etc. Freud¡¯s was passable in that there were at least a few graphics showing multiple bit drawings and corresponding part numbers. The rest are a mishmash of poorly sorted drawings, many with no measurements given. Amana¡¯s site is truly awful for the insert knives - you almost have to just start clicking on random numbers.

I have ordered the ¡°high speed spindle¡± for my CF531 which will let me use my existing 1/2¡± router bits as a backup. I was originally thinking that might be money poorly spent considering the slow speed of the shaper compared to a router, but maybe with the cost of shaper tooling I will use it more than I originally thought.

Thanks for all of the advice. I welcome any corrections/chastisement/reproof, etc.

On May 26, 2020, at 3:35 AM, david@... via groups.io <david@...> wrote:

?I agree. ? Prospectively buying shaper tooling before you have need for the specific cutter is a quick way to the poor house. ?Wait till you know what you need.


David Best

https://www.instagram.com/davidpbest/





On May 25, 2020, at 1:51 PM, correy@... via <correy@...> wrote:

?I honestly would wait to buy until there is a need.
The multi profile kits are fine I suppose, but for a simple round over, ogee, or anything you just want to mount for a quick cut is no longer a quick cut if you have to set knives. You'll probably just use your router, that's fine, but a shaper will make a much better cut requiring much less if any secondary processing,i.e. sanding.
?I like disposable carbide insert tooling most always, because they don't need to get sent out to sharpen and they put out about 3000 linear feet before dulling in medium hardwoods.
That said, these cutter heads a a bit pricey and are usually single or similar in profile.
I like a brazed cutter(round over, ogee, and such) for the profiles that are used often. Easy to swap out and you will forget you own a router. You can buy brazed tooling on ebay for? cheap and just get them sharpened. And can buy bushings to use heads that do not match your spindle. I have a 50mm vari-angle? I picked up for $150 and use with bushings on a 1.25" spindle.
if I ever have the need and the $ at the same time I would buy a multi use cutter from Rangate about $1400 .
You should get a corrugated head or three. again you can usually find these on ebay, but since this will be an old friend eventually I spent the $ an bought a nice 3" from Shmidt to start.
It was worth it . I do have a 4" and 6" as well but bought as needed. Titan from Global Tooling in WA is fine to use and cheap when you need to make a quick 6" face cut.
With "slugs"? and "blanks"you can use a 1" knives in a 4"x4" head. Stay with larger diameters as they produce better finishes. Dual angle heads are a plus too, soft and hardwoods.
Daily use cheads for me are usually groovers and rebate heads,or discs sometimes called. It's nice to have these in the same diameter because you can stack two 12mm to make a 24mm or a 12mm with an adjustable groover for a wider range of cuts, two groovers with spacer in between become a tenon cutting set-up, or three groovers makes double tenons that I use often.
I buy cheap Toolstoday heads for cuts that are not dependant on profile accuracy. Like a rebate for a back panel on a cabinet.
They are quite fine most any day and very affordable. BUT I find that the outer cut diamter between two 180mm groovers may vary .002" That may be well within spec for better companies, I dont know. Also in the Amana rebate head the kknive may not be exactly parralel to one another so in theory you are producing a crowned face. Again this is extremely small and unoticable except if maybe you widthed two edges for glue up you might see a? larger glue line. I am anal about fitting and dont get much humbug from the amana most days.
I get my custom profiles from Weinig , I was using a couple other places but had some folks burn the edges and it ruins the temper so..... Weinig is high quality and usually ships out in 48 hours or less. But probably plenty of good places to order knives.

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