Modified Griz 1.5hp shaper

[dan lemkin]

I was frustrated with the poor fence on the grizzly shaper, so I adapted a router table top. I used a phenolic top and blank table insert.

The shaper top is integral to the machine, so it could not be removed, so the top had to lay flush with it. I Had to grind the miter track screws flat. I also had to drill through the top to accomodate the insert holddown screws. I replaced the insert leveling screws with 1/4" headless hex set-screws (1/2")

I used a 1/2" rabbet head to cut a zero clearance hole in the plastic inner insert. I used existing 3/8" tapped holes in the front and rear of the cast iron table to hold the router table top with aluminum right angle stock. It is screwed to the top from the underside.

It works great now... a machine saved from the junk pile.

[Mike Heidrick]

So you pretty much just use this as a router table?

Looking at your height gauge you have limited your available spindle height above the table and limited the space available to mount cutters above the table. There was not much there out of the crate anyway and adding a top was not a way to improve the spindle capacity.

Maybe you should have saved that nice router table top for a dedicated router table (add a cabinet bottom and a router) and let the shaper be a shaper.

Looks great looking though. A friend also wants his Jet 1.5 to be a router table so I will pass along this thread to him.

[dan lemkin]

The top is only 3/4" thick, so that is the travel that I lost. I still have about 2.5" maybe 3 inches... It is a little underpowered, so I don't anticipate using really large cutterheads...

I raised the spindle as far as it would go and found that with the bottom nut removed, the bottom of the spindle is about 3/8" below the new table... With the bottom nut in place, it clears the table, so the spindle capacity is not significantly impacted by the new table.


The only two I have and use are a 1" high rabbeting head, and a duel 1/8" and 1/4" round over combo. Both can be raised well above the table with the included spacers.

Other than that, I almost exclusively use the router collet attachment.

The old fence was really sloppy, not parallel, and could not be retracted enough to be useful with router bits, or smaller cutter heads. So this was kinda a last ditch attempt to keep it as a functional powerplant. I did some test runs in the new configuration, and it works great. The only downside I see is that it only spins at 10K, so with 2 fluted router bits, it is a bit slow and may tear out.

I do have a few tri-head router bits, and they seem to work pretty well. The shaper cutters only have 3 heads, so I expect I will get similar performance (cuts per revolution)

[Mike Heidrick]

That is exactly my friends complaint so you are not alone in these shotsomings of this machine.

Have you tried the MLCS tri blade cutters or quadra cutters from Freud?

[J.R. Rutter]

Marginal shaper, sweet router table!

[Matt Meiser]

Actually, it doesn't seem like a bad way to build a router table. By the time you build a cabinet, buy a lift, and buy a router you've probably spent almost as much as that shaper. Add the fact that you can run some shaper cutters in addition to router bits and it seems like not such a bad idea?

[David DeCristoforo]

"The old fence was..."

A real POS. Not unusual and certainly not "exclusive" to any particular brand of machine. The provided fences are typically close to useless. It's almost like someone forgot to design one when they were engineering the machine and then they thought "Oh crap... we have to have a fence..." so they threw something together at the last minute. Even the fence that came with my Felder KF700 is barely adequate and that is reputed to be one of the best "out of the box" fences.

[Ed Bamba]

I have that exact same shaper. I bought it at an estate sale (never used) and was missing all three spindles and the fence assembly. It did come with the router bit adapter. I've used it a few times using flush trim/pattern bits with satisfactory results; don't have a router table to compare it to.

Nice looking mod Dan, but why not just make an extension that surrounds the cast iron table. Is it because you all ready had the table on-hand? I was wondering if I could adapt a router table fence to the machine. Looks like you answered my question.

Have you tried using shaper cutters on this machine?

Ed

[dan lemkin]

I first built my own layover table out of melamine covered particle board, and it sucked. I couldn't even imagine trying to create an accurate cut-out and leveling it... As the capacity is not really affected, and I would benefit from the new table miter and t-slots, it seemed like a much easier and elegant solution.

I got two shaper cutters 1/2" bore and have been using them more than anything... a rabbet cutter and a reversible roundover bit. The pics show the rabbet bit... it is about 2.5"? diameter

-d

[Ed Bamba]

I guess I should've looked closer at the pics before asking about the cutters.

[Craig Summers]

I picked up a used Sears shaper that had no fence. The cast iron table for mine has these big finger pincher holes in it.

I might have to try your modification for that one.

[Peter Quinn]

Nice mods there Dan. I like your creative repurposing to get to a machine you can use. Certainly thinking out side of the box.

I was given a 1/2HP craftsman last fall that my Dad never used but didn't want to scrap when he moved, and it wouldn't fit on the truck. So I adopted one more stray tool. The stock fence is nothing to write home about, but it works as a straight fence, and the motor was probably the induction version of an electric tooth brush. I replaced it with a Grizzly 1HP tefc motor, cleaned it up, and set it up as a dedicated coping machine for cabinet doors. It works great. This past week i made a set of pro bono doors for a family member in need, and it was great not to have to break down and set up the stacks. I think this little baby gets me at just under 20 minutes per door from rough stock to parts ready to glue!

That fence of yours is a great way to get more of that router table function out of a shaper. I have a router in a cabinet saw out board and can use the TS fence as needed to get up to 60" away from the bit. I can't see the most flexible shaper fence I have ever used or seen giving enough travel to really accommodate straight plunge bits for dados or v grooves or such. Nice way to show that shaper who's in charge!