Next shaper question--starter set of cutters

[Matt Meiser]

Since I'm buying a small shaper I guess that means I'll need some cutters too. Obviously most will come as projects need them but I'm looking for ideas on a starter set.

Heres what I'm kind of thinking:
45 degree chamfer
2" rabbeting w rub collar for template work
????

I've got an upcoming project that a 1/4" tongue and groove set would be nice as well as a straight raised panel cutter but I also may be able to borrow those.

The Infinity cutters seem to get good reviews and aren't badly priced so I was looking there.

[Peter Quinn]

Amana's profile pro set gives you a good number of basic profiles and some molding options as well in a format well suited to a small shaper. The initial investment is probably the most cost effective I can think of. A number of companies sell similar "euro block" sets that are nearly if not exactly identical, such as CMT's set. I'm use mine a lot. They have a number of tongue and groove knife options, several cabinet door knives, and even a cove and bead passage door set that works well. Worth a look, they offer some starter sets bundled with head and knives.


You might call Rangate to see if they have any Garniga rabbit heads left on sale. They had a sale going on 50MMX100MM rabbit heads, but it was a year end limited numbers type of thing. Sale ends Dec 22 according to the email I got. The profile pro set has straight knives for rabbiting as well but a proper rabbit head with spurs works a bit better with less tearout.

I have a number of sets from Infinity and they all work well. One of the best values in 3/4" tooling in my experience. Not the cheapest, but the quality is quite a bit higher than some of the stuff I have seen from the cheaper sellers. I have not tried their insert tooling. Do open their stuff with caution, its some of the most ridiculously sharp tooling beneath the rubber coating. DAMHIK

Otherwise I can't think of any sets per se available. I've been very happy with the Freud RP2000 for panels. Its a fairly light head that spins well on my smaller shaper, razor sharp carbide inserts, nice profile options. For 3 wing braised heads Amana are some of the best value I've encountered in either 3/4" or 1 1/4", Freeborne is always great and the whole line is available in either bore mostly, can't go wrong there.

Both Byrd and Schmidt have corrugated back heads in 3/4" bore in different heights for molding knives should you need custom patterns. Grizzly does too, haven't tried those.

[Larry Edgerton]

Peter nailed it!

A great big ditto on the insert tooling. Took me too long to get into it.

Larry

[Matt Meiser]

Sorry, when I said set I didn't mean all in one box, but more along the lines of what cutters are must-haves. I'll check out the insert sets.

I also bought Lonnie Bird's shaper book last night on Kindle so I can learn a little more.

[Cary Falk]

Mat, I have several Invinity cutters. During sales thay are pretty cheap. I am happy with them. I do have the 2" rabbiting cutter wit a rub collar for pattern cutting. I buy them as I need them or if something goes on sale that I think I might need. I use router bits for everything else.

[Matt Meiser]

I just checked out that Amana profile pro and that looks like it would definitely be the way to go. Other than the big rabbet cuttter and raised panels, it looks like it would do possibly everything I'd want. The aluminum head is about $110 and knives are $30-40 each after that.

Someone mentioned aluminum vs. steel heads in another thread and suggested aluminum for a 1-1/2HP shaper. That seems counter-intuitive to me--seems like the flywheel effect of a steel head would be a good thing. Can someone explain?

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Matt, I second the insert head purchase, make sure you buy one with chip limiters, and that is marked "MAN" for manual feeding.

Felder have a cutter sale on now, see what they are offering.

I would suggest The Spindle Moulder Handbook by stephenson, it's the only up to date shaper book I've found, the other two common books are decades out of date on safety aspects.

I have an OMAS 125 X 50 rebate head, with a couple of bearing collars for use as a template copying head and a rebate head.

The steel head is what I own, however I have a 4 HP machine.

Regards, Rod.

[Matt Meiser]

I can't find where Felder says what the bore on their heads is?

Are the knives all made to a standard? Meaning can a Felder head use Amana knives?

[Cary Falk]

Hi Matt, I second the insert head purchase, make sure you buy one with chip limiters, and that is marked "MAN" for manual feeding.

Regards, Rod.

Rod,
Can you explain to me why. I am interested in a similar head and noticed the "limiter" notation and couldn't find an info.
Thanks,
Cary

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi, the EU standards for tooling are more advanced than ours in North America.

The cutters are marked "MEC" or "MAN" for mechanical feed or manual (hamd) feeding.

The main issue with hand feeding is kickback, so cutters for hand feeding have chip limiters installed, the same principle as chip limiters on saw blades. For a profile cutter, obviously the chip limiter has to be the same shape as the cutting knife, so a head will have two knives, and two chip limiters installed.

Note that this also applies to other hand fed machines such as jointers. My Euro jointer has a head marked MAN and it has very little knife projection, this is the other key, make cutters as smooth as possible so they don't grab something.

These advanced cutter safety standards will eventually make there way here, no sense not buying a safer cutter now..............Rod.

[Rod Sheridan]

Capture.JPGCutter.JPGrebate.JPG

Hi Matt, most cutters of course will be 30 mm bore as most of the world is metric.

If you select a cutter and click on the image in their catalogue it provides more info, I've included a couple of images.

Felder also sell 1 1/4" bore cutters at significantly more cost.

A set of adapters for 30mm to your shaper spindle would be inexpensive, and allow you to buy metric cutters.

The cutters will have their information displayed in this format.

DIA SQ W dia T Z
100 HW 50 30 23 Z2/V4

DIA = cutter diameter in mm

SQ = cutter type HW= carbide

W= Cutter height in mm

dia = bore in mm or in inches if 1 1/4 is stated

T= cutting depth in mm

Z2/Z4 means number of profile cutters (2) and number of scribing cutters (4)

Note in the first cutter image that the T is 23 mm, not D as indicated.

Regards, Rod.

[Jeff Monson]

I'm with the majority on this one also. I have the Amana profile pro set, cuts great and is a really nice starter set. The shaper tooling I buy now is all insert tooling.

[Jeff Monson]

Matt I forgot to mention, I do have a large Felder rebate cutter with the rub collar set also. Works great for template work. I saw that in your post and forgot to comment, as Rod pointed out they have a sale on tooling now. I bought mine in 1 1/4" bore and it was not that expensive.

[Peter Quinn]

Here is a good deal on an example of an aluminum rabbit head. It's much easier for a smaller motor to power a lighter cutter, saves more energy for making the actual cut.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000P4...ag=minipage-20

[David Kumm]

Matt, with little experience on a smaller shaper I would avoid heavy steel heads in 1.25" or 30mm bore. The quill assemblies in larger shapers are constructed to handle the spinning weight. The 3/4 spindle is there for a reason. 3/4" cutters are the appropriate size for the machine. There are enough scary things going on with shapers without dealing with overweight heads. You also must check your speed choices as smaller machines often run faster as the larger cutters need less speed. Dave