differences between 3 wheel power feeders

[mreza Salav]

I think I can use the advice of the more experienced shaper/power feeder users.
I'm a new owner of a 3HP shaper and am considering buying a power feeder 1/4HP or 1/2HP.
I've never used a shaper or power feeder. I am looking at 3 wheel feeders. For example the following
two Grizzly models:
http://www.grizzly.com/products/1-4-...r-Feeder/G4176
http://www.grizzly.com/products/1-2-...r-Feeder/G4179

What confuses me is the difference between location of gap between wheels:
in the 1/4HP model the gap is between the 1st and 2nd wheel (first picture below), suggesting that on a shaper the
cutter will be between them and on the 1/2HP (2nd picture below) the gap is between the 2nd and 3rd wheel suggesting
that you'd have two wheels before the cutter and one after:

g4176.jpgg4179.jpg

Why the difference? Are these feeders for different purposes? Does everybody setup with one wheel
before the cutter and two after or the other way?
Thanks.

[David Kumm]

More important is the size of the motor. Get the 1/2 hp one as it can take a lot to power a board through a heavy cut. I prefer the distance to be between the first and second wheel which is where I believe it is on a 1 hp feeder. Mine are all 1 hp units. Dave

[mreza Salav]

More important is the size of the motor. Get the 1/2 hp one as it can take a lot to power a board through a heavy cut. I prefer the distance to be between the first and second wheel which is where I believe it is on a 1 hp feeder. Mine are all 1 hp units. Dave

But even the 1hp has the distance between the 2nd and 3rd

http://www.grizzly.com/products/1-HP-Power-Feeder/G4181
g4181.jpg
I guess my question is more about what is the correct setup: can you have either one or two wheels before the cutter?

[Jeff Duncan]

Hmmmm, interesting question. I have 3 feeders and don't really know the "correct" answer to your question. My personal take on it though is to put 2 wheels in front of the cutter as that is where the most force is required to push the piece through. The final wheel goes at the end since there is no longer any resistance when the piece passes the cutter. Depending on how your setup looks you could probably make either feeder work, but I think I'd rather have the gap between the first two and the last wheel.

I also second the advice to bypass the 1/4 hp feeder. I think 1/2 hp is a good entry level.

good luck,
JeffD

[Stephen Cherry]

the gap changes as the wheel moves up on the suspension.

[mreza Salav]

Hmmmm, interesting question. I have 3 feeders and don't really know the "correct" answer to your question. My personal take on it though is to put 2 wheels in front of the cutter as that is where the most force is required to push the piece through. The final wheel goes at the end since there is no longer any resistance when the piece passes the cutter. Depending on how your setup looks you could probably make either feeder work, but I think I'd rather have the gap between the first two and the last wheel.

good luck,
JeffD

That's my thinking too as you need a lot more grip when the wood is being cut (i.e. being pushed into the cutter) and less force is needed to keep it
for that last few inches of the board that are cut and passed the first two wheels (but again I don't have experience).
However there are others who prefer two wheels after the cutter and one before.

I'll look into 1/2HP ones.

[David Kumm]

Mreza, I may be in error regarding the three wheel gap as mine hasn't been used and is loaned out. My shapers are larger and all the feeders I use are four wheel. I would not lose sleep over where the gap is. A good feeder is so much better than hand feeding it won't seem like a big deal. When you get one test it to be sure that when you tighten the base to the vertical it cinches down and won't move under stress. Sometimes the base isn't machined quite right and that becomes a huge problem. My only real complaint about the cost cutting that has occurred with some feeders. The problem is fairly rare but many have complained as I have over the years. Dave

[Rod Sheridan]

I've used both Steff and Co-matic feeders and for 3 wheel feeders both manuals indicate that the cutter is to be located between the first wheel (infeed) and the second wheel (outfeed). I presently own an HC-308 (AF-308 Co-matic) feeder and that's how I set it up on my shaper.

This results in one infeed wheel, two outfeed wheels.

For a four wheel feeder the cutter is located between the two infeed and two outfeed wheels.

This makes sense since when feeding you often hold the work piece as it's entering the feeder, so you are in effect the other infeed roller. Once the feeder has the wood under all the rollers, you typically let go of the wood.

Regards, Rod.