Please recommend a book on using a shaper

[lowell holmes]

There is another book that was published by Taunton. It was written by Lonnie Bird. The book was copyrighted in 1996.
It is a good book.

[Peter Quinn]

Here is a link I found for the EU that may offer some additional info. http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/wis18.pdf

Rod, I'm not against safety,all for it actually , my problem with the book is that it spends a lot of time showing lots of safety mechanisms for hand feed that can all pretty much be avoided with a power feed, and my recollection is there is little time given to proper use of a power feed, just a "here it is" discription. For most of my power fed set ups there is no room for a shaw guard and really no need, though a back fence or pressure module is often useful. I find the book very doctrinaire in its approach to safety and less practical. I would.certainly advocate using MAN cutters for hand fed operations, I work often under a guy missing 3 fingers from a shaper accident involving corrugated cutters and a large curved casing. This accident could easily have been avoided with proper guarding and a power feed which he didn't bother to do....accident happened close to close on a Friday! Big rush changed his life. I regularly use a MEC euro block with a feeder which I understand doesn't meet EU standards....but it meets mine. The way it's worded they don't ever want you to use non chip limiting heads, here in cowboy country it's not easy to even find a chip limiting molding head and it doubles the cost of every knife ground. I've had to do the occasional curved piece with a non chip limiting head, I don't like doing it and always use a feeder, I wouldn't advocate doing it, for me it's either do it or quit, and I like my job.

[Rod Sheridan]

Peter, we're about identical in our work patterns and methods.

I use the feeder for any operation I can as it produces higher quality work, is safer and reduces guarding requirements.

I also use MEC cutters with a feeder, I guess I'm lucky, it's easy for me to buy or order MAN cutters as I live in a large city.

I think it's the best shaper book out there, not because it's so great, rather that the others are so poor on the safety aspects, which are hard for a hobby user to learn without a qualified mentor or a good book..........Regards, Rod.

[Erik Christensen]

every other major tool in my shop has good to great references commercially available that show an ignorant novice how to use the tool and do so safely... except the shaper. It must be that this tool is assumed to only be used in a professional setting - "you need to know how to use the shaper go ask the shaper guy over there". It is my favorite tool despite the fact that I am clueless about its true potential.

[Joe Calhoon]

Here is a link I found for the EU that may offer some additional info. http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/wis18.pdf

Rod, I'm not against safety,all for it actually , my problem with the book is that it spends a lot of time showing lots of safety mechanisms for hand feed that can all pretty much be avoided with a power feed, and my recollection is there is little time given to proper use of a power feed, just a "here it is" discription. For most of my power fed set ups there is no room for a shaw guard and really no need, though a back fence or pressure module is often useful. I find the book very doctrinaire in its approach to safety and less practical. I would.certainly advocate using MAN cutters for hand fed operations, I work often under a guy missing 3 fingers from a shaper accident involving corrugated cutters and a large curved casing. This accident could easily have been avoided with proper guarding and a power feed which he didn't bother to do....accident happened close to close on a Friday! Big rush changed his life. I regularly use a MEC euro block with a feeder which I understand doesn't meet EU standards....but it meets mine. The way it's worded they don't ever want you to use non chip limiting heads, here in cowboy country it's not easy to even find a chip limiting molding head and it doubles the cost of every knife ground. I've had to do the occasional curved piece with a non chip limiting head, I don't like doing it and always use a feeder, I wouldn't advocate doing it, for me it's either do it or quit, and I like my job.

Well said Peter
You have pretty well nailed it for the US. I been in enough Euro shops the see the experienced hands are doing the same over there.
As I have said before I keep my templates simple to the point where they might look dangerous to some. I would recommend to anyone starting out to overbuild the templates and put the handles and guards when you can.

As for placement of the feed wheels in the video. I normally use the middle but these were pretty tight radius curves and wheel in front works easier for that. Way back I used to turn the feeder up on its nose but that is hard with the feed arm on the Martin. Easier to remove wheels.

Shaped some full Roman arch window heads today. They were too small to use the feeder but easy by hand.

Joe

[Larry Edgerton]

I think Joe should write an advanced book! I'll buy one.

I am self taught and never worked for anyone else with a shaper so I imagine solutions and pick up ideas here but it would be nice if there was a pro grade reference book I could consult. I know I could learn a lot.

Larry

[rudy de haas]

I don't know if Joe is the right guy, but someone should.

Getting it commercially published might be nearly impossible, but probably unnecessary. If someone did a good piece of work, web publication should work very well for it because the user community is small, focussed, and generally reachable.

[Mel Fulks]

I don't think a good one will be written any time soon. Mfgs. dont mind saying they keep instructions at barest minimum
because lawyers tell them it lessens liability. All the moulder operators I've known who used square heads and hand ground knives were excellent because they learned from older guy as his successor . I call that " the do it exactly like this or get out method". If they had to make a single piece of crown they did it quickly and with the bevels cut. With one exception all the moulder operators who learned in a school apparantly paid no attention to proper indexing and usually
SAW the bevels because " it's too much trouble to set up the bevel knives for small quantity" I have seen them run a pile of pieces and bring them to a bench for someone else to SAW them. A school for shaper work is needed where one would
be awarded certificate stating what they can do ,and that would be quite different from the often heard "anything".