Shaper cutters

[Phillip Gregory]

The Euro block cutters' main advantage is that you can run a bunch of different profiles (about 200) on a typical 40/50 mm Euro block and the knives are about $20 a pair for each profile. You can also get custom Euroblock knives ground cheaply, my local saw shop charges about $100 or so to make a custom pair of 40 mm knives. They are the least expensive way to do molding in wood, and generally cheaper than even poor quality router bits. You can also get a limited number of knives in carbide which last a very long time and can be used in synthetic materials.

The main advantages of fixed wing cutters are they can have a very deep profile depth and they are either tantung or carbide and last far longer than the HSS that most Euroblock knives are made of. Downside is cost, they cost a bunch more. The 4 mm thick standard 40/50 mm Euro block knives have a maximum profile depth of only 5/8", where you can have inches of depth on a fixed wing cutter. Also a fixed wing cutter is going to be rated for manual feed as it is very chip limited while the Europeans deem the not very chip limited style of Euro block widely available in the US to be only suitable for use with a feeder.

I have both types and I generally use the Euro block for shallower profiles and fixed wing cutters for deeper profiles. I hand feed but am careful and keep the fingers well away from the twirly bits.

[Christopher Hedges]

The Euro block cutters' main advantage is that you can run a bunch of different profiles (about 200) on a typical 40/50 mm Euro block and the knives are about $20 a pair for each profile. You can also get custom Euroblock knives ground cheaply, my local saw shop charges about $100 or so to make a custom pair of 40 mm knives. They are the least expensive way to do molding in wood, and generally cheaper than even poor quality router bits. You can also get a limited number of knives in carbide which last a very long time and can be used in synthetic materials.

The main advantages of fixed wing cutters are they can have a very deep profile depth and they are either tantung or carbide and last far longer than the HSS that most Euroblock knives are made of. Downside is cost, they cost a bunch more. The 4 mm thick standard 40/50 mm Euro block knives have a maximum profile depth of only 5/8", where you can have inches of depth on a fixed wing cutter. Also a fixed wing cutter is going to be rated for manual feed as it is very chip limited while the Europeans deem the not very chip limited style of Euro block widely available in the US to be only suitable for use with a feeder.

I have both types and I generally use the Euro block for shallower profiles and fixed wing cutters for deeper profiles. I hand feed but am careful and keep the fingers well away from the twirly bits.

Depth of cut has been one of my concerns. Im used to making full mortise and tenon doors so the thought of gluing something up with a 5/8 tenon kind of bothers me. I realize adding floating tenons can serve as a way around this but Id like to minimize the number of steps and shoot for something with a longer tongue.

Chris

[brent stanley]

Take a look at this Chris.

http://www.whitehill-tools.com/catal...?cid=2&c2id=60

In one head you get a limiter head, shear cut carbide rebate block with knickers, and the ability to do long tenons for passage (or other) doors including with a scribe for the profile if you want.

I got a million questions about it after an event and decided to follow up with a very amature video describing it!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z7DMBfzluY

B

[Christopher Hedges]

Thanks for the info! Great video. Looks like WhiteHill is a European manufacturer. Are you aware of a counterpart for North America?

[brent stanley]

Im not aware of anyone else making such a thing, but they are very used to dealing with the us. Their smaller one takes the ubiquitous 40mm knives so you dont have to buy them from them. If you have a custom profile you want, you can just send them a drawing via email, and the knives will show up in your mail very quickly. Carbide tipped if you want.

[Christopher Hedges]

Does yours use variable blade thicknesses? What is the max depth of cut with 40mm blades? Really appreciate the review on YouTube.

[brent stanley]

The larger one takes both the cheaper, 4mm stock if you dont need the projection, as well as the thicker stuff which would give you lots of projection. DOC with the 40mm stuff is typically 12mm (3 times thickness). Really sweet rebate block too!

[Phillip Gregory]

The standard Euroblock is a 40 mm thickness head that takes 40x4 mm or 50x4 mm knives for a 5/8" (~16 mm) depth of cut. Note that is deeper than the typical rule of thumb of 3x knife thickness, which would be 12 mm, or a little under a half an inch. There are nonstandard Euro-block-ish heads out there that take taller/thicker knives such as Amana's 60 mm x 6 mm knife head that does NOT take standard 40/50 mm knives. Those have a deeper depth of cut, but at least with Amana's, the knives are all blanks that you have to have ground yourself as they offer no stock profiles for the 60 mm x 6 mm knives like they do for the Euroblock 40 mm x 4 mm knives.

[John Lankers]

The standard Euroblock is a 40 mm thickness head that takes 40x4 mm or 50x4 mm knives for a 5/8" (~16 mm) depth of cut. Note that is deeper than the typical rule of thumb of 3x knife thickness, which would be 12 mm, or a little under a half an inch. There are nonstandard Euro-block-ish heads out there that take taller/thicker knives such as Amana's 60 mm x 6 mm knife head that does NOT take standard 40/50 mm knives. Those have a deeper depth of cut, but at least with Amana's, the knives are all blanks that you have to have ground yourself as they offer no stock profiles for the 60 mm x 6 mm knives like they do for the Euroblock 40 mm x 4 mm knives.

But it's worth it

[Phillip Gregory]

That looks like a pair of stacked 60 mm x 6 mm Amana heads with finger joint knives, am I correct?

Also, nice fences on your shaper! I built mine myself out of plywood, hardwood, toilet bolts, T track, and some 2x6s, sort of an overgrown Norm Abram router table style fence, clamped to my table with C-clamps. Serviceable enough but not nearly as fancy as yours. Sure beats the 2x4 fence the PO used, and that is the absolute least of their sins in how they treated my shaper before I got it.

[John Lankers]

Not quite, they are 50 mm heads with 50 x 5.5 mm knives installed, bought these heads used on ebay from a seller in the UK for 50 GBP incl. shipping when the exchange rate was rather favorable, best ROI!!
With the stock prepared correctly I can make a complete 4 1/2" tall drawer in under a minute and a 8 1/2" tall drawer only requires lowering the cutter by 3/8" and flipping the stock vertically.

[brent stanley]

Unfortunately i cant see your pictures John.

FYI for everyone: A problem we've run into the past on the forums with shaper tooling is with terminology so just to make sure i'm not confusing anyone:

Some people say that the "euroblock" is only the 40mm high blocks with limiters. The higher ones are just referred to as " xmm limiter heads". Not sure why, but thats how theyre referred to in the EU. Typically the Amana ones available over here dont have slots for the limiters, but i suggest using limiters. They're mandatory in much of Europe for safety.

[brent stanley]

Phillip gives a good summary of the options. With some experience, people get away with bending the maximum projection rules.

The larger whitehill combi head can run 6mm stock and they offer hundreds and hundreds of profiles off the shelf for it.

B

[Phillip Gregory]

I was only aware of the 40 mm units (with or without limiters) being called Euroblocks. The Euroblocks available here in the US generally do not have limiters, my 120 mm Amana unit does not, but their 60 mm x 6 mm insert head does.

[John Lankers]

A little explanation on the setup shown in the picture and I apologize if not everyone can see it, I'm not sure how to fix this.
The cutter heads shown are known to me as "Universal Cutter Heads with chip limiters" equipped with custom ground knives for 3/8" by 5/8" box joints. However, To keep the cost for the custom knives within reason I opted to install short blancs instead of limiters matching the box joint knives. This is not an issue for me bc. I securely gang up and double clamp the pieces to the fence on my sliding table and I'm the only bum using the machine, for all other cuts I set up the feeder.
I'm not up to date on the European regulations, but yes I have one of the Amana 40 mm cutter heads with no option to install limiters, I do use it and as with everything else in life if your mind isn't there 100% you will pay the price eventually. Even if it takes 30 minutes to set up the machine for a 1 minute cut - it is what it is and a feeder or other mechanical device should be used wherever possible.