I am thinking about picking up a small shaper, something around 1.5hp-2hp. I would not have space for both the shaper and my current router table in the shop. My RT setup is a shop made table made from a 4'x 20" piece of laminate counter top mounted on rolling cabinets with a jessem lift and incra wonder fence, porter cable router 1.75hp.
My current limitations are space, I only have room for 1 and i can not add another 220 circuit so it needs to be 110v. Over the last couple of years the table top has started to warp slightly and the router lift face plate no longer sits 100% flat. The router motor also should probably be replaced with something larger as well.
My options as i see them are:
1) stay with a RT setup and get a new table and router.
2) sell the incra fence and lift and purchase a shaper.
My questions are:
1) will a shaper replace all the functions of a router table?
2) can I still use 1/2" router bits in a shaper that has an adapter?
3) would a shaper of this size be superior to an updated RT setup with my current fence and lift and a new table and larger router?
The other factor to consider is we are moving next year and i will be setting up a new shop that will hopefully have more space and will definitely have more 220v circuits available.
Thanks