Best Shaper Under $5000?

[andrew whicker]

Oh man, you need to get this ASAP. That's a 2k fence alone....

What is that exactly? Is that standard on a machine like this or an aftermarket/SCM option?

[Paul J Kelly]

That aigner fence is $2k alone!!!

PK

[Nick Crivello]

While more than your planned budget, the SCM is pretty much a one and done solution. It’s a great value given all the options, accessories, age, and condition. It will hold its value as an investment well. Local too, just rent a trailer and pallet jack if you don’t already have them.

You would still need to invest in a good phase converter for your shop, but that opens the door to a lot of good options down the line.

There are a few other options on wood web to peruse as well.

[Patrick Kane]

Nothing like the ol' upsell. I think you will be happy with the Hammer machine, but for what seems like 30% more you will have 20x the machine. You have to draw the line somewhere on this stuff, but that is a sticky choice. I do agree with others that the accessories along with that lightly used machine make it a pretty good deal. That is probably a $15,000+/- package if compared to brand new from scm. Too bad he has the tenoning hood and not the aigner bowmould. The latter would be an almost perfect setup for what you want to achieve with a shaper.

[Josh Baldwin]

Nothing like the ol' upsell. I think you will be happy with the Hammer machine, but for what seems like 30% more you will have 20x the machine. You have to draw the line somewhere on this stuff, but that is a sticky choice. I do agree with others that the accessories along with that lightly used machine make it a pretty good deal. That is probably a $15,000+/- package if compared to brand new from scm. Too bad he has the tenoning hood and not the aigner bowmould. The latter would be an almost perfect setup for what you want to achieve with a shaper.

Ha yea I'm looking into possibly getting 3 phase at the house, we'll see how that turns out. Otherwise I think I'm just gonna hold off for now. If this year ends up being super successful then I'll make the plunge and upgrade the jointer/planer/shaper to nice 3 phase models as they pop up.

[Jim Becker]

Getting three phase from the street to a residential address, even if it's available "on the street" may be a tough row to hoe and quite expensive. That's one reason why so many folks who want or need to power up three phase equipment in small shops...pro or hobby regardless...use rotary phase generators or VFDs. (The latter is cost effective for a single machine, but that machine cannot have a bunch of electronics in it)

[Josh Baldwin]

Getting three phase from the street to a residential address, even if it's available "on the street" may be a tough row to hoe and quite expensive. That's one reason why so many folks who want or need to power up three phase equipment in small shops...pro or hobby regardless...use rotary phase generators or VFDs. (The latter is cost effective for a single machine, but that machine cannot have a bunch of electronics in it)

Yea I have a friend at the power company that's looking into it for me and said it might be possible if someone has it nearby. But obviously that's unlikely. Fingers crossed! Ha

[John Pendery]

Yea I have a friend at the power company that's looking into it for me and said it might be possible if someone has it nearby. But obviously that's unlikely. Fingers crossed! Ha

I recently moved shops from an industrial part of town with utility three phase to an agricultural area on the outskirts of town. Running utility three phase to my shop was around 50k. I chose to get up and running with a rotary phase converter and just recently installed a phase perfect. The rotary phase converter was simple enough to wire, but I think I was up and running with the phase perfect in under an hour. If you buy that shaper I can guarantee you will figure out a way to get three phase!

[Warren Lake]

had a friend with three phase in a home in the city grandfathered tool and die bus in a home. In the country he had a 5,000 foot building 3 phase already there and full living quarters so sort of the same only lovely area and no city negatives.

Old guy had it put in long ago and it cost but no red tape at that time. even if 50k now it wont happen, hobby guy likely and what is your zoning. Another aspect not talked about is industrial power costs more and you pay weather you are working or not for a seperate service. Old guy didnt know about Rotos and said make sure where you buy has three phase, that was wrong. In time found out about Rotos. you lose to run them but the power is cheaper. They have a ballast effect where its more efficient more you run and no one has ever explained the reality of that but its a real thing. Likely you are not much further behind on a Roto.

A smart guy here once told me you dont quite get full power on the roto compared to real three phase. Maybe the phase perfect best of all as the manufactured phase is more accurate. You can tweak to balance a roto i think with capacitors and if one machine is giving grief then it can have caps or some electric gizmo on that machine only to work in your favour.Think the term I saw was ballast.

If you have electronic breaking your machine will wear the caps in a roto. I dont want it or need it but soon as I hear it wears caps then one more reason not to have it. That info came from someone on this site and people talk about replacing caps regular. So there is negative if you have electronic breaking affecting a roto.

Ive watched auctions for towards 30 years and that shaper is good value as its complete with many parts, its low use from the photos not done a life time of service like many. Then in shops ive seen with full maintenance records on the side of the machine old stuff can be fine and often is.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Warren, a digital phase converter will produce balanced 3 phase power regardless of load, which allows 3 phase motors to run properly.

The price of them has come down over the years, and they have higher efficiency and less losses than a rotary converter.

Rotary converters, due to voltage imbalance really affect 3 phase motors that are heavily loaded, this is often a problem with dust extractors as they run near full load continuously.

I've had experiences with shops having to replace rotary converters with digital converters due to motor current imbalance issues. A few percent of voltage imbalance can be disastrous for the motor.

Regards, Rod.

[Phillip Mitchell]

I bought a 10 hp Phase Perfect last year after running a used Kay 10 HP Rotary for some years prior. Night and day difference in efficiency, noise and voltage balance. I bought the NEMA 3R outdoor enclosure for mine and installed it just outside my shop door on an exterior wall, which added some hundreds in upgraded enclosure and bit more wiring and conduit but very happy with that choice. The PP is not loud and rumbling like an RPC with idler motor, but it does make a subtle sizzling noise and the fans can be loud when they cycle. Not a big deal in a larger shop, but makes a difference to be outside of my small 500 sq ft basement shop. It was $3400 delivered with the outdoor enclosure. $3100 without, iirc, and was very close in price to the comparably sized American Rotary RPC when factoring in freight, taxes, etc.

Balanced voltage across all 3 legs and increased efficiency given the same input amperage is very nice. It can start 12 hp shaper, 9 hp planer, 9 hp table saw...no problems.

In comparison, my older Kay (that was rated to start up to 10 hp) did struggle with both the shaper and planer a bit...as in double or triple the time to get the motor up to speed compared to the PP. Just some personal experience on phase conversion. I paid about $800 for it several years back and probably ended up with around $1250 into it overall throughout the years I owned it with capacitor replacement and other maintenance / spare components, fwiw as a baseline for a used RPC option.

I wouldn't discount an appropriately sized VFD if it's really just going to be the one 3 phase machine, but rotary / phase perfect opens up so many options down the line for more 3 phase deals.

[Cary Falk]

LOL. The $5000 budget is now up to $10,000.

[Nick Crivello]

LOL. The $5000 budget is now up to $10,000.

just trying to be helpful…

[Jim Becker]

Yea I have a friend at the power company that's looking into it for me and said it might be possible if someone has it nearby. But obviously that's unlikely. Fingers crossed! Ha

If you have aerial power supply, it's easy to spot a three phase setup for one or more customers...there will generally be three transformers on the same pole, each connected to one of the three high voltage lines up top.

[Phillip Mitchell]

LOL. The $5000 budget is now up to $10,000.

Always funny how the budget can creep. In all honesty, the OP could get by with a used med duty machine for ~1-2k and save the rest for a feeder, nice tooling, etc but since the starting budget is where it is, it opened up the door to lots of other options. Lots of ways to accomplish his goal within the intended budget and it's always worth talking about all the options, imo.