As my previous thread mentioned, i just sold my router table setup and moved in a used felder 700 saw/shaper. The machine has a high speed router spindle and im waiting on the 1-1/4" spindle from felder in a couple weeks. My original game plan was to use the shaper with the high speed router spindle and pick up shaper tooling as needed. Assuming over the next year or two i would get a byrd head for template work, some form of a rebate head for rebates and chamfers, and finally a cope, stick, and panel set. I read through a dozen forum threads here, and it seems like insert heads are the way to go in the long run. There are mixed opinions on steel versus aluminum heads, but i take it the more expensive steel heads are better balanced and bored. Unfortunately, most steel insert sets are freaking expensive--$1800+. I like the idea of insert heads, because i can invest in well balanced heads once and i can have a different profile in a week with $50-100. Looking around on ebay etc, i think nice steel cutterheads come up for sale with some regularity at pretty good prices. Looks like for the same price of a new aluminum head from freud, i can have a steel head from rangate or some other manufacturer. One, some of these manufacturers are no longer out of business, but i see some insert makers can CNC new profile inserts. Is this true or are some of these proprietary and rendering out of stock heads obsolete in the future? Anything to avoid or look for when buying used insert heads?
My current thinking is it's alwas conservative to buy as you need it, but if buying used steel tooling is the best long term approach, then i need to buy when the deal presents itself. Finally, is a power feeder absolutely necessary when running a shaper? I cant seem to find an affordable used feeder, and new ones look like $1000+. Is there a means of using the sliding table or some other workholding method to safely manually feed, or am i asking for trouble? Where this is headed is i have a solid array of cabinet profile router bit sets from CMT, Sommerfeld etc. that do not require a power feed. The second i go down the shaper tooling route, the tooling is expensive, the power feeder is expensive, and honestly, the 1-1/4" spindle was kinda expensive too. Tossing around if i should limp along with router bits for the next year before i drop $3000+ to properly outfit the shaper function of the combo machine.