Reviving The Shaper

This shaping powerhouse has fallen out of favor of router tables, but in some instances, it may be the better tool in your shop.

- Logan Wittmer

When it comes to being a jack of all trades, the router table may be king in the shop. From joinery to shaping, they do it all. However, in my opinion, there's a cousin of the router table that may be even more versatile. And that is the shaper. If you'd look back 20 or 30 years, I'd wager that you'd find as many shapers in shops as router tables. However, the advances in router motors and lifts pushed many shapers out of the shop. But that shouldn't have been the case. There are many situations where you may be better off with a shaper versus a router table. Yes, I'll admit that shapers are generally a production-geared tool. They are designed for all-day use, cutting raised panels and doing production work. However, you don't need to run a cabinet shop to take advantage of a shaper.

1 Shapers utilize a spindle to hold the cutters. Modern shapers will have replaceable spindles, and even router collet spindles.

Like a Router, But Not

On the surface, a router table and a shaper do the same thing—they spin a cutter. The biggest differences are the bits, the bit holding, and the power behind the machine. Let's put it this way. Picture the router table as your commuter sedan. It gets you to and from work. The shaper, however, is an 18-wheeler. Sure, it can be a daily driver, however there's signifigantly more power behind it. When you must haul a trailer full of freight (or spin a big profile cutter), the 18-wheeler will do it whereas a sedan will not. A shaper is like that—it will spin a big bit with enough power to make a full cut.