Shaper Accessories Reviews

I have an old Rockwell unisaw. The spacing was very tight, but after I removed a small panel cover, it fit just fine. What a treat to be able to move that beast of a saw with ease.

The base fit my Delta Unisaw perfectly and moves around quite smoothly. The pedal takes a little practice to let the saw down gently.

The mobile base is a perfect fit for the saw. It is easy to use and so compact that it does not get in the way when I use the saw.

I bought one of the packages recently and love the
mobil base. I have the same one on my table saw and
life is much simpler with them. The router spindal is
another story. It is of great quality but it has a
3/4 shaft. Now my Delta heavy-duty shaper model 43-379
has a 3/4 and 1/2 spindal with a 1/2 shafts. Since the
shaft size is not given in the promotional reveiws I
thought it should be. Great deal if it fits.

I am very please with this accessory package. I have a small shop and the mobility offered by the base allows me to easily move the Shaper where needed and then back to the storgae area. I have found the base to very strong and well constructed. I have used the Shaper many times and the base shows no wear and tear. I have used a generic mobile base and find the one in this package far superior.

I am very pleased with the spindle accessory as well. I am able to use all of my router bits and door making kits without having to buy any shaper cutters. I may break down and get a set later though. The fit and finish of the spidle is great. It, along with my shaper, have given me results superior to work I have done in the past.

This is a pricey tool and I thought long and hard before my purchase. I am soo happy that I decided to make the purchase. The shaper performs as well as it looks. It came with less than .0015 run out in the spindle and .00213 tolerance across the entire 40" of the tabletop. It's fit and finish is great and its ability to shape makes my 3hp router look wimpy. The fence system hold downs are a little arkward but time and use has settled my negitive feelings about the usefulness of the system. Do not hesitate to purchase this machine, it is a joy to have the power and accuracy given by this unit. I say this after holding my breath hoping Delta had not forgone quality for price in shifting production to Taiwan---They have not in this machine, it is the equal of the other USA machines that I have owned for many years. HOPE THIS HELPS.

I just set this machine up yesterday and I love it already. I have been in the cabinet business for years and this is the most easily adjustable fence I have ever used. This shaper is worth the price.

According to Delta, this clamp may also be used on the miter gage for 10" saws; especially usefull when crosscutting.

If you already have the Delta Shaper this stub spindle fits
(43.355) then you're already half way there! This item lets you use both 1/2" spindle shaper cutters and 1/4" or 1/2" router bits
Fit and finish of the accessory was very, very good. No idea if it is made offshore, but given Delta's track record the last few years it wouldn't surprise me. Nonetheless, it it a well made accessory and given the amount of machining to make it the price
Amazon charges is quite reasonable.

The stability and usability of the Delta shaper is far superior
to any router table setup I've seen yet. This accessory will let
you leverage your collection of router bits and avoid the high cost of seldom used shaper cutters.

Amazon was a little slower than usual getting me this item, but
then hardly any other online tool source could even order it! Kudos to Amazon for getting me this fine addition to my tool collection.

Item well packaged and delivered in good condition. Very satisfied with quality and delivery

I purchased this machine with the idea that I would give up my router table. I have and use both the shaper and the router table. The shaper I use for heavy cutting application with 4/4 and above projects. It eats wood - and in doing so cuts time required for any project. As a furniture maker my projects normally require some shaping. Under 4/4 wood the router table is the primary shaping power tool I use usless we are making repeated cuts as in machining flooring - then the shaper is the tool of choice. I have run about 4,000 brd feet through the shaper. If I had the need and was looking for another shaper I would purchase this one again.

I am an amateur woodworker - handyman and have been looking for a router table for some time. I decided that a shaper would do everything that a router table could and then some. My tool buying philosophy is "buy it once, buy it right." This Delta shaper is exactly what I needed. It has the router bit spindle included - both 1/4 and 1/2 inch collets are supplied.

This is a solid, heavy piece of woodworking machinery. The fence assembly is cast iron, and the spindle adjustment has a heavy hand wheel that allows for extremely precise height control. With the exception of the fine adjustment dials on the fence, everything is overbuilt. (Yes!) It has plenty of power to spin up large cutters for panel raising and making rail and stile doors. It is very smooth, almost no vibration.

The fence and safety system take a little getting used to, but are quite effective. (Okay, I don't use all the safety shields because they sometimes get in the way.)

I have only two complaints about this machine:

One of my extension wings is not perfectly straight. (Can't get that thing level with the main table to save my life!)

The overload switch on my machine was set wrong. It stopped working on the third use. All that was required was opening the power switch assembly and turning a screw - not a big deal fortunately.

Overall I am very happy with this machine and would recommend it to anyone looking for a bit more than a simple router table.

(Oh yeah, hope you are handy with electrical wiring because you will need a 240V outlet to run this beast.)

This machine is an upgrade from my previous shaper which was a Jet JWS-22CS. It cost me several hundred dollars to make the change but it was well worth it. I have been a woodworker since I was a child. My father was a master carpenter and he introduced me to woodworking at a very young age. I have always had access to quality machines which makes me very critical of quality issues.

I was very disappointed with the JWS-22CS from the beginning but to speak fairly, I was expecting too much for the price range of the machine. I have discovered no significant quality issues with the Delta shaper. I set it up in about an hour and everything worked right the first time. The fence is the best I have ever used. It is accurate and easy to move and adjust. I must admit that with all of the safety guards and shields included with the fence in place it is very difficult to use the machine and I removed most of them. The machine has excellent power and runs very smooth and quiet. With dust collector connected and the canopy adjusted properly virtually no chips escape being collected. It is easy to make adjustments, change cutters, and change spindles. The mobile base precisely fits the machine and is adequately built to easily handle the weight of the machine.

I am digging very deep to find anything negative to say about this machine but here goes: For the price of the machine I think the 1/2 inch spindle accessory should have been included and the table extension surfaces are not finished to the same quality as the main table but the finish is satisfactory.

In summary, this is an excellent professional quality machine and would be a fine addition to any wood shop. I have several American made Delta machines and am extremely satisfied with all. If you are looking for a quality shaper at a fair price this machine is probably the best choice you could make.

In general, products from Taylor design (Incra products) are well engineered and well made but are overpriced. You can pay far less for similar features in another fence or make your own for less. You cannot easily mount accesories to the intellifence such as featherboard hold-downs due the the lack of standard sized t-slots on the face of the fence. I actually mounted two hardwood boards the the faces in order to mount a t-track, greatly improving the usefulness of the intellifence. You shouldn't have to modify a fence. The bench dog fence makes much more sense and is cheaper. Would not buy it again. Build your own fence! (especially if you have a joiner to make a nice flat face)

I have owned the Intelifence for almost 1 year and it is one heavy duty, rock solid fence. Once set up and clamped down, it will not budge. This is a well thought out fence system with the ability to perform a variety of cuts. I especially like its edge joining ability. To be able to get an edge perfectly straight is priceless.

It also helps that the owner's manual is very detailed and well illustrated. If you want precision, time after time, this is the way to go.

I have not even begun to use all the capabilities of this fence. It is a really solid design and is not difficult to use once you read the directions. The extruded aluminum parts do not flex at all.

I have used it for cutting moldings, rabbets, and with my Jesada 2" x 3/4" diameter Flush Trim bit, as a light duty jointer. The offset is easily adjusted by two screws in the fence face.

The only complaint I have is that the table clamping screws were about 1/16" too short to grip my table top. I remedied this by adding 1/4" thick strips of wood to the underside of the table ends.

If ever there was a piece of woodworking machinery that required precision engineering and solid construction it's a shaper. The spindle must be perfectly balanced, straight, substantial in size, and must be at absolute right angles to the tabletop. In addition to a solid structure for the spindle, the raising and lowering mechanism for the spindle must be very precise and finely threaded. This allows dead accurate motion up and down in measured intervals i.e. one full turn of the hand wheel equals 1/64 of an inch spindle movement with no "slop" in the action of the wheel. The fence on a shaper must also be accurately made and rock solid to withstand the force of a feeder pushing against it.

Of all the machinery made by Delta that I have experience with, this shaper meets all of those requirements with flying colours. This is a well-designed well-made machine that is built to last. Mine has a fixed 1" diameter spindle although I wish I had a 1 1/4" diameter spindle as most shaper heads are made for a 1 1/4" diameter spindle. Delta makes interchangeable spindles from 3/4" to 1 1/4" diameter, but you must purchase the model that allows spindles to be swapped out to take advantage of this. Delta also makes a spindle with a collet on top that allows you to use router bits in the shaper. However, this machine has a maximum speed of 9,000 RPM, which is considerably slower than most routers, so I can't imagine how you would get proper performance out of using router bits in a shaper. I've always questioned the logic of swapping spindles as anything that can be removed is subject to wear and/or damage. Shaper spindles are the last thing I would want to risk damaging for both accuracy and safety. Mine has a "deluxe" fence and since I bought mine Delta has introduced a "micro adjustable" fence. The biggest advantage to the newer fence is the ability to have very fine in/out adjustments on both fence plates; mine has one side fixed and the other adjustable. The fence on mine shipped with removable MDF fence plates, not the greatest but I have made many specialized fence plates over the years for various purposes. I'm not sure if you can attach your own plates on the newer fence or if you're stuck with using only the aluminum fence plates which would be a significant disadvantage.

Two items that I really have to be critical of Delta on relative to this machine. Number one is the "dust collector adaptor". This part is VERY costly for what it is (a piece of plastic that resembles a flange used in plastic plumbing pipe) AND it reduces from the opening in the back of the fence down to 2 1/2". Trust me, your shop vac with a 2 1/2" hose will NOT be able to draw out shavings created by the shaper. So connection to a dust collector on a shaper is essential and I had to buy a second adapter to go from 2 1/2" back up to 4" in diameter. Hello Delta, if your going to make a "dust collector adapter" you might consider making it to fit a dust collector! Just a thought.

Second is the fact that I had to drill holes for my Delta stock feeder myself (I've reviewed the feeder too). As I said in my stock feeder review, I can understand why Delta doesn't drill holes in table saw tops by default, but a shaper? These holes would not interfere with anything even if two sets of holes (to allow for alternate locations for the feeder) were drilled at the factory. Not that drilling these holes was a big deal, it's just one more thing to do and the position I used for my feeder required one of the holes to be tapped (which required the hole to be very accurately drilled).

If you are looking to buy a shaper you can't go wrong with this one, but a word to the wise, put a stock feeder into your budget. Working on a shaper without a stock feeder is risky and in my humble opinion a shaper is perhaps the most dangerous machine you will have in your shop, so do everything you can to lower the risk of accidents. The feeder also gives you the maximum benefit from using a shaper over a router, maximum control and pressure against the table or fence and a consistent feed speed results in dead accurate profiles. If your planning on making frame and panel doors, accuracy in the profiles is essential and the feeder will make your life easier and the quality of your doors much higher. Another word of advice, prepare yourself for "sticker shock" when buying tooling for your shaper... especially if all you have ever bought is router bits. Choose your shaper tooling carefully and try to get maximum benefit from everything you buy. Replaceable carbide is the way to fly, but these cutter heads generally cost significantly more than cutter heads with the carbide brazed on. However, the carbide used in replaceable cutter heads is a different composition than carbide brazed onto cutter heads and in my observations is actually sharper and holds an edge longer.

I have worked on other shapers significantly bigger and more powerful than the Delta, but in a small to medium sized shop that does not run this type of machine everyday the Delta is an excellent choice. Similar to every other machine I've reviewed I would also recommend getting the mobile base. Highly recommended.

Positives:

-- Includes 8 bushings and two locknuts (for use on two routers concurrently) -- most template sets include [only] 7 bushings.

-- Bushings and locknuts are all brass, so they are impervious to water/moisture -- should last a lifetime.

-- If a rotating router bit (e.g., tapered dovetail bit), touches a bushing made of steel, sparks will fly, and the router bit will likely be ruined. With a brass bushing, the bit will likely survive intact. E.g., once, near the end of a day of routing doors for hinges, my template's locking ring came loose, allowing the guide to touch the spinning bit and the locking ring to rub against the router-bit lock nut. Since the guide and ring were brass, no noticeable damage to the bit or router occurred.

-- Molded plastic case offers excellent protection against damage. There's no extra storage area, but none should be needed.

-- Each bushing is machined from one piece of brass -- fine tool markings from a metal lathe are visible.

-- This set costs less than Porter Cable's or Milwaukee's steel bushings.

-- Because these bushings protrude beyond the router base by only 1/4" or so, they work fine on Leigh dovetail jigs. They should also work on any router jig for the same reason.

Negatives:

-- The bushings would look better if they were polished; in fact, I polished one just to see (click See Customer Images, above). On the other hand, if polished, they will probably tarnish.