Hello,

I am a first-timer on this forum, although I have been spying for a while. There seems to be a lot of knowledgeable people here, so I hope you can help me out.

I am looking into the purchase of a shaper, primarily because of the size of bit one can use when compared to a router table (also I love heavy, vibration free cast iron and hate the whine of universal motors).

For those of you who own shapers, what size of machine would you recommend in terms of spindle size, bit capacity, HP, RPM’s etc. Have you ever wished you bought bigger? Is there any other feature I should consider?

I plan mostly to use it to make doors and panels for now, but don’t want the bare minimum or to yearn for something bigger in a few years.

If one were to draw a parallel to table-saws, I would want a 3HP, 10″ cabinet saw. A 10″ contractor saw would be underpowered and a 14″ industrial table saw is more capacity than I will ever need.

all advice is welcome,

Nutty
(the nut on the family tree)