Replies

1. 
   pantalones868 | Jun 16, 2023 02:13am | #1

   A molder can do one thing, a shaper can do a lot of things.

2. 
   john_c2 | Jun 16, 2023 02:40am | #2

   A shaper has a vertical shaft, a molder is horizontal.

3. 
   eddo234 | Jun 16, 2023 04:56pm | #3

   Unless of course you're in the UK, where they call shapers spindle moulders. :-) I own 2 shapers now, but no longer own a molder, but when I did own a Williams & Hussy it did that one thing exceedingly fast and accurate. So it depends on your needs. If you're running a whole lot of crown, baseboard, or other trim a molder is great. Not so great for raised panels (although they actually can do them). I had a guy in my shop years ago who was a master on our W&H. The most exotic thing I remember doing with him was an arched fireplace surround with a crown molding and compound curves. Clamping curved blocks on the infeed and outfeed tables was the trick.

4. 
   jharveyb | Jun 17, 2023 03:19pm | #4

   In the industrial world, molders (moulders) are machines that plane all four sides of the wood. They make various types of trim, each board requiring only one pass. Baseboard, crown mold, door trim of various patterns. Heavy industrial machines.
   For the small shop/home market, some machines that are basically thickness planers are able to take knives that are ground to a pattern. They only do one face of the board. The makers call these planer/molders.
   A shaper is similar to a very large router table. Vertical spindle, using either cutters that have three wings (cutting edges) or lock collars that hold two cutters by their edges. Some of the old Powermatic shapers had a spindle insert that held router bits, so it could be used as a router table.