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For those of you out there using a shaper over a router table (basically using the shaper as a router table), what are the tradeoffs and advantages?

Thanks, Peter

Shaper tooling cost more, but getting a router table to perform near as well as a shaper cost a fortune as well. By the time you buy a lift and fence etc it comes down to this. If you use a table enough to invest in all the fruit it takes to make it a good one...you probably would have been better off spending your money on a shaper. If you only use your shaper now and then, you probably should have spent less of your moe by settling for a cheaper but 'functional' router table and saved yourself some floor space.

Cheers

Kim

Shapers usually run slower than routers (5-6 thousand rpm) and use cutters that "shear" the wood. Routers run faster and the bits "scrape" the wood. Using router bits in a shaper gives you the worst of both worlds. It can be done, and if your bits are sharp things may turn out O.K.
Router bits work best in routers, and a hole drilled in the extension table of a tablesaw with an extra router base screwed under it can make a decent router table that will handle most casual tasks.

I have a shaper and use the same bits that a router does . The shaper is more stable . However if you dont use it for more than guitars , u may not want to spend extra cash . Would i trade now ? HECK NO . I like shaper and prefer it

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Cheap shaper cutters are worse then cheap router bits, but once you spin some quality shaper cutters, very smooth. You may want to tell us what you want to use it for to get better recommendations. Router bits in a shaper works with very slow feed rate. They both have their place.
Rob

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I basically use my router table for a lot of things.. creating the neck outline against a pattern (would be nice to have a Shelix cutter), making braces to a pattern, routing truss rod/reinforcement channels, making endless jigs (mainly flush trimming against a pattern), cutting my binding/purfling channels (with a special jig), etc..

Already killed a very nice router from overuse I guess. I have a somewhat decent router lift but i have been thinking of getting a nicer router lift and the corresponding more robust Porter Cable router that would go with it and either building a new table or getting a BenchDog table-saw-wing-router-table but the cost for even some of these things would be way more than a decent used shaper.. thus my question..

I appreciate all the input so far..

Regards, Peter

I have a cheap delta shaper that's been in storage for a few years because I no longer have room... I'd rather have a drum sander but that's more money of course.

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