Shopsmith Forums

What is the difference between a shaper and a router?

When you buy the SS stand, does it come with the motor? And what advantage is there compared to buying a non-SS brand of the same tool?

I have seen discussions of the SS bandsaw and planers that describes them as being mounted onto the SS frame or operating as stand-alone units. Forgive my ignorance, but in the latter case - what powers them?

I'm waiting for my perfect SS to appear on Craigs List. In the meantime, I need to think about what I'm going to do for dust collection. My space is around 12' x 12'. I know these things are all noisy, but still, I would prefer to get one that is as quiet as possible. Any suggestions? I've seen the ...

Thank you, Ed, that is really helpful. The imprecision of the height adjust might be a deal-breaker for me.

Thanks, that is a really useful set of observations.

Maybe I've been unclear. What I want to know is if on the Mark 7 there is not just a router table, but one wherein the SS powerplant is actually serving as the router motor. I'm not interested in a table that supports a hand held router - if I were going to go that route, I'd get a stand-alone table.

Thanks. I'm actually planning to buy a new Mark 7. And yes the Incra stuff is expensive, but it will also be expensive if I buy it for a stand-alone table.

I went yesterday. It was a complete waste of my time. The presenter was terrible, and had zero interest in answering the questions of someone who doesn't already own a ShopSmith.

So "shaping" is the 7th function?

What's the difference between routing and shaping?

P.S. Both have double tilt and forward/reverse moter direction.

Can you explain what the benefits of those features are?