flannery wrote:Does anyone have any insight on the shaping attachment? It seems like SS offers, or has offered, several versions of this. Would I be able to use my router bits along with this?
Others will chime in too, but here's my 2 cents:
1. The shaper fence (with the adjustable two wood faces) is used with the drum sander or the shaper where the faces are adjusted to match the reduced width of workpiece on the outfeed side.
2. The routing/shaper shield is used with both routing and shaping operations.
3. Routing is possible, with non-Shopsmith router bits as well, but depending on the project, I never found much use for this function as compared to other router options (stand alone routing set-ups or hand-held routers). The top speed of a Mark V is less than desired for high quality routing.
4. Never used or had shaper attachments, so 2 cents may be overpriced.
Besides the Product information, you should (if you haven't already) explore the other Woodworking Tips, on-line Sawdust Session videos, and the "sticky" posts at the top of the Maintenance and Repair Forum. Some of the material may not be flashy or slick, but good solid advice nonetheless.