Mantel with glass door cabinet above

[mbcabinetmaker]

We have recently touched on shaper safety. I have decided to take the time to go into a greater depth of detail than I usually do on these show and tells and try to touch more on the safe operation of all woodworking equipment. Remember to always unplug before changing blades, cutters etc.






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I have prepared the stock from the cut list. Our next step will be to run the ends on the rails.








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I use a heavy duty miter gauge with a clamping attachment. Notice that I have also covered a portion of the bar itself with PSA 120 sand paper to prevent the work piece from slipping.








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I have a fence attached to the miter gauge but it becomes eaten away quickly. I like to use a second piece of sacrificial material. I have dadoed out the bottom of the first fence to recieve a piece 13/16" x 1" about 16" long. Each time that I make a cut this piece becomes 1/16" shorter. When it is about 12 or 10 inches long I replace it.







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This angle shows how the sacrificial piece is held in place.







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We are now ready to cut our rails.

[mbcabinetmaker]

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Rail cut.







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I have gone back to a 3 shaper shop but I use my Delta shaper for a lot of different cutters. I need to set it back up to run the styles. This is a good opportunity to show my system to quickly change between cutters. I always make a block that is the length from the fence to the miter slot. On this block I record the height setting for the spindle. The little circle with the dot represents the position of the handle that raises the spindle. Here I need to set to 3.737 with the handle in the 12:00 position when locked down.







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It is not a fancy shop built gauge like Mikes but it works!:D







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Handle positioned and locked.
















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The infeed fence is adjusted to the block. We will continue later with the safe set up of the outfeed fence.

[mbcabinetmaker]

It is critical that the outfeed fence be set to the work piece. If it is off by any amount it will tend to either curve and pull off of the fence or shift at the end of the cut. It is also critical that the fences be in alignment with each other as in co-planer. This is my method for adjusting the outfeed fence to the work piece. Set the outfeed fence with the same block used to set the infeed fence. It will be off by about 1/16". Then follow these simple steps.






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Start with a piece at least 18 inches long. Use a safety grip and make sure it holds firmly.






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With the machine running advance the work piece just about 1 inch past the end of the outfeed fence. Shut the machine down.






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Adjust the fence to just kiss the workpiece as in the bottom of these 2 photos.






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Restart the machine and advance the work piece enough to receive a second safety grip. Shut the machine down again and install the second grip. You can now restart the machine and push the work piece on through with a push stick. We are now ready to run the styles.

[dusty]

Are you using the fence pieces as sacrificial because they also act as a backer board when installed in this manner?

I really enjoy your presentations and I learn something from every one of them. Thank you for contributing your time and knowledge base to the forum.

[dlbristol]

One of the signs of a real master at something is that they can make something that is not look real easy! A second is that they can teach it! You do both!!!!! Thanks for your efforts here.

[mbcabinetmaker]

Are you using the fence pieces as sacrificial because they also act as a backer board when installed in this manner?

I really enjoy your presentations and I learn something from every one of them. Thank you for contributing your time and knowledge base to the forum.

Dusty are you talking about the backer for the rail cut or the wooden fences on the style set up? Those are not really sacrificial rather I like the wooden fences as opposed to the factory aluminum. As to the rail set up if you do not back up the rail it has a tendency to blow out when leaving the cutter. By using the sacrificial piece trapped between the work piece and the fence I always have fresh backer material.

[mbcabinetmaker]

With the shaper set up as we left it in the last post it is safe to run any stock over about 8" long. This will depend on the individual shaper and the gap between the infeed and outfeed fence. Notice that I have cut into my fences to shorten the gap. All of our styles and rails are long enough with the exception of the two 5 5/8" center styles. These also need to be run on both long sides. I always fasten several of these short pieces together to make them safe to run. This is my system.






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I start by laying the pieces end to end. The face side is always run facing down so a temporary piece is attached to the back side.





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The center styles are 2 5/8" wide and will finish out at 2 1/2". I rip a piece of 1/4 inch plywood 2 3/8" and center it up on the work pieces. This way it is not cut by the shaper and its only job is to hold the pieces together. I use another piece for a straight edge and nail the 1/4 inch plywood with 3/8" long staples. You can also use 1/2 screws.








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This is an end view and obviously taken before I nailed it down.








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Now we have a workpiece of about 11" long and safe to run. I have removed the safety grip for a better shot. Remember that when running 2 sides that the grips will need resetting on the second pass.






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I keep the 3/8 staples just for this operation. They hold well enough for the cut and usually stay in the plywood when separated. I have tried 23 gauge pins for this but they pull through the plywood and often break when trying to remove them from the work piece. The staple holes are not that noticeable after filling and sanding and they are on the back side of the door or panel. I once tried 2 sided tape but do not trust it.





In almost every instance that I have seen someone hurt on a shaper or router table it was because they were running pieces either to small or they did not have a properly supported workpiece. Take the time to be safe. You don't want to come in contact with these spinning cutters.

[mbcabinetmaker]

Although a 3 hp shaper has the power to raise a panel with one pass it also has a tendency to blow out on the long grain. The end grain does not have this problem. My solution is to use the jointer with the fence set at 45 degrees to make relief cuts on a the long grain.






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This is the profile of the finished panel cut. The shaper cutter has a top cutter and a bottom cutter. It also has a solid rub collar between the cutters to provide the constant 1/4 inch tongue that mates with the rail and style cuts.






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From past projects I have learned to set the jointer on 1/4" for the top cut and 1/8 inch for the bottom cut.






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This is the profile that I start with at the shaper. It really eliminates those blow outs.






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This is a new shaper. I bought it 6 weeks ago and took the table insert to a machine shop to have it modified to work with this panel cutter. They still have not gotten to it. A 15 minuet job if I had the means to do it myself. When I finally get it back it will not have that scary looking hole under the cutter.

Much like the other setups I use a miter gauge and clamp system to run the ends of panels under 10" wide. I actually have more support here than meets the eye. I have the infeed fence and then the work piece makes contact with the rub collar I mentioned earlier and after that the outfeed fence. After running the ends on the narrow panels I pull my powerfeeder into place and this becomes one of the safest machines in the shop.








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Ends cuts made. Ready to go to feeder mode.

[mbcabinetmaker]

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With the feeder in place it makes short work of finishing the panels.






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I have sanded the profiles by hand.






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I have inserted the space balls in all the right places and with glue and brush we are ready to go to the clamp table.






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Our breast plate is assembled and we will leave it to dry while we work on the legs.

[mbcabinetmaker]

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This is the drawing for the mantle legs






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These are for the upper cabinet






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Profile of flutes