I have seen a 3 head hammer shaper for sale and am wondering about it. I am unfamiliar with this type of shaper. We would be using it for making cabinet doors. Do any of you have this shaper and can enlighten me about them and their worth? Thanks!
From contributor Ri
Are you talking about this machine? We have had this one since we bought it new in the mid '70s. It seems to be a well built machine and it has the original motors and bearings.
From contributor Da
That is exactly the machine I was talking about. I am assuming it is to be set up with one spindle for cope, one for sticking, and one for raised panels. Is that correct? Does it have enough horsepower? Also I like to use powerfeeds and didn't think it appeared like they had enough room for that.
From contributor Ri
This machine was initially designed with specific operations in mind. I have seen some these converted to making doors, but in my opinion the HP rating is not up to par for door making. With that, those that had them modified must have enlarged the motors. The spindle can handle stacked cutters, as it is designed to already do that. The table is very cramped and short distanced between stations. I suppose for coping and sticking it could handle it quite well, but the motor is not powerful enough nor was designed for panel raising. Even the original single spindle "stacked" machine that they made for actual door making and which we purchased at the same time had to be upgraded to a larger motor for raising panels.
From contributor Ke
Ritter makes a similar machine for the purpose of cutting frame and panel doors. It has a feeder included I believe, which can be swiveled around to the different stations.
