I have noticed that router tables have really edged out shapers in the last few years in most home shops and it isn't because router tables are any less expensive. This has been a big reversal from the days when we mostly saw router tables as a space-saving, less expensive route to making moldings and other shapes. Back then you bought a shaper for serious work and the router table was relegated to rounding off stock or cutting a little ogee.
My shop has both - a shaper that I like for heavier and bigger projects and a router that is mounted to the extension on my table saw that I use for lighter jobs. Both serve their purpose well. The router can handle some big bits, but I tend to buy shaper cutters when they get too large and the shaper can use any of my router bits in addition to the conventional cutters.
I figured that there must be some distinct advantages to a router table over a shaper that induces woodworkers to spend much more on them than it would cost them for a good shaper. Maybe because I'm using both of them for different tasks I have missed something?
Pete
My shop has both - a shaper that I like for heavier and bigger projects and a router that is mounted to the extension on my table saw that I use for lighter jobs. Both serve their purpose well. The router can handle some big bits, but I tend to buy shaper cutters when they get too large and the shaper can use any of my router bits in addition to the conventional cutters.
I figured that there must be some distinct advantages to a router table over a shaper that induces woodworkers to spend much more on them than it would cost them for a good shaper. Maybe because I'm using both of them for different tasks I have missed something?
Pete