Changes at Shaper Origin

[Al Olme]

The folks at Shaper have announced at as of Oct 31 they are stopping direct orders and will be fully integrated as a division of Festool in 2027.

In the meantime they are having a sale, which isn't all that normal for them. After the Festool acquisition it probably won't happen again since Festool is well known for not having sales.

Shaper and Festool have been working together for a long time. The Shaper spindle is a joint design with Festool. A bonus is that Shaper will now go to a 3 year warranty [like Festool] instead a 2 year warranty.

There's a $200 reduction on the Shaper Origin and it comes with a bunch of accessories [about $300 worth] that are the sort of stuff that most folks end up buying. As well as the basic Shaper Origin stand alone, there are a number of package deals that have different discounts. If you order the whole system it comes to almost $900 in savings [some of that is free accessories] but you have to spend a lot of money to get the savings. I guess it depends on the weight of your wallet.

Recon Origin 1's are available from Shaper Tools for about $1,900 but are not always on hand. If you want one they notify you when a unit becomes available.

So, I'm guessing that there are going to be a lot of Origin 1's on the market at reduced prices. Remember that there's only one more software update coming to the Origin 1. Despite that, the Origin 1 will remain a really amazing tool and Shaper Tools say they will continue to support it but it won't be compatible with newer software.

Here's a link to the deals Shaper Promo .

 

[JNCarr]

They likely want to get rid of all stock that isn't green.

 

[JayMan72]

Well it’s unfortunate that this will now get even further out of reach for hobbyist wood workers.

 

[Al Olme]

Well it’s unfortunate that this will now get even further out of reach for hobbyist wood workers.

Jay,
A couple of thoughts on that...
1. Shaper is already a "premium priced" tool. They aren't likely to get much higher just because of the acquisition. Shaper and Festool already have been working together for over a decade.
2. The Origin Gen 1 that has been selling on the used market for ~$1,800 or more will probably drop to the $1,500 neighborhood. I'll be selling mine this fall and I'm confident others will be as well.
3. Shaper has come up with a new fancy spindle that fits the current and new generations. I got one in the evaluation phase. The new spindle didn't make much of a difference in use so I wasn't impressed until they casually mentioned that the new spindle's capabilities would be expanded in new software releases. No idea what that means but I want to find out.

This has nothing to do with the acquisition but Shaper has been selling a software add-on called AutoPass that lets you specify the final depth of a cut. Up until AutoPass you had to make your own steps in depth change until you reach the full depth of your cut. For instance, if you want a 3/4" final cut you might make 3 passes, 1/4 inch at a time. AutoPass takes your final depth and the size of your bit and computes the number of passes to get to depth and adds a .005" full depth finishing pass. I can see that same thing done with speeds on the new spindle. BTW, AutoPass is sort of built in if you used the BenchPilot accessory to push the Origin around.

Not "real" CNC yet, no ramped cuts, but it's getting closer all the time and it fits in a Systainer.

Sorry for rattling on so long.

 

[JayMan72]

I hope you are right but my experience with acquisitions like this just means that within a few years the costs will continue to get worse. I am not talking about regular price increases either.

I hope I am wrong but the corporate world is slowly killing wood working just like its killing everything else.

I know I sound like a curmudgeon but just in the short time I have been doing this hobby (10 years) I have watched it go from within reach for most to out of touch to most.

And what sucks is that as 3d Printing has gotten more within reach I'm afraid less and less young people will be interested in what we do.

 

[Al Olme]

Jay, You could be right, but I hope you're not.

 

[Echd]

The shaper is an interesting tool and I wouldn't mind getting to play with one, but I personally can think of very few things I do that aren't better served with a hobby grade cnc like a onefinity or shapeoko. That said, i've seen a few wild projects online... but gantry mills are getting better and cheaper. I hope they continue to refine their lineup but when I saw their gantry mill style attachment that worked at under 40 IPM I was left scratching my head.

 

[Michael Mathews]

If there are any people in the Chapel Hill area (or reasonable distance away) that would like to test drive a Shaper Origin, I have a Gen 1 unit that I use often enough that I know how to use. I don't use their on-board design tools much as I'm fluent in CAD and can quickly design most anything in Fusion 360 and export to SO. I've done a number of inlay type projects both larger and smaller as well as some other stuff. Feel free to reach out of you'd like to coordinate some time in my shop to try it out!

 

[jlwest]

You may be right but it is not something you really need for woodworking.

I hope you are right but my experience with acquisitions like this just means that within a few years the costs will continue to get worse. I am not talking about regular price increases either.

I hope I am wrong but the corporate world is slowly killing wood working just like its killing everything else.

I know I sound like a curmudgeon but just in the short time I have been doing this hobby (10 years) I have watched it go from within reach for most to out of touch to most.

And what sucks is that as 3d Printing has gotten more within reach I'm afraid less and less young people will be interested in what we do.

 

[Al Olme]

I could make a similar offer but based in the middle of the state, Asheboro.
Unlike Michael, I'm not CAD fluent so I use the onboard tools and a tiny bit of Shaper studio. My favorite "design tool" is Shaper Frame.
Michael, I'm in awe of your semi circular box.