by kirkpoore1 » 08 Oct 2014, 13:30
I've had two shapers with 1/2" spindles, both with 1 hp motors. Both ran at 10000 rpm. I've never tried router bits, but allegedly that's too slow for smaller ones. However, for routine work, even a small shaper delivers much more power than an ordinary router and will cut much deeper. You can do most work in one pass. Safety is of course a significant concern, but the small spindle machines are less likely to grab the work than bigger ones.
Kirk