Shaper Workstation

[Bertotti]

With the current promotional I finally jumps on the Shaper Origin. Thanks to everyone who helped me decide by answering my mundane or not questions!

Now that I have finished a project I found one of the drawbacks for me was the little tiny table on the workstation, not the tape-covered table although I do wish it was about a foot wider, I refer to the little moveable extension out front. I see several mods and replacement ideas for the table online and one in the Shaper hub. However, I decided to go basic. I replaced it with some 3/4'mdf. I'll add some holes or slots where needed as I delve into this faster but this size works so much better for me. Here is a picture of a wasteboard I was using for cutting pressed into service. The original table is on the right side of the picture so you can get a visual of how much bigger I went. I did have to change the screws and went with 1" ones but they are metric so if you run to Ace or somewhere in the state,s they have them in the metric location. Thanks again, everyone.

 

[Bertotti]

Question. Why does Shaper say you shouldn't run shaper tape more than 3 feet? I have seen some on youtube much longer. What is the potential issue?

 

[Crazyraceguy]

I didn't know they said that? I know I have seen it done much longer than that though.

Maybe they are concerned about the domino pattern repeating?

 

[Bertotti]

This is where I read it. Maybe it was true for an older version and the info hasn't been updated? I don't know.

 

[Bertotti]

Opps I forgot to add the link. I read it on the SO help pages.https://support.shapertools.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002790213-Using-ShaperTape

 

[assembly_studio]

I believe the issue is a concern over stretching the tape over longer lengths which will result in inaccuracies. It seems its important to never pull the tape when laying it down.  I believe a method of laying out a piece of over 3' is to cut the tape at regular intervals and start fresh - has worked well for me.

 

[Bertotti]

Exactly so, I asked in a training class I participated in. Stretching and curving can affect accuracy as can rotating the origin from parallel to the tape. I asked about that as well because of some less than perfect inlay fit and I wondered if my turning almost 30% from parallel was the cause. Turns out it may have been. Good info. Sadly I missed the second training, they had them at 1400 in the afternoon and I was working.