For the professional making entry doors on commission or the serious hobbyist who enjoys the advantages a shaper offers, a high-quality set of shaper cutters deliver exceptional performance. Infinity Cutting Tools offers our Shape-Up line of interior door cutters. These cutters come in matched pairs for making the coping cut on the rails and the profile cut on the inside edges of the door stiles. These will make doors 1-3/8" thick. To make thicker exterior doors, an add-on kit expands any of these interior door sets to make exterior doors up to 1-3/4" thick.
While Infinity also offers Rail & Stile Router Bit Sets for Entry & Passage Doors, the shaper offers a few advantages over the router table. The first is power. For all my gearhead friends, it's like the difference between a 250-hp, 4-cylinder engine and a 250-hp big block V8. On paper they're the same but in everyday use there's no comparison.
The other difference is physics. Shaper cutters are considerably larger in diameter than a router bit and as a result offers greater cutter offset from the centerline of the tool. This offset produces a greater shearing action at the cutting edge than is possible on a router bit. It's this geometry that often helps the shaper produce smoother cuts than a router table.
Setting up these rail and stile cutters is quite easy. If you have a 3/4"-dia. spindle it's a matter of dropping the stack on the spindle and locking it down. These cutters can also be used on 1/2"-spindle shapers with the addition of a set of T-bushings (BUS-104). T-bushings get their name from their shape and adapt the cutters with a larger bore to fit and center correctly on the smaller spindle. You can see the T-Bushing kit in the photo below. In the photo above, they're shown with the cutters installed on a 1/2" spindle.
Infinity also offers a rub collar (RUB-102) for these door-making sets that makes setting the fence easy. The rub collar is also necessary when using templates for making arched- or cathedral-panel doors.
Rail & Stile Shaper Cutters For Interior & Exterior Doors are offered in three profiles: Ogee, Shaker, and Mission-style (tongue & groove). These profiles look great with both flat panels, or raised panels.
If you would like to make a door with glass lights instead of wood panels, a Glass Door Kit (83-047) is just the ticket (photo below). And if you wish to use plywood for the panels, the Plywood Panel Kit (83-048) allows the use of undersized plywood which eliminates rattles and gaps.
As I mentioned, an Exterior Door Kit (83-046) replaces the slot cutter and spacer to create doors up to 1-3/4" thick for exterior applications. If you've been looking for the right set of tooling to make interior or exterior doors on your shaper, look no further than Infinity Cutting Tools.
