: I may be picking up a table saw and jointer (and lathe, if I want it) from my
: grandma's house, and this made me think about actually doing cove-and-bead
: strips next time. Is a jointer the same thing as a 'shaper', with just
: different cutting bits, or are they whole dif'rnt critters? I already
: located bits at Grizzly if they'll work on a jointer...

Others have explained what the tools are, so I'll just address their usefulness.

I bought a used jointer, planer, band saw and benchtop shaper last week from a guy who was upgrading his shop (He just got promoted to assistant mgr. at a Woodcraft store, the lucky stiff.). It turned out to be a fortuitous purchase, as the jointer and planer really saved my bacon when ripping rib stock for the SOF I'm building. The jointer easily and quickly cleaned up the edges of the ash plank after a couple of "oops's" on the table saw. The planer is ideal for eliminating saw marks and bringing strips down to a precise thickness. If you rip your own cedar strips, I think you'll find these two tools to be second only to your table saw in usefulness. Until I bought them, I never realized how much work they can save.

I haven't used the shaper yet, but I have a router table that performs the same function. I didn't really NEED the shaper, but the price was so good that I couldn't pass it up. With both, I can now set one up for coving and one for beading, should I choose to do so. Also, having the shaper frees up my router for other duties.

I also find a band saw to be extremely handy, especially when working with small parts that are dangerouse to handle on a table saw. Obviously, it works really well for curved cuts, and saves me hours of planing when making paddle blanks. It also makes short work of the compound miter cuts on deck beams. Once I get this new saw set up and tuned, my old one will be for sale. Yeah, he got me with the price on this one, too. I guess I'm just a hopeless "power tool slut".

Speaking of which, I need to make a call about a table saw...