G & E Shaper, Almost ready to make chips--How to adjust stroke length and H/L trans?

Reeltor

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I am making some progress on my 16" Industrial G & E. Lubrication system is operational as is the horizontal table feed and rapids.
I have 2 questions regarding proper settings

The manual says to change the length of the stroke, stop the shaper so that the "0" is at the top, then use the square hole crank handle to adjust the length.

stroke length adjustment_c.JPG stroke length adjustment_b.JPG
I've read that there is a lock/brake that automatically releases when the crank is applied to the shaft. The lock is not releasing, is there a trick? No trick, just soak with some penetrating oil for a few days, put the trans in low gear to keep it from spinning and apply some pressure. There doesn't seem to be any type of lock or latch keeping the length to the amount set.

This is a 8 speed machine, I believe it is in "Low gear" and I can switch between the 4 slower stroke speeds, the High/Low lever appears to be frozen (on edit, I wasn't very clear what my question is. I am referring to putting and taking it out of BACKGEAR). Does it need to be pushed down to change from L to H? In it's present setting there is about 1/2" of clean shaft showing. It might have been "down" when the machine was last porch painted.

thanks,

Mike

Shaper.JPG
 
Last edited:
Nice Shaper. Please post some more photos. My 24 in. G&E has a ram crank lock that has to be released first before adjusting the stroke length. I can adjust the stroke with the Shaper cycling, but I usually do it manually to see what the limits are and adjust . I think that would be the handle on top of the ram on your machine. I think you can cycle by hand to see what really is going on.
 
After soaking the stroke length mechanism for several days AND loosening the ram location lock I am able to change the length of stroke. It is really stiff, most likely from dried oil and at least a decade of sitting unused.
I took the cover off of the back gear guts and found a lot of corrosion. So far, this is the only rust that I've found on the machine. The back gear is presently engaged. After chipping off some porch paint I am wondering about what I've marked "button/lock". As you can see from paint job on the back gear lever, it needs to move the spur gear up/down to engage the rack that is attached to a yoke in the machine to push a gear around on it's shaft. I am presently trying to loosen up the lever, gear and now this little button. There is a hole in the spur gear under where this button/lock is. I pulled a page from a U.S Army manual 16 speed shaper (1981 printing) While not identical to my 1943ish 8 speed machine a lot of the parts appear to be similar.

Rack part #65
Gear part #59
Lever part #53
Yoke part #63

back gear lever with parts identified.JPG
 

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  • GE Shaper page 20 TRANSMISSION.pdf
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I was in a similar situation, I purchased a 1956 G&E 24 in. universal Shaper about three years ago from HGR Surplus. There was no information or history available, but the machine was in decent shape, no visible damage or wear to the gears with a flash light and had hard chrome ways in great condition leading me to think it had not been abused. After getting it to my shop I began a thorough inspection of the interior. I removed the side cover and went in- looking over it with a drop light. The oil was not dirty, but may have been many years old. There was some water-less than a cup along with some sludge/dirt. All gears were in good shape, with just a small scratch on the bull gear tooth face. I removed the oil paying attention to cleaning out the small pockets in the base casting and finding some more sludge and chips. I removed the oil pump pick up and found some clogging. I removed the oil filter which was needing to be replaced. Next was a wash down of the entire interior with Kerosene in a spray bottle, with a fan for ventilation, and this was slow but removed more dirt that may have accumulated from sitting unused for years. After that was another inspection of the interior for the condition of the coating of the casting. All turned out ok. I then proceeded to apply oil to the bull gear and gear train making sure the sliding block in the crank arm was well oiled along with the ram ways. I rotated the clutch pulley by hand to cycle and inspect. I got a new oil filter from NAPA and installed it along with new oil. I powered it up and got good oil pressure and it has been operating since then. I also replaced the felt wipers-Grainger has the right felt. I hope you were able to get all of the wrenches with your Shaper as I did not and had to build new ones. Looks like your Shaper may have power down feed and that is a big plus. I use the Shaper when ever I can because the HS tooling is easy to deal with and the machine is fun to operate. Remember that any 16 in. Shaper can throw hot chips and your work if not properly secured across your shop. Be safe and enjoy your Shaper.
This my G&E truing up the top of a riser block for my press.
198188-9b4e86e13c15b0e1bc6938504c004a79.jpg198195-004a1a0b2e19a8a0ca2692264a83b863.jpg

G&E1.JPG


G&E Shaper2.JPG
 
I was in a similar situation, I purchased a 1956 G&E 24 in. universal Shaper about three years ago from HGR Surplus. There was no information or history available, but the machine was in decent shape, no visible damage or wear to the gears with a flash light and had hard chrome ways in great condition leading me to think it had not been abused. After getting it to my shop I began a thorough inspection of the interior. I removed the side cover and went in- looking over it with a drop light. The oil was not dirty, but may have been many years old. There was some water-less than a cup along with some sludge/dirt. All gears were in good shape, with just a small scratch on the bull gear tooth face. I removed the oil paying attention to cleaning out the small pockets in the base casting and finding some more sludge and chips. I removed the oil pump pick up and found some clogging. I removed the oil filter which was needing to be replaced. Next was a wash down of the entire interior with Kerosene in a spray bottle, with a fan for ventilation, and this was slow but removed more dirt that may have accumulated from sitting unused for years. After that was another inspection of the interior for the condition of the coating of the casting. All turned out ok. I then proceeded to apply oil to the bull gear and gear train making sure the sliding block in the crank arm was well oiled along with the ram ways. I rotated the clutch pulley by hand to cycle and inspect. I got a new oil filter from NAPA and installed it along with new oil. I powered it up and got good oil pressure and it has been operating since then. I also replaced the felt wipers-Grainger has the right felt. I hope you were able to get all of the wrenches with your Shaper as I did not and had to build new ones. Looks like your Shaper may have power down feed and that is a big plus. I use the Shaper when ever I can because the HS tooling is easy to deal with and the machine is fun to operate. Remember that any 16 in. Shaper can throw hot chips and your work if not properly secured across your shop. Be safe and enjoy your Shaper.
This my G&E truing up the top of a riser block for my press.
smfkt,

I used diesel instead of Kero to clean out the housing. Mine doesn't have a replaceable filter, it's the old style self-cleaning, nor to I have a oil pressure or oil fill gauge. I do have the wrenches for the machine.

What procedure to you follow to put your shaper into and out of backgear?


BTW, nice machine
 
For anyone interested, I was able to free up the backgear mechanism. I finally resorted to using a plastic wedge to drive the spur gear down off the locking pin. Now to grind a cutter and see if this thing will make chips Flustered
 
Here are some photos of the oil level on my G&E and I would think you have the same thing. The handle is for the table that I did not get when I acquired the machine. Gear selection range is by pulling up on the handle and rotating. This would be a later design change from yours. I will eventually get around to stripping the blue paint off and painting it a gray color. It has an awful green as the original paint. Send some photos when you get things operating.

G&E Gear Select.jpg
G&E Handle 2.jpg
G&E Handle.jpg
G&E Oil Level 1.jpg
Oil Level 2.jpg
 
Interesting dipstick for your oil level. I don't have a dip stick on my fill plug, and it's threaded. As a Navy machine I imagine that they wanted to keep the oil in the shaper during rough seas.

140 strokes per minute really got my attention, LOL
 
The oil plug/level is made of aluminum and would not be hard to make. You could drill and tap the plug you have now for a round bar level gage and letter stamp.
I did have to make an adjustment block for my outboard table support. I used 5/8 dia. dowel pins and tapped the block 5/8-unc. This will keep the table from drooping under heavy loads/cuts.
Yes it will stroke over 100/min. but I have yet to go over 30/min. Start slow and work up to higher speeds. Short strokes can use faster speeds. Longer strokes need slower speeds. High speed= high risk with me. Please keep posting your progress. And thanks for saving another Shaper and that part of our history.
Outboard Support Adjustment1.jpg
Outboard Support Adjustment2.jpg
 
With the high cost of cutters and inserts there's no wonder people are buying shapers over mills in some areas. Or is it all areas.
 
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