[How do I?] Atlas 7B Shaper Restoration - advice needed

Great info guys, thanks!
Bill, the motor must be of a different sort, since the capacitor is hanging off the back side. You can kinda see it in the far right side of the top center picture in post #9.
I think I'm just going to remove the 2 bolts from the motor mounting bracket and take the whole assembly off. That will accomplish the same thing, and avoid having to mess with that pin. The more I look at it, the more I think it's been peened to form basically a double headed rivet. I think I'd just break something if I tried to remove it.
 
Mine has the original Atlas motor and the cap was in exactly the same place. It was also bad as was all the wiring. Trying to find out the correct size it took is what brought me here as I searched everywhere. I found a thread here on HM where a guy rebuilt the motor on his Atlas lathe that had a 1/2hp motor and mentioned the starter cap size. Been working perfect ever since. The motor is so old it has oiler caps on it.
 
Eeets ALIVE!!
Finally got the motor rewired, all the major grease/lubing done, and the new belts installed.
I took the first cuts today, and it appears to be running very well.
I still have some additional cleanup to do, but I'd say I have a functional shaper!
Now I just have to figure out how to run the thing. The manual isn't much help, and most everything on Youtube seems to be videos of people showing the condition of theirs for sale. If anyone knows a source of print or video information for how to actually set up and run this machine, I'd be grateful.
 
South bend - how to run a shaper
The Atlas, Ammco, and South Bend (and probably Logan and Rhodes) are all similar enough that the manual should suffice.

I found the Ian Bradley books on shapers and shaper tools to be only so-so. Ditto for Kay's Shaper pages (now in book format) - for a showcase for restored shapers than any practical info. A better source of info is:
Machine Tool Operation, Part II - Burghardt; Axelrod; & Anderson
Planing, Shaping, and Slotting - Colvin
and maybe Moltrecht, also part II I think.
 
Thanks, I'll check out those books!
I think so too, Jeff, but it's possible I may be a bit biased. ;)
 
ThinWoodsman said:
South bend - how to run a shaper
The Atlas, Ammco, and South Bend (and probably Logan and Rhodes) are all similar enough that the manual should suffice.

I found the Ian Bradley books on shapers and shaper tools to be only so-so. Ditto for Kay's Shaper pages (now in book format) - for a showcase for restored shapers than any practical info. A better source of info is:
Machine Tool Operation, Part II - Burghardt; Axelrod; & Anderson
Planing, Shaping, and Slotting - Colvin
and maybe Moltrecht, also part II I think.
Click to expand...
I'd not seen the South Bend book before, thanks for the link. In looking at it the SB and the Atlas adjust very differently. I love going through all the different shaper PDFs books that are archived here on HM. There are so many ways to set these things up to do so many different procedures.
 
Elmojo said:
Eeets ALIVE!!
Finally got the motor rewired, all the major grease/lubing done, and the new belts installed.
I took the first cuts today, and it appears to be running very well.
I still have some additional cleanup to do, but I'd say I have a functional shaper!
Now I just have to figure out how to run the thing. The manual isn't much help, and most everything on Youtube seems to be videos of people showing the condition of theirs for sale. If anyone knows a source of print or video information for how to actually set up and run this machine, I'd be grateful.
Click to expand...
The next big step for me was squaring a block and checking how true and parallel each surface was. It took a lot of tweeking and fixing to get it cut flat and true over its whole envelope. I think mine was used in a school and had some hard lessons on it.
 
Last edited:
You're right, they do adjust very differently, but I can deal with that. I'm looking for exactly the type of info that's in that book - the theory of setup and operation of a shaper. Things like what shape tool to use for what cut, why it matters which side of center the pivot arm is on, how to adjust the knee and foot correctly, etc...
That SB book has most of what I need, along with the original Atlas manual. There's also an old Popular Mechanics article called "Know Your Metal Shaper" that is pretty helpful as well.
The rest will be learning the ins-and-outs of this particular machine.

One other thing that I can't figure out - the vise appears to be partially broken. When I turn the screw to open the jaws, it just backs the screw out and pushes the large "head" out the back, towards the fixed jaw, if that makes any sense. Once it's open a bit, I can easily slide the movable jaw by hand to open the vise. It seems to clamp just fine in the closing direction. Any idea what might be wrong and how to fix it? I can post pictures and/or videos if that will help, but this sounds like it might be a common/simple fix for this type of vise.
 
Member UlmaDoctor posted some good resources a while back. If I can get the link copied successfully you should check it out.

www.hobby-machinist.com

AMMCO Shaper

Not the first owner of this shaper but have just got it running. Cut a flat on scrap aluminum-- amazing finish. I need to make some parallels for my mill/drill from 3/8" aluminum stock but need to know how to adjust the stroke. Are there any operators/parts manuals available? Have a good day Ray
www.hobby-machinist.com www.hobby-machinist.com

One of my favourites that I had acquired earlier but that Mike also lists is “Know Your Shaper”. It covers all sorts of setups as well as work holding and accessories. Have fun!

-frank
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top