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Hand shaper
- Thread starter Moper361
- Start date
MO there is a back number of The Model Engineer had an article on a power unit for your little shaper, Whether plans were available I do not know, But I will see what I can find out, My Adept came as a power model, I have never regretted the day my Dad bought me it, Now personally speaking I would keep it as a hand powered machine, My small planing machine is hand powered, and I can get finishes on Iron (cast), Steel, Brass , and Aluminium which can by using a broad faced tool , turn out work like a mirror, When taking cuts on one of these little machines, fairly light cuts, & patience is the name of the game, + a fine feed, by hand. If the bug bites you might wish to graduate to a power driven shaper, But keep the little hand shaper, you can plane up to a line without having a smash as you would on a power machine, Also for engraving lines brilliant.
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2017
- Messages
- 321
Yeh c
Yeh I can defiantly see you point of view with keeping it hand driven I think your right it would be better to leave it and just use as is .also keeps the tool as factory rather than modifying it
Yeh I can defiantly see you point of view with keeping it hand driven I think your right it would be better to leave it and just use as is .also keeps the tool as factory rather than modifying it
Yes you are 100% correct Moper, These little shapers are getting to be very collectable, The last of their species was constructed in the mid 1960 period. I think mine is iconic, to see its saddle creeping along its bed is pretty hypnotic, Try at some stage to get yourself a power driven pillar shaper, like the little South Bend or any of its generic buddy's, For metal removal there will be no contest, But what the heck , we are home shop machinists, Frequently in the past (Not so often now!) I had some smart a**e types come into my shop and would scorn my little machines, What is it they say that a kind word turns away wrath? Well they are not coming around now, ! Billh50, and your goodself both concur that a travelling head shaper is excellent for manufacturing a rack, Quite near where i live about 30 years ago one of the big jobbing engineering firms locally had a great long bed shaper 30 foot bed , two heads , both capable of planing about three foot stroke (From memory) Well this behemoth had four tables, It was built by The Butler Machine Tool Co of Halifax England And could it hog the metal off , you bet , One of the tasks allotted to it was cutting teeth in a 14" broad long rack, The rack was cast steel What it was for I will never know, Length Cannot remember, The interesting point I wish to make about the machine was after the machine man roughed out his tooth forms to a sheet steel template , He set in motion a pitching facility on the machine , & using carefully formed tools made by the toolsmith, he accuratelt formed his rack
Even with my little machine I have on one instance cut a dovetail in a gear , fitted a steel section & using a sheet tin template cut new teeth, , This was for a friend who had an unusual make of motor car was going on holiday & found he had burst his starter ring, I tapped it off the flywheel set it up in the little adept & carried out the repair Only temporary, It lasted five years! For once my one tiny brain cell, Lonely little thing , Felt good about itself Especially when i observed the same system five years later on the huge shaper.
Even with my little machine I have on one instance cut a dovetail in a gear , fitted a steel section & using a sheet tin template cut new teeth, , This was for a friend who had an unusual make of motor car was going on holiday & found he had burst his starter ring, I tapped it off the flywheel set it up in the little adept & carried out the repair Only temporary, It lasted five years! For once my one tiny brain cell, Lonely little thing , Felt good about itself Especially when i observed the same system five years later on the huge shaper.
Moper,
You may be wondering How I held a starter ringg about 15" dia on the little Adept, This is where a travelling head shaper scores -- Visualise the table with its vice mounted on it The jaws of the vice parallel with the front face of the machine bed, The ring was clamped in the vice with the ring encircling the table, something impossible to do on a pillar shaper, where the table moves , another thing I have done is machine long items, by clamping them to the front apron face the table is clamped to, the tool feed depth being set from the tool slide
You may be wondering How I held a starter ringg about 15" dia on the little Adept, This is where a travelling head shaper scores -- Visualise the table with its vice mounted on it The jaws of the vice parallel with the front face of the machine bed, The ring was clamped in the vice with the ring encircling the table, something impossible to do on a pillar shaper, where the table moves , another thing I have done is machine long items, by clamping them to the front apron face the table is clamped to, the tool feed depth being set from the tool slide