[Shaper] Using A 7" Ammco Shaper

ndnchf

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New guy on the forum here. I didn't see a sub-forum dedicated to shapers or AMMCO, so I hope this is a good place to post.

Last year I bought a nice 7" AMMCO shaper. I cleaned, oiled and mounted it on a stand. It runs beautifully and I've played with it a little, but have not really used it for anything serious. I just have the one bit it came with, so I need to grind a couple more.

If you have a similar size shaper, what tasks do you use it for - what have you made? I also have a 12" Atlas lathe, Enco bench mill/drill, Delta surface grinder and the other usual home shop equipment. So I have tools for other uses. But what kind of jobs would be best suited to this little shaper? I don't really need anything made at the moment, but would like to try some small practice projects.

Thanks - appreciate your thoughts.
 
New guy on the forum here. I didn't see a sub-forum dedicated to shapers or AMMCO, so I hope this is a good place to post.
Last year I bought a nice 7" AMMCO shaper. I cleaned, oiled and mounted it on a stand. It runs beautifully and I've played with it a little, but have not really used it for anything serious. I just have the one bit it came with, so I need to grind a couple more.
If you have a similar size shaper, what tasks do you use it for - what have you made? I also have a 12" Atlas lathe, Enco bench mill/drill, Delta surface grinder and the other usual home shop equipment. So I have tools for other uses. But what kind of jobs would be best suited to this little shaper? I don't really need anything made at the moment, but would like to try some small practice projects.
Thanks - appreciate your thoughts.
Hi ndnchf,
congratulations on the shaper!
Ammco shapers were manufactured by Delta/Rockwell and wore the Ammco badge, that's why you don't see a forum heading.
shaper bits are very similar to grinding lathe bits

i too am looking for projects to do.
as rgray said, i made some t nuts from 6061 aluminum as a first project.
i'm thinking to shamelessly plagiarize a homebrew hacksaw attachment, just for fun.
:grin:
 
I wish I had a cute little rotary table like that! It would be a perfect compliment to my shaper. That's a nice little project too. I recall reading a while back that AMMCO first made these, then they were purchased by Delta/Rockwell, but they kept the name. I'll peruse that forum - thanks for the pointer. The hacksaw mod is a neat idea. Id like to see one on a 7" shaper. Here's a photo of mine.

FinishedAMMCO_zpslxhgwqkw.jpg
 
I have the South Bend 7". I have used it for a few small projects but most recently to mill flats on round shafts. I will be doing that again real soon to make a new shaft for my Atlas Mill project.
 
Hi ndnchf,

For some documentation, you might try this page and search for "shaper" in your browser (usually control-f)
http://vintagemachinery.org/mfgIndex/detail.aspx?id=1141&tab=3

Specifically this really looks a lot like your machine:
http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/detail.aspx?id=3658
right down to the cut-outs on the belt guard.

As for interesting projects I have nothing particular, but here's some links to some jobs other members did with them:

Here is Greg (@f350ca) cutting a keyway in a gear that must weight a good part of what his shaper does:
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/building-an-aligator.24445/page-2#post-311543

Here is @francist making replacement fingers for his finger brake:
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/brake-fingers.50968/

maybe that will give you some ideas......
(I am still looking for one I remember about some dovetail ways being cut on a shaper....if I find it I will post back here)

Also, if you have not found it here's a thread on an Ammco restoration with some good info:
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/ammco-shaper-restoration-problems.31578/#post-268784

and a couple more on what to use a shaper for:
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/what-could-i-use-a-shaper-for.28881/#post-251917
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/what-did-you-make-on-your-shaper.22172/

Good luck and have fun!
-brino

EDIT: I found the dovetail way pictures....they are in post 12 in that last link above!
 
Thanks Brino! I'll read through the links you provided. I have all the manuals, bulletins etc., so I'm good there. Note the 3-ring binder below the shaper in my photo. I keep them handy!
 
I like that center drill idea, very clever. I hadn't thought of using the shaper for dovetails, bit it really is ideal for it. Thanks.
 
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