[Shaper] Using A 7" Ammco Shaper

Indexing for the splines is right there in Your face. :D The holes were laid out on a rotary table. I used the level from a Starrett square head and 2 close fitting pins to level across 2 holes. After finishing the splines the holes were turned off giving the customer no idea how it was done. Was wondering if anyone would notice.
 
Nice find I have one just like it but not in as nice a shape. Mine was in a ditch behind an old shop. Just so much useless junk sitting around. Cleaned up nice the bull gear is fiber and had a bald spot missing teeth where it tool would strike the material. I rotated the gear so fresh teeth were in place for the power stroke used JB Weld to fashion new teeth at the rear of the stroke where there was no load and she cuts smooth now. Having a full machine in the garage not much use for a small shaper. To answer your question I used it for cutting key slots in some parts I had made. Not wanting to buy a broach it worked like a charm. Made a tool similar to a boring bar but attached on the end by a bolt on the clapper box. I was cleaning the shop today and dug it out to use it / play some.
Jack
 
I use mine for machining flat surfaces on anything from a clamp to hold down my panavise, to an adapter plate to mount a Sherline spindle assembly on a Taig mill. It can work while I am doing something else and uses cheap, easily sharpened lathe bits. It can make angled cuts without the expense of special cutters. The main reason I use it is it is fun to watch all of the moving parts in action, just to make a flat surface.
Chuck
 
I have a little earlier model AMMCO 7" shaper. About the only notable difference I can see is the earlier version has only a single oiler on each side of the ram. It came straight from the Badger Ordinance Depot in Baraboo Wisconsin. They shut down the place a few years ago and auctioned off all the machine tools. A friend of mine went to the auction looking for a dividing head. It just so happened the shaper was in the same lot as the tool he was looking for. He knew I was looking for a shaper so he bid on the lot and won.
Mine is a WWII vintage complete with an OD paint job and plaque proclaiming it meets the War Board standards. It's in like new condition except for the scratched paint that shows it has "experience". From what I can tell the machine was mainly used for brass parts since that was the only swarf I could find on it when doing a thorough cleaning.
I use it mainly for flat work and slotting. I'm in the process of fabricating some tooling for internal keyways.

Here are a few pictures taken in 2014. The machine is a little cleaner now and resides in a different section of the shop


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I recently acquired one of these gems as well...Have not used a shaper in a coons age but the principle is wickedly simple.
I am going to set it up to do internal a 4 mm key way I have these hubs for tools I make and the bore ranges from .467 to .900
The key ways are cut on a 5* taper so there is that. It is between 1.375 to 1.500 length of cut.
My quandary is trying to make a tool holder that will hold my cutter that will have the strength to make these cuts in the smallest of the bores and yet be able to do this efficiently.
I currently use a broach and an arbor press but I am growing tired of this process as this job should run for about 10-15 more years for me, then I can pass the torch to the next individual to make the tools
So any thoughts or experiences on making a tool that will work?
4 mm square key way.
I have thought about just welding it to a bar or square stock but on the smaller bores there just will not be much room for chips.
The smallest of the bores is not the most popular so I may just broach those and use the machine for the higher volume parts.
The machine came with a tool already and it was for what you ask?, a .150 wide key way AND it is long enough to do the job, but with relief already ground it is not wide enough to get the key cut without moving it over to going to depth a second time. Dang so close...lol
Goal is to load part, start machine, adjusting the tool head while running to get the proper depth of cut.
With so little experience using the machine and the types of tooling that can be used it is kind of like writers block. I guess I have to go back to the beginning and look at it this way..
Highly unlikely I will or could break this machine being that I am machining aluminum, so I will just copy what is on it, but a tad bigger to allow me to cut the 4 mm key and if it does not hold I will have succeeded in proving one tool that won't work and try something else..
 
Here's a link to the 1955 AMMCO Shaper Manual:

http://www.lathe.com/catalogs/Ammco7ShaperColor.pdf

Page 6 shows one style internal key cutter in use. Page 7 shows 2 additional different style internal key cutters. I've made both styles, and they seem to work just fine. Also if you Google images for "shaper internal key cutting attachment" you'll see several other variations, including some that use carbide inserts.

Note: There's also a 1950 version of the same manual (No. 27-100) that doesn't have the same attachments listed or shown.
 
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