# Bought a big-ole shaper today! Rockford 28"



## ErichKeane (Feb 4, 2021)

I picked up an Atlas 7B about 10 months ago now and have loved it!  BUT, found it not quite as useful as I'd like due to its size.  Mixed with watching too much Abom79, I decided I wanted a bigger one and have been keeping an eye out!

Someone only about an hour's drive from me was selling this guy, a Rockford 28" Hydraulic Shaper!  It is a giant upgrade in size, and seemed to run great!  I'm looking forward to having this in my shop instead of my 7B (which I now need to find a home for ).

Picking this up is going to be easy (the seller has a way of loading it onto a sunbelt trailer), but unloading it is going to be a challenge.  The shop I typically use only has a 12k forklift that is only so-so on gravel, so he's not thrilled about the idea...  BUT, I guess that is the next challenge


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## Armourer (Feb 5, 2021)

OOhh nice, I just got myself a South Bend 7" and am worried about the same thing size wise for mine. Only problem with mine is I barely have enough room for the 7", I wouldn't fit anything bigger in there!!


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## ErichKeane (Feb 5, 2021)

Armourer said:


> OOhh nice, I just got myself a South Bend 7" and am worried about the same thing size wise for mine. Only problem with mine is I barely have enough room for the 7", I wouldn't fit anything bigger in there!!


Oh I likely don't really have room for this big one, but went for it anyway. I think the wood shop is about to shrink 

I love the 7" shaper, it does great work!  It is way more capable than I ever expected, but I found myself with like 4 projects in a row that would be great on a shaper.... But needed 8-10".  

Face milling something while the shaper is dormant is just sadness enducing.


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## BGHansen (Feb 5, 2021)

ErichKeane said:


> Picking this up is going to be easy (the seller has a way of loading it onto a sunbelt trailer), but unloading it is going to be a challenge.  The shop I typically use only has a 12k forklift that is only so-so on gravel, so he's not thrilled about the idea...  BUT, I guess that is the next challenge


As I recall, you have a PITA nosey neighbor.  So what's your plan, park the big fork truck in your driveway for a few days?  Then park the shaper out there and maybe stake off a slab on your property line with a picture of the "new lawn ornament" stapled to one of the stakes?  Maybe mike the shaper to a speaker pointed as his house so he can enjoy it too!  Nice acquisition by the way.  

Bruce


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## ErichKeane (Feb 5, 2021)

I don't really have that bad of neighbors, I have 1 that gets angry at fallen trees on the property line, but I am pretty rural.  My driveway is pretty hidden/far from the road.


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## NCjeeper (Feb 5, 2021)

Awesome. I would like to find a 32-36" one myself.


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## G-ManBart (Feb 5, 2021)

Very nice!  Green with envy here....


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## ErichKeane (Feb 17, 2021)

SO, it finally got unloaded today!  I ended up trading my 7B for rigging services, and these guys did a great job.  

On the seller's side there was an overhead crane that they used to load, so that took no real effort.  They tied it down and drove the hr and a half to my place.  They had a 14k dump trailer with ramps that they were able to pull into my shop:






They put a hole in the concrete (apparently ~6" thick at that spot!) and a threaded rod and a come-along:






They had a winch attached to the front of the trailer to slow down its descent, so it was a mix between giving themselves an inch or two on one side, and cranking on the come-along.  Tipped the dump trailer to make it a straight shot and went at it!







The transition to the floor/rollers was pretty uneventful, but getting it to pick up the first roller was a bit of a challenge.  The plywood under it didn't do us any favors, and the rods slipped on the epoxy floor.  We used a circ-saw to shorten it a little and a hammer to get the rod under it enough to get started.











So, about this time our threaded rod in the concrete actually bent to about a 60 degree angle!  The rear part of wood got stuck on the ramp which made it a little tough and I think bent over the rod.  I had a broken breaker bar that we ended up using instead which held the rest of the time.





Next they yanked it into its corner on the rollers, just making sure the next one got under the machine each time:





Finally, they just rotated it into place!  A second mount point and the come-along rotated it pretty easily.  









The blue line was my 'do not go past this line' marker (so that I wasn't tripping over that spot in the floor constantly) and the machine is seemingly a little shorter than I expected, so I had a little more room than I needed.  

I have quite a few things to work on before I can get it running, it needs hydraulic fluid, an oiler-line and a zerk installed, plus the phase converter setup.  I have a small static converter arriving, and if that doesn't work I might just use a big RPC, but I have to suck up the cost on that one 

Additionally, I have to come up with a big wrench to loosen the gibs (which the seller tightened DOWN to keep it from moving during shipping) plus a vise handle and machine handle.


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## G-ManBart (Feb 17, 2021)

Nice!  

I had to laugh when I saw the dump trailer....I have a 14K dump trailer with a scissor lift and similar ramps that I've used to haul and unload big stuff as well, which seems to surprise folks.  I've had my eye on a couple of 14-18" shapers lately and it's nice to know I'd be okay using the trailer similarly.  

Looking forward to seeing it run!


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## ErichKeane (Feb 18, 2021)

So there is a video of the first cut! I filled up the oil (it took about 18 gallons!) And hooked up the static phase converter. It moves and cuts!

I popped some aluminum in the vise and let her go video here: first cut

I left it pretty slow for this and just used the brased cutter that was in it, finish was fantastic and stepover was about 20 thou I think?

Anyway, I also discovered that the "quick reversing" lever doesn't seem to work (it is supposed to pull the ram backwards no matter where it is), and the speed adjuster leaks oil like a sieve!

Additionally, I tried a deeper cut and found that the vise spun!

The vise itself has 6 bolt holes, 2 with alignment bits for the t-nuts (near the center), and 1 at each corner.

Previous owner only had the 2 with alignment keys in place, so with sufficient force it spun. It seems to work by using the table bolts to clamp the spinning part against the table.

 I have to make some T-nuts and buy some bolts to hold it. I also noticed the vise rotary indicator bits are painted over, so I'll strip that as well!

So, plenty to do before I put this into full service!


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## Tim9 (Feb 18, 2021)

Pipes and a come-a-long... add a long pry bar/ pinch-bar and some random chunks of wood and even a 6000+ pound machine can be moved relatively easily. Sure...there may be a few hiccups. But it can be done in a couple of hours. Very nice shaper. And I totally get your desire for a bigger shaper.


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## G-ManBart (Feb 18, 2021)

That really did leave a fantastic finish!  Love it...they're so fun to watch.  I'm dying to find one...


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## Manual Mac (Feb 18, 2021)

Most xlnt! That’ll take a serious cut.
I love the mechanical music it makes.
Congrats.


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## ErichKeane (Feb 18, 2021)

G-ManBart said:


> That really did leave a fantastic finish!  Love it...they're so fun to watch.  I'm dying to find one...


I was quite surprised actually! I was quite slow on the cut with a mediocre carbide cutter in aluminum.  But the finish is pretty good!

I can't wait to see what it is capable of with a good cutter at a proper feed speed.


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## G-ManBart (Feb 19, 2021)

ErichKeane said:


> I was quite surprised actually! I was quite slow on the cut with a mediocre carbide cutter in aluminum.  But the finish is pretty good!
> 
> I can't wait to see what it is capable of with a good cutter at a proper feed speed.


You're going to have a lot of fun with that!

What sort of rigging setup did they use to lift it with the crane?


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## ErichKeane (Feb 19, 2021)

G-ManBart said:


> You're going to have a lot of fun with that!
> 
> What sort of rigging setup did they use to lift it with the crane?



They just followed the manual, which was a strap under the front of the ram, and under the back casting under the ram and lifted straight up.  I wasn't there, but apparently it was about a 30 second thing, they lifted it, drove the truck under, dropped it (and strapped it down), then drove away!


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## 7milesup (Feb 19, 2021)

BGHansen said:


> As I recall, you have a PITA nosey neighbor.  So what's your plan, park the big fork truck in your driveway for a few days?  Then park the shaper out there and maybe stake off a slab on your property line with a picture of the "new lawn ornament" stapled to one of the stakes?  Maybe mike the shaper to a speaker pointed as his house so he can enjoy it too!  Nice acquisition by the way.
> 
> Bruce


That is Eric Mannie that you are thinking of...


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## 7milesup (Feb 19, 2021)

ErichKeane said:


> So there is a video of the first cut! I filled up the oil (it took about 18 gallons!) And hooked up the static phase converter. It moves and cuts!
> 
> I popped some aluminum in the vise and let her go video here: first cut
> 
> I left it pretty slow for this and just used the brased cutter that was in it, finish was fantastic and stepover was about 20 thou I think?


That is really awesome Erich.   Really nice finish on that aluminum.


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## GK1918 (Feb 21, 2021)

Bigger is always better good job son.


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## ErichKeane (Feb 21, 2021)

So, an update of the work I've done so far. My wife took the toddler to her parents for the day, so I had a bunch of shop time mixed with trips for supplies!

I started with a trip to Ace for some paint stripper and bolts.

First thing I did was some paint removal on the vise. I was told by the seller that he bought this out of a field, where someone had put it after painting the whole machine to protect it from rust. So the degree indicators on the vise is one location that he missed stripping.

I spent a bit with paint stripper cleaning this off, plus stoning all the surfaces.

While waiting for that to work, I worked on making Tnuts to hold the vise down! It takes 6, and only had 2 installed when I bought it, so it rotates freely. Fortunately, it uses the same t-nuts my mill does AND I had 4 blanks that I had made on my last shaper.  So the process was just to drill and tap.

I bolted the vise down, and considered that a win.

Next, I pulled the access panel on the "reversing" handle. The purpose of this handle is to let you reverse the direction of the Ram while it is moving.  It seems it wasn't working due to a plug bolt leaking, so I replaced the small oring on it, and it works!

Now that I am 100% functional, I wanted to see why this was leaking like a sieve.  I tried plugging it with that bolt, but it started coming out the pin.
	

		
			
		

		
	





However, I couldn't find my 3/8 drive hex key set (I think I lended it out to a neighbor?), So I didn't have ahhex wrench bigger than 3/8!  

SO another trip to Ace. They fortunately had a big 1/2" and 9/16", which were the two big ones I could find. I started by pulling the box and cleaning all faces and reinstalling, but that didn't fix it.

I pulled it again and looked for what I could do.  Fortunately while moving it around, I discovered that those alignment pins actually come out! I smacked the right side out with a punch and then the plate with the bolt in it came out with no issue.

That plate is actually piston shaped and is a plug for some of the hydraulics. The O ring on it looked beat up, and if it leaked by that would definitely explain the problem. My box of O rings doesnt go that big, but a trip to Ace got me a replacement. 

However, while I was out, my wife came home, so I had to pick up pizza and be done for the day.

I DID through this get some swivel pipe thread hose Barb which I installed to use for the head automatic oiler, but haven't recieved the hose yet, so it still leaks on the floor


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