7" of Shapely Goodness

[Ultradog MN]

Or a planer

Yes.
A planer leaves the same finish.
But a planer is usually a much larger machine - Say a 3'+ stroke?
So unless you set one up to do a dozen small parts at a time it wouldn't be economical to use.
On a shaper you could set up a fixture and knock out small parts pretty quickly.

 

[Dave Bonzo]

So, slight update: I finally got some time to throw the vise into a tub of kerosene, which - for the record - works really well at stripping grime. That was a very good suggestion...and pairing it with bronze wool made the job pretty quick and painless.

Pictured: And also somewhat...gritty.




I love cleaning stuff with bronze wool; it's basically scratch-proof, which doesn't seem to be the case with certain Scotch-Brites...and the more I think about it, the less I want to restore any of this machine. This is the basic problem of conservation: how far do we go with the cleanup? You don't want to remove the story and the history, but you do want the piece to be stable and workable for years to come; in this case, I think it's just going to be de-griming and removing the worst of the dirt.

Pictured: The worst of the dirt.




I questioned whether I should pull the vise apart at first; I'm always afraid that I won't be able to get whatever-I'm-taking-apart back together again...so most of the photos I took were basically just for reassembly purposes. Some of them looked decent enough to post, though, and I think that seeing the cleanup effort just adds to the story...and that story actually points to a machine that's been used a lot, but kept up. Example: I had originally thought to reverse the jaws on the vise to get a cleaner surface on the exterior...but it looks like someone's already done that.

Pictured: Or, alternatively, these were recycled from the scrap bin...




This is interesting, because I don't know what all of these tooling marks indicate; some of it looks like drill scoring, but other areas look like punch/drift/chisel scores...and some of the circular marks look like the fine lines you see from a leather/fabric-cutting punch. I'm vaguely wondering if these jaw plates aren't replacements, already; my hunch is that the company that was using the shaper had an issue with the original jaws and made a new set from what they had lying around...or this is the original set, and they somehow managed to mar them in this way. Either way, the jaws are well-made, and they fit correctly; for now at least, I'll keep them.

Pictured: Also, on the subject of things being well-made...




The vise screw is almost perfect. Hardly any wear, and no damage to speak of, which is a big win...as is the generally-good shape of the parts after a basic cleaning.

Pictured: Some assembly required.




Also, if we look very closely at the base...plate?... there's a little secret lurking there.

Pictured: Four more of these and I'll have a flush.




This is why I like taking things apart and not restoring them; you both find and keep all of the little hidden parts that you'd never know about, otherwise. I have no idea what this "clubs" stamp is doing here, but it's not on any other part that I could find. I don't know if that's the mark of a company or an individual machinist, or if it has some other information to impart, or if it's just a bit of whimsical decoration...but all symbols have some sort of meaning, somewhere, so this had meaning to the person that imparted it. Any ideas of what significance it might hold?

Meanwhile, in the tub...

Pictured: I regret my decisions.




I don't know what it is about bronze wool that makes it so damned messy, but you'd think that they could make it from an alloy that's both non-marring and which avoids self-destruction at the lightest pressure. Seriously, that stuff gets everywhere; I had to towel and blow off every. single. bit. of the various parts in order to get all the bronze fibers back out of them. That was decidedly not fun...but the result was worth it.

Pictured: The new hotness.




Yes, I know it's not a perfect, flawless clean-up...but I didn't want it to be. I keep going back to the storyline of the machine, and if I got rid of the rough casting remainders on the vise...frame?...and the deep cutter marks and the glazing of stable rust and the varnished cosmoline, I would be destroying part of the machine's identity. Perhaps I'm going a bit overboard in my anthropomorphism, but I do see equipment like this as having a story to tell...especially so in the case of the wartime pieces. The roughness of some of the millwork and casting - some surfaces are still entirely unfinished, as they came from the sand mold - and the main screw hole being literally off-center point towards a machine that was being made to do a job first and foremost, with the lipstick and rouge of a fine finish being afterthoughts at best. And maybe after all this time it deserves that fine finish that it never got, but for now, I think it looks better as-is.

Pictured: Official apology to YouTube channel "my mechanics" because I did not, in fact, make a new one.




Anyway, that's all for now; I'll pop it back off and get started on other parts of the machine in a few days. I need to get a belt for it, and I need to start thinking on a power switch...and that means that I need to make a final decision on what kind of stand it'll rest on...but for now, I'm going to to just enjoy it being a bit cleaner. And I'm going to find some wrenches; I keep meaning to do that, and life keeps getting in the way. So it goes.

Stay tuned.

 

[Dabbler]

That is the best preserved shaper I've seen, so I've been gushing over your thread.... you get BOTH a "nice score" and a "you suck!"

 

[Aaron David]

I don't restore, I refurbish. And while that might sound a bit like saying the same thing, what it means to me is that I will save the original paint no matter the condition before repainting. I am only part of the tools life, and I like to keep the memories of all the previous owners alive. Some will think that is a bit much, but this is just a hobby for me and it brings me pleasure. This is the 6" AMMCO shaper I found last year, and after cleaning it does have some paint/finish issues, but to me that is just part of the beauty. Also, when I worked at an auto shop, it was common knowledge that paint is only original once, and any attempt to change that will never be as good of quality.

Here is my shaper:

It is stalled right now as work on my lathe need to be bumped up, and I still need to find a 1/3hp motor that works well, but you can see what I mean. Yours just needs a bit of cleaning, and should be good to go.

 

[Dave Bonzo]

That is the best preserved shaper I've seen, so I've been gushing over your thread.... you get BOTH a "nice score" and a "you suck!"

Don't worry, I'm going to make up for the condition of this one with the condition of the lathe that I'm picking up later this month; that thing is rough...but I have a good feeling about it, so I'm going to give it a good home.

Also, I made a decision on a power switch after not being able to find any further info than "Bulletin 600." I had earmarked several that were available, so I just picked one that was for fractional horsepower motors and went with it; I have the feeling that lots of these switches were used in varying configurations, so there's probably no factory-correct offering. If my previous experience with machinery holds true, there was likely a specification for a switch that met a set of conditions, and that was that; whatever met those conditions and was available was what they used.

I know this is a complete longshot, but: does anyone have any sort of measurement/material data on the original wooden cabinet stand that went with these? I've seen a few pictures, but no actual numbers. I know it's:

1. a maple stand, with
2. five-piece overlay doors on a face-frame with a 3/4-length chamfer on the inner rail/stile, and
3. reverse raised panels on the ends,
4. a three-layer, laminated hardwood top,
5. casters on one set of legs, and
6. a dope handle arrangement on the other set.

Making the cabinet is no big deal; it's basically table-saw work, with two routes and a bit of M&T on the frame bits...so all I need to do is move my Unisaw 3,000 miles and I'll be in good shape. I'm only partially kidding about that; I don't really want to move that saw, but for simple, modern cabinetry, a table saw is nicer than cutting it all by hand...and my hand-cut rips need a lot of planing, I'll be the first to admit. And that kind of sucks as well, because I have an 8" jointer that I could also move, and which would take care of any and all irregularities.

 

[Dave Bonzo]

I don't restore, I refurbish.

That's a better word for it, yes.

And while that might sound a bit like saying the same thing, what it means to me is that I will save the original paint no matter the condition before repainting. I am only part of the tools life, and I like to keep the memories of all the previous owners alive.

I like that; it's very much in-line with what I'm trying to convey. I feel kind of the same way about my Toyota; I probably won't keep it forever, but even if I do, I'm only part of the story...so I kind of think of myself as the custodian of that vehicle, for the time being. Tools are much the same; the good stuff last so incredibly long that it's almost certain to go to another owner, someday...and that's alright with me.

Some will think that is a bit much, but this is just a hobby for me and it brings me pleasure.

No, I get it...and I think a lot of other people do, as well. I watched a video last night on the Arms & Armor conservation lab at the Met; whenever they restore a part of any given piece, they do as little as possible to it in order to stabilize it and to make it presentable enough to tell its story. They try to keep the history intact, and they go so far as to document every step of every process they use in their conservations, and they stamp each new replacement item with an "MMA" stamp to let future custodians know that some pieces aren't original. In the video I watched, they were explaining the restoration of a maille shirt that needed 149 of its rings replaced; they not only made each ring to spec, down to the finest detail, but they stamped "MMA" on the backs in letters that were about 0.5mm tall.

I'd say they get bonus points for that one.

This being said, I'll probably do a full restoration on my 80's-era Powermatic 1200...because it was made in the 80's, and absolutely nothing important took place that didn't involve the Soviet Union, NASA, 8-bit cartridges, or Mr. T...so unless one of them says not to do so, it's getting a full refresh one day.