Acorn (Atlas) shaper restoration

[Marine Man]

Thanks guys for all the support and encouragement
Shootymacshootface that sounds like an idea. I'll try something along those lines

 

[hman]

Managed to get quite a bit done over the weekend and thought I will share quite a few of the problems I've come across.
First off - paint! I don't know who the mad painter was, but I have never seen a machine so lathered in paint. Graduations, gib screws, feed screws, even the ways were covered in multiple layers of thick paint.

A bit off topic ... but I once bought an old fire hydrant, just to put in front of my kitchen window as an interesting prop. Good Grief, what a huge number of paint coats, and all kinds of colors! I guess the town where it used to live liked to change the color of their hydrants every couple years - red, yellow, white, silver, etc. It took me quite a while and many cans of stripper to get it down to the bare metal. Then I gave it a coat of primer and several coats of what I consider the only proper color for a fire hydrant - RED.

I eventually plumbed "garden hose water" to it, placed the outlet just inside the front cap, and used the top knob to operate a ball valve for added realism.

 

[Marine Man]

A bit more work has been done and a few problems solved. I managed to clean up the internal threads on the counter shaft adjustment collars with a combination of a scriber (used to pick the old thread out), long nosed pliers, an old tap with matching tpi, a thread file and a bit of patience. I'm happy with the end result.

The new adjustment collar machined up pretty well and seems as good as new

The next problem to solve was extracting a broken 1/8 bolt that holds the way wiper housing. It had broken off flush with the casing (as always)
Anyway a couple of washers and some judicious welding with the stick welder saw it coming out easier than expected. The machine was without wipers when I recieved it, so I'll have to fabricate a set when I get a chance

The broken stud welded to the washer and after extraction. Probably one of the smallest studs I have ever removed using the welding method.
Finally I can start the reassembly. Looking forward to that!

 

[hman]

What a nasty looking boogered-up thread! Glad you were able to get the stud out. And that's a very nice looking cleanup of the adjustment collar threads.

 

[Marine Man]

What a nasty looking boogered-up thread! Glad you were able to get the stud out. And that's a very nice looking cleanup of the adjustment collar threads.

Thanks Hman. I think I've been really lucky with this machine all round.

 

[Marine Man]

And slowly it comes together!
I had to machine a two inch brass spacer to fit behind the sliding block as mine was missing. Looking at other threads this seems to be a common problem on these old machines and one can only wonder how or why someone would leave them out when reassembling the machine. It's fairly obvious that something is needed there.
Anyway the ram is sliding sweetly and everything is looking good.

 

[Marine Man]

Well guys it's been a while. First I was too busy to do much and then last week our country went mad and for a time I thought we were going to become refugees. Anyway things have quietened down and the last few days I really needed time out from the real world, so I have managed to get quite a lot done. Not that much left to do, so I'm hoping the next post will be a video of the machine in action

 

[NCjeeper]

On the home stretch looks like.

 

[hman]

Very nice looking restoration. Meanwhile, best wishes for your safety!

 

[brino]

Wow, fantastic work!

-brino