Ammco 7" shaper, why does the table suck

[greenail]

I've had my ammco for a bit, and finally did a real project on it. I've discovered the table kinda sucks. Am I missing something? The lack of bored holes or tapped holes make fixturing anything to it, even just a stop, a real PITA. The "Z" support also seems very in the way if you need to get inside to put on a nut through the holes. Also, and unfortunately, my shaper doesn't have the original vise and the wilton vise on there has the center pin but nothing registered in the slots.

I was considering modding the table and/or adding a fixture plate. Anyone done this and have any tips/ideas?

I was also thinking about putting a different vise on, the wilton is cast with non/square external features and tramming is a bit harder than it should be. I wonder how well a chinese GT100 knockoff would fit on there. I have a GT125 and love it.

 

[francist]

One of the first things I made for my 8” Peerless shaper was a small mini-pallet aka fixture plate. Just a piece of 1/2” aluminum peppered with 5/16” threaded holes on a spacing of your choosing. Ties down to the table with four bolts and T-nuts. Gives a lot of options for clamping, although you’ll still find that thirty percent of the time the hole you want is still in the wrong place! I use the same plate on the horizontal miller as well as the horizontal bandsaw.

 

[projectnut]

I have the same shaper and have never had any problems securing a work piece to the table. The original table has drilled and tapped holes in the top and on both vertical sides. It also has keyways on the top and vertical sides. The original vise is held in place with a key and has bolts through the base into the threaded holes in the table. Here are a few pictures of the machine.

There are also several sales brochures available from the vintage machinery website detailing the construction and the accessories available for the machine.

 

[greenail]

One of the first things I made for my 8” Peerless shaper was a small mini-pallet aka fixture plate. Just a piece of 1/2” aluminum peppered with 5/16” threaded holes on a spacing of your choosing. Ties down to the table with four bolts and T-nuts. Gives a lot of options for clamping, although you’ll still find that thirty percent of the time the hole you want is still in the wrong place! I use the same plate on the horizontal miller as well as the horizontal bandsaw.

View attachment 512909

yup, i was thinking of the same type of setup. how's alu holding up, would you redo in steel if you could?

 

[francist]

how's alu holding up, would you redo in steel if you could?

It’s holding up fine, I don’t recall any time where I’ve said “gee, I should have made this in steel…”. The only appreciable wear will be in the threaded holes — how well those threads hold up to repeated use — but I don’t have any that are stripped out or to the point where I don’t trust them. I try to be sensible with clamping though and not torque things down to the point of failure. So far it’s working fine.

I did have the aluminum stock on hand already though so it was an easy choice. If it had been the other way around and I had had the steel already I may have gone the other road, hard to say. I think the choice of fastener size will have a greater effect on longevity than material — in my case I used 5/16”-18 which I find to be a much more robust thread than quarter-inch.

 

[talvare]

Although I think a fixture plate like francist has added to his shaper would be a great accessory, I've pretty much had the same experience as

projectnut.​

I do think that the vise with machined/square external features does aid with set-ups. I'm curious if the table on your Ammco is the same as mine. Got a photo ? Here's mine.

Ted

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[greenail]

...

I don't have the original vise, it is a wilton 11614 and as you can see it takes up the whole table. It has a pin and a huge nut but does not register in the pins or slots.

 

[talvare]

Ya, it does look like the Wilton vise is a little large for this application, but depending on the amount of effort you want to put into it, the vise could very likely be modified to work well on the shaper. The base could be machined to use alignment keys or pins and incorporate a means to attach the vise to the table. You could even machine some square reference surfaces on the vise. Of course this work would pretty much require the use of a mill and I don't know if you have one. If you do, that would make a nice project.

Ted

 

[greenail]

Ya, it does look like the Wilton vise is a little large for this application, but depending on the amount of effort you want to put into it, the vise could very likely be modified to work well on the shaper. The base could be machined to use alignment keys or pins and incorporate a means to attach the vise to the table. You could even machine some square reference surfaces on the vise. Of course this work would pretty much require the use of a mill and I don't know if you have one. If you do, that would make a nice project.

Ted

i have a knee mill, and was considering doing this, also was considering making one. there is a pdf here on this site with the dimensions for the original. The wilton has casting drafts and raw sides but I wish they were square. A GT100 from china could be used for other stuff, has referencable surfaces, hard, ground to high tolerances and is only about 250 shipped.... I doubt I can make a copy of the original for anywhere near that but ordering stuff is for lazy suckers right? Ca Lem on youtube made a gerardi style vise, it looked like a ton of work.

 

[talvare]

Ya, I understand the dilemma of buying vs making. I always seem to live by the motto of "why would I buy it when for a little more money and a lot more time, I could just make my own".

Ted