Atlas 7B Disassembly and Teardown! Pic Heavy!

[frugalguido]

The oiling on this shaper has to be done constantly, its a oil lost system. That is why a South Bend is better in this sense, they have an oil sump and a pump in the later models. My Atlas was in bad shape when I got it from lack of oiling, I think it was used in a school, thus the optional motor protector, in case a student jammed it.

 

[ThinWoodsman]

This is motivating me to finally get around to working on the (Ammco) shaper.

It ain't broke, but I have some mods I want to make that require removing the knee. Hopefully I can do that with just the apron removed and the ram slid all the way back. I plan to drill and tap holes in the apron and the knee for DRO mounts and a semi-permanent indicator mount (apron only).

 

[Weldo]

Thanks guys! I got some more done today. The crank arm has been removed as well as most of the feed gears and their housing. The pinion shaft is giving me trouble though. I think I have to remove the big crank gear before the pinion shaft will come out.

Here's how I got the crank arm out.

First I removed the plate on the crank arm. Four slotted screws

The plate also has pins that located it on the crank arm. It took a little prying and wiggling to get it free.

Next the block is removed from the slot in the crank arm and the large pin on the crank gear.

According to the manual there should be a spacer behind the block, as pictured below. I seem to be missing that spacer.

Here you can see a trough machined into the top of the block. I believe the idea is that you squirt oil through the hole in the flat plate that was removed a moment ago and the oil pools into this trough in the block, metering out a little oil at a time during operation.

For the following steps the machine must be accessed from underneath.

 

[Weldo]

Now we get a peek at the filthy under carriage!

Here's what it looks like before any more parts are removed.

There are three set screws to remove in order for the shaft to slide out. Two are in collars that set the shaft side to side in the machine and one is in the crank arm.

Collar.

Crank arm. The manual says there should be a lock washer and jam nut on this set screw. There's even a boss on the casting for it.

Collar.

I removed all three completely, just to be safe. 1/8" Allen.

Now the shaft is tapped through the column. It drove pretty easily for me.

Almost there!

Aaaaaaannnnnddd Yahtzee!

All the collars and shaft removed. Set screws reinstalled to avoid losing.

And here's the arm. I don't think I need to disassemble the last link, I'll just clean it up.

Or maybe I will pull it apart. I've come this far!

All that's left inside the column is the large crank gear and the pinion shaft. Like I mentioned earlier the pinion shaft is putting up a bit of a fight. It's got a tapered roller bearing on each end that seems to be tightly pressed onto the shaft and races that are more lightly pressed into the column. There's also some collars and the pinion gear affixed to the shaft with solid pins. I got some of the parts freed up but it looks like if I remove the crank gear first the pinion shaft will come out with its bearings and collars still on the shaft. I'll try to get pics when I get to that part.

 

[Rob]

Here are a couple of pages with shaper info

Shaper Book Page

New England Model Engineering Society

 

[ThinWoodsman]

Try not to let the pin fall to the floor, roll under a table, disappear for a few minutes and get covered in saw dust and spider webs.

We call that "dust blueing".

Pretty interesting seeing what differs from the Ammco. Going to see about getting the knee off today, which means dismantling the ratchet mechanism.

UPDATE: Well, that was easy. Ratchet mechanism is a T-nut, with a screw-and-washer as a stop. Slid right out, intact. Ran the table all the way out (to the left) to expose the leadscrew nut for the knee; with the knee as low as it could go, Removed the two SC screws holding the knee to the nut. Had to remove the wipers and the knee lock (the tommy bars comes right out with a drift), then loosened the gib and the knee lifted right off. The knee is now sitting on a board on the mill table, begging me not to do any lasting damage.

 

[Weldo]

Here are a couple of pages with shaper info

Shaper Book Page

New England Model Engineering Society

Incredible resource! Thank you for sharing!

 

[Weldo]

Today I finally got everything out of the column! It'll take me a few days to post up all the pics though.

Next we'll tackle the feeding mechanism! In order to get the large crank gear out some of this stuff must be removed first.

Start by removing this connecting arm. It's a hex bolt on the forward side...

And a square head on the rearward side. Incidentally, this is where you change the feed from right to left, by loosening the square bolt and moving the T nut in the slot from "L" to "R" and retightening the bolt.

Arm removed!

Next up, the housings. They are just cast pot metal (zamak) so treat them gently.

Loosen and remove the large knurled lock nut. Hold the square nut simultaneously to keep the shaft from turning.

Nut removed.

There are two flat head screws holding the feed gear housing cover. Below is the rear screw...

And the front screw.

Please ignore the fact that the knurled nut is still installed in the previous two shots. Initially when taking the pictures I didn't realize that the nut must be removed BEFORE the two screws. I thought the cover might lift off vertically. It doesn't


Now the cover comes off. NOTE! there are alignment pins below each screw, watch out for them! They may stick in either side of the housing or fall out completely.

The T nut now can be freed from its slot.

Out it comes!

More on the way!

 

[Weldo]

To get the T nut gear off you must remove the nut on the back side of the housing. You can use a large flat screwdriver on the face to aid in removing the nut on the back side.

Here's a picture of the back side nut. Notice the T slot on the right side of the picture.

If I recall this nut was 11/16"

It's backed up by a lock washer and flat washer.

Now the T nut gear slides right out.

Replace the hardware to keep track of it.

Now for the other gear. It has a set screwed collar to hold it in place.

This collar is actually threaded. The manual says there should be a piece of lead shot at the base of the set screw to protect the threads. I did not find such a thing but will keep that in mind for reassembly.

Collar removed.

Now the gear simply slides off.

Presto!

Almost done with this part!

 

[Weldo]

Note the tiny woodruff key. Don't loose it! There's a few such keys in the shaper.

Next I removed the bearing retainer ring. It's got six flat head screws.

After the screws are gone it falls off.

Next is a spacer ring that was behind the gear.

It is also keyed.

Side cutters make for easy key removal!

The rear part of the housing now slips off. Mine was quite tight and required lots of wiggling back and forth and some very light prying around the circumference.

These housing castings are very thin and fragile. Be careful with them!

That does it for the feeding mechanism. The large cylinder with the bolts around the flange is part of the bearing housing for the crank gear shaft. It will come off later during the crank gear removal. It's about the last piece to come off.