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Bridgeport shaper head
- Thread starter Phils69
- Start date
I'd like to have one, never seen one in actual use but did see one run. I have an extra Bridgeport J2 that if I don't completely rebuild to sell (or keep) I may try to get one of Benny's 2 that he has and mount it permanently to it.
What kind of money are you calling a "Very good price"?
What kind of money are you calling a "Very good price"?
That is a VERY CHEAP price. I usually see them go for abt. $1400.00. I've had one for many years. They are intended for small vertical slotting jobs such as cutting keyways in holes. Things like that. As toolmaker in the Williamsburg museum,I used mine to mortice out the throats of the many wooden planes we made. I made special,very sharp wood cutting chisels for my slotter. They were 3/4" wide. I would not advise a cutter over 1/4" wide for steel. Maybe narrower than that.
Buy it, of course jew him down but buy it. Even if you don't use it it is a money maker or at a minimum great trade item. Buy it!!!
Did I mention BUY IT?
T
Tom Griffin
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I would pass. That's a lot of money to tie up in something that will spend most of it's time collecting dust. You can do the same thing for the occasional job with a tool held in the spindle of your mill, it just takes longer.
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I had to thin the thickness of my Bridgewood Bridgeport copy a little to mount my head. To do this,I placed a carbine lathe tool upside down in my Kurt vise,and ran the table back and forth to peel off several thousandths of metal under the end of my ram.
I also had the very good fortune to have a perfect match four the small 3 phase motor for mine,but in single phase. That is a rare match!!
I may be paranoid,but I am a little afraid of snapping off the end of my ram. But the shaper head has just stalled out a few times when taking too heavy a cut . I have not decided to spray "Belt Traction" on the belt for this reason. The motor is only about 1/3 H.P.,but the head is geared down to operate the vertical slide. Since my mill is not a real Bridgeport,I am supposing it's possible the castings might be a bit thinner. I don't really know. Just being cautious. My machine is Taiwan made from 1986,and has been so good and accurate I haven't bothered to replace it with a real Bridgy,even though several have become available over the years.
Some visiting tool collectors said they saw similar techniques being used to chisel out wooden planes in German factories,except the German purpose built machine had 2 chisels,coming in from both front and rear. Working with what I could find,the shaper head worked marvelously. I could throat out the complex shape of a wooden poland quite efficiently. I made planes for 80 craftsmen,5 planes per set. Then,there were special cooper's planes,crown molding planes,etc,that also had to be made.
Sorry,the picture is too small. That's me on your right. My journeyman Jon on the left with a batch of planes. And no,I wasn't a going to mortise out all those planes by hand no way,no how!! Made several by hand,but these were just too many,and they were needed ASAP. That is a 16' bench.
The brown long jointer plane is one I did make by hand years earlier. The coffin shaped top view is an antique plane to show the shape of the mortise(escapement). But,then I found pictures of a jack plane we made. The handle is offset as it was in the 18th.C.. Since this plane is new and clean,you can better see the work.
Anyhow,this is one thing the shaper head did for me!!
I also had the very good fortune to have a perfect match four the small 3 phase motor for mine,but in single phase. That is a rare match!!
I may be paranoid,but I am a little afraid of snapping off the end of my ram. But the shaper head has just stalled out a few times when taking too heavy a cut . I have not decided to spray "Belt Traction" on the belt for this reason. The motor is only about 1/3 H.P.,but the head is geared down to operate the vertical slide. Since my mill is not a real Bridgeport,I am supposing it's possible the castings might be a bit thinner. I don't really know. Just being cautious. My machine is Taiwan made from 1986,and has been so good and accurate I haven't bothered to replace it with a real Bridgy,even though several have become available over the years.
Some visiting tool collectors said they saw similar techniques being used to chisel out wooden planes in German factories,except the German purpose built machine had 2 chisels,coming in from both front and rear. Working with what I could find,the shaper head worked marvelously. I could throat out the complex shape of a wooden poland quite efficiently. I made planes for 80 craftsmen,5 planes per set. Then,there were special cooper's planes,crown molding planes,etc,that also had to be made.
Sorry,the picture is too small. That's me on your right. My journeyman Jon on the left with a batch of planes. And no,I wasn't a going to mortise out all those planes by hand no way,no how!! Made several by hand,but these were just too many,and they were needed ASAP. That is a 16' bench.
The brown long jointer plane is one I did make by hand years earlier. The coffin shaped top view is an antique plane to show the shape of the mortise(escapement). But,then I found pictures of a jack plane we made. The handle is offset as it was in the 18th.C.. Since this plane is new and clean,you can better see the work.
Anyhow,this is one thing the shaper head did for me!!
