Look what showed up in my shop!

[tjb]

A friend just got this gem and wants me to keep it in my shop - indefinitely - no, really. I've wanted one of these for a long time, but I doubt that I could have found one in this condition. It's a South Bend #7, and if you look through the dust, it appears to be in near mint condition. It was probably bought new by a hospital (you read that right) for who knows what reason, and has been sitting somewhere in their facility unused for decades. It wouldn't surprise me to find out it was never used for any purpose.

I tried to talk my buddy into selling it to me - he almost certainly would never have a use for it, and he knows even less about shapers than I do (which is close to nothing). He recognizes this as a nice precision piece of equipment, but because he's a heavy equipment operator, he recognizes his shop is probably not the ideal place for it to reside. So we cut a deal: he bought (I think he paid $350 for it); I'll keep it in my shop, get it operational, and pay for any incidentals costs; and we'll joint-own it. Sounds like a deal to me. Any over-the-top unforeseen costs, we'll revisit whether we want to keep it or not, but just looking at it, I don't see that happening. Here are some photos.



Challenge #1 - for some reason, someone decided it would make sense to cut the capacitor off of the motor. I'm being told I need the part #'s off the old capacitor in order to replace it, which I obviously don't have. I have all the information off of the motor face plate, which is shown below. Anybody have an idea how I can figure out what capacitor I need? If you can't read the info on the face plate, I can post other pictures or post the info.



Regards,
Terry

 

[Mini Cooper S]

Nice Machine, I love mine. It's one of those machines that when you need it, nothing else will do! Here is a picture of the capacitor on mine, they are the same machine, so it should show what you need.

Richard

 

[matthewsx]

She's a beauty, looks like you've got what you need for the capacitor but there's not too much difference as long as you get one for the right voltage that's big enough.

On suggestion though. We all like handshake deals but this is one where you and your buddy would do good to write something down. Just something simple like what he will do if he decides to take it back and you've put a bunch of time/money into it, and what happens if either one of you isn't around anymore and your heirs need to deal with it.

Have fun and post a video of it working soon

John

 

[C-Bag]

Nice Machine, I love mine. It's one of those machines that when you need it, nothing else will do! Here is a picture of the capacitor on mine, they are the same machine, so it should show what you need.

RichardView attachment 319836

Good job! The reason I came to this site was because the starter cap on my old Atlas was dead and couldn't find a spec anywhere for it except here. Be sure to clean the ways before you try and pull it through. Also doesn't this shaper have a pressure oiling system with a sump? Mine doesn't, it's splash system, you just splash oil everywhere

 

[middle.road]

Ah I get it, what we're seeing here is Terry's 'New Equipment Procurement Plan' in action.
He tells his Better-Half, 'Yeah, George can't use it - so he's letting me keep it here in my shop...'
Ingenious!

 

[tjb]

Nice Machine, I love mine. It's one of those machines that when you need it, nothing else will do! Here is a picture of the capacitor on mine, they are the same machine, so it should show what you need.

RichardView attachment 319836

THANKS, RICHARD!!! That's exactly what I need.

Regards,
Terry

 

[tjb]

Ah I get it, what we're seeing here is Terry's 'New Equipment Procurement Plan' in action.
He tells his Better-Half, 'Yeah, George can't use it - so he's letting me keep it here in my shop...'
Ingenious!

SHHHHH!!! She's listening!

And just for the record, his name is Alan... But come to think of it, I do know a George who is very interested in machining and has been to my shop wishing he had a place for some equipment. Hmm.
Gotta go! I need to find his phone #.

 

[Winegrower]

It looks like a perfect size for the shop.

 

[tjb]

Good job! The reason I came to this site was because the starter cap on my old Atlas was dead and couldn't find a spec anywhere for it except here. Be sure to clean the ways before you try and pull it through. Also doesn't this shaper have a pressure oiling system with a sump? Mine doesn't, it's splash system, you just splash oil everywhere

In one of the drawers, there is a pump with what look like hose bib fittings. It's pretty stout and is stamping on the casting looks very similar to the stamp on the machine. Thanks for the tip. I'm sure I'll be posting a lot as I get into this machine.

Regards,
Terry

 

[tjb]

She's a beauty, looks like you've got what you need for the capacitor but there's not too much difference as long as you get one for the right voltage that's big enough.

On suggestion though. We all like handshake deals but this is one where you and your buddy would do good to write something down. Just something simple like what he will do if he decides to take it back and you've put a bunch of time/money into it, and what happens if either one of you isn't around anymore and your heirs need to deal with it.

Have fun and post a video of it working soon

John

Thanks, John.

We've been friends for 25 years and have done a few handshake deals before. But that's irrelevant because I'm not giving it back to him anyway )). Seriously, though, I'm about ten or fifteen years older than him, so chances are he'll be getting it back in maybe, oh 30 years or so when I turn a hundred-and-one and just don't feel like messing with tools anymore.

My wife and children will all know it's his, and I plan on drawing up a statement that I will laminate and put in one of the drawers on the shaper reminding everyone, this machine goes back to Alan before they raid the shop and then sell everything else off for about a nickel on the dollar.

Regards,
Terry