Look what showed up in my shop!

[tjb]

Okay, I'm pretty whupped tonight, but I got a lot of cleaning done. Here are some photos:

1. Got the base cabinet cleaned up. The top drawer is removed because the single hole in the back is bolted to a threaded hole in the rear of the shaper from inside the cabinet. One challenge that became immediately clear - even the mildest cleanser that worked was taking off dirt, grime and, unfortunately, paint. Here are some before-and-after shots.




2. I disassembled the ram and the knee, cleaned the ways, and some additional cleaning done. I had to make a judgement call: because so much paint was coming off, I decided to clean painted surfaces as best I could without doing a deep cleaning. Ideally, I should break the machine all the way down, sand blast the parts, repaint, then reassemble. But we're not trying to make a showpiece - just a nice machine to use.



A little difficult to tell from the photos, but the ways on this shaper are quite literally brand new! All the factory scrapings are visible, there is no evidence of wear, and everything is tight.

3. I will probably mount the shaper back on the cabinet tomorrow and then start reassembly of other components. They're resting comfortably and soaking in kerosene right now.

4. I'd like to take the handwheel and pulleys off to clean, but I don't have a puller that fits the wheel. Any suggestions?

Regards,
Terry

 

[tjb]

Okay, LOTS of progress since last time I've posted. I've taken many pictures, but just haven't had time to post anything.

These first few pictures show some of the additional cleaning:

Handles:



These next photos show the condition of the felt retainers. They look the same all the way around. Except for some superficial nicks on the exposed edges, the gibs also look brand new. No signs of wear anywhere - lead screws, ways, etc.



The stand was a little wobbly because of some unevenness in the floor where I want to keep, so I made some adjustable feet. 2" round stock with recesses milled in the bottom. I welded 3/8"bolts into the recesses and added nuts and washers for adjusting. No more wobbling.

 

[tjb]

Oops! Hit the reply button by mistake. This is a continuation of immediately preceding post.

Here are the feet I made.



Note that the stripped down shaper is also re-mounted to the stand:


Will post more pictures later (maybe tonight).

Regards,
Terry

 

[f350ca]

Nice clean up and nice machine Terry
You may find you have to fasten the cabinet to the floor. I had a small Logan that had to be bolted down. The smaller machines are top heavy and stroke fast enough to walk themselves around.
I ran across an 18 inch Peerless that Im guessing weighs 2 to 3000 pounds, it strokes a lot slower and doesn't move.

Greg

 

[Inferno]

I'm late to the party but this brings back memories of High School.
The shaper was my favorite machine. Just got mesmerized watching it chew chunks of metal from a piece.
I HS, I never really learned how to mill (Though I did take some aluminum mags and make them into unilug)so the shaper was my go-to machine. Most of the other kids in class didn't have the foggiest idea how to utilize it so I got to do a lot of cutting for them.

I've wanted one for a long time. For what, I don't know. I can't think of anything a shaper can do that a mill can't except for internal keyways (yup, cut a few of those in high school too)

Nice luck and a great thread of the refurb.

 

[FOMOGO]

Nice that it is in such great condition, and great job on the cleanup. Mike

 

[tjb]

Nice clean up and nice machine Terry
You may find you have to fasten the cabinet to the floor. I had a small Logan that had to be bolted down. The smaller machines are top heavy and stroke fast enough to walk themselves around.
I ran across an 18 inch Peerless that Im guessing weighs 2 to 3000 pounds, it strokes a lot slower and doesn't move.

Greg

Thanks for the heads-up, Greg. I really don't want to do that, but wait a minute: If it's bolted to the floor, doesn't it technically become a 'fixture'? If that's the case, I wouldn't be permitted to remove it, so I wouldn't be allowed to give it back to Alan. As much as I would hate to do that... Now, where'd I put my cement drill bits?

 

[Downunder Bob]

Many years ago I was asked by the director of Biomedical Engineering at a local major Hospital if I was interested in a vacancy they had in their workshop. I looked into it and while I was interested in the job, the work, I wasn't interested in the pay.

They had a great workshop, with a couple of lathes, milling machines, one horizontal the other vertical. a couple of drill presses, fitters benches, lots of hand tools and some die grinders I don't recall if they had a shaper.

Most of their work came from surgeons coming in with a sketch of some surgical tool that they would like the guys to make for them. they then had to do their own R&D until the device wa made and then perfected. They would also, of course, repair existing equipment.

A fascinating job, but not much money. At the time I was married with two small kids, and a big mortgage, so had to decline the offer.

 

[Nogoingback]

My son worked in a local machine shop while he was in high school. The shop did a fair amount of work
developing and fabricating surgical tools that local doctors dreamed up including some pretty sophisticated
stuff.

 

[tjb]

Many years ago I was asked by the director of Biomedical Engineering at a local major Hospital if I was interested in a vacancy they had in their workshop. I looked into it and while I was interested in the job, the work, I wasn't interested in the pay.

They had a great workshop, with a couple of lathes, milling machines, one horizontal the other vertical. a couple of drill presses, fitters benches, lots of hand tools and some die grinders I don't recall if they had a shaper.

Most of their work came from surgeons coming in with a sketch of some surgical tool that they would like the guys to make for them. they then had to do their own R&D until the device wa made and then perfected. They would also, of course, repair existing equipment.

A fascinating job, but not much money. At the time I was married with two small kids, and a big mortgage, so had to decline the offer.

That is interesting. The last place I would have thought a fully equipped machine shop would exist is a hospital. I wonder how many diamonds are lying around in dark places of hospitals around the world.

Thanks for the education.

Regards