Some eBay Sellers Never Cease to Amaze Me

[NCjeeper]

Also depends on your area. We are in a pretty dry area for shapers. I over paid for my 16" G&E Industrial Universal last year but it was exactly what I had been looking for and they never come up for sale around here. It did come with all the handles and a #4 tool holder in the tool post so that was a plus.

 

[projectnut]

I think we have to realize that there are shapers and there are shapers --- the Aamco, South Bend,Atlas and other toy size shapers certainly seem popular these days, they look great in a small workshop, but are not really very capable, so far as removing much metal is concerned; I do know that those prices are seen commonly, on the other hand, industrial rated shapers are not worth much, the bigger they are, the less they are worth, except for scrap value; my G&E 20-24 industrial universal (1957) is a great machine, but is it worth much of anything? the answer is NO. Having said that, I bought mine probably the better part of 15 - 20 years ago for $1100, but that is another story, and typing is slow for me.

I think it all depends on their intended use. We had a couple shapers at work when I first started, a 16" and a 24". They didn't get used much, and took up a lot of floor space. They were eventually replaced by a couple Tree Journeyman CNC milling machines. The milling machines were used all day every day, so in the scheme of things they were far more productive than the shapers.

The one in my shop came from The Badger Ordinance Works in Baraboo Wisconsin. It spent nearly 60 years in their machine shop. The head of our electronics department came from the Ordinance Works when the government announced the plant would be put on "standby" after the Vietnam War. He was surprised the shaper was still in good shape since it had been used on a daily basis for the 12+ years he worked at the facility. In this case the machine spent the bulk of it's life making new, and repairing existing tooling for the plant. A larger machine in all likelihood would have been overkill, and taken up much more floor space than necessary to complete the same jobs.

You are right that the price of small shapers seems to have gone up, but that doesn't seem to hold for larger shapers. The only one listed that was a large shaper that sold was the $450 16" G&E. Most hobbyists are not interested in shapers over about 12" size, which means there is very little market for large shapers. Also, lack of a vise significantly effects shaper value as well, for a large shaper the vise can constitute half or more of the value. I stand by my assessment that this work head is essentially worthless and the seller could have determined that by looking at the eBay sold listings. There are some larger shapers on eBay that are listed for thousands, but I know for a fact that some of those have been on there for years at that price. The planets have to align for a large shaper to bring any kind of money. I did pay $1400 for a 24" Cincinnati universal shaper, but I really wanted one and the machine was in near pristine condition with lots of tooling. I also waited for the price to come down from over 2000 before I bought it. Probably could have gotten it for less but didn't want to loose it. Again, that was an exception, not the rule.

It's funny you mentioned that. When I was searching Craigslist I found a 10" shaper vise that looked rusty, but in good shape for $50.00. Here's a link to the add.

Large Machine Vice

Off large Shaper.

wausau.craigslist.org

This is the shaper I got from the Badger Ordinance Works. It comes complete with the OD paint job, War Board plaque, and Badger Ordinance Works (BOW) property tag.