What size of vise for a 16" shaper?

ScrapMetal

ScrapMetal

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I just spent the afternoon applying Kroil to my Queen City 16" shaper and am encouraged by how well it is responding (loosening up). It is looking like it will take much less effort than I had planned on to get it operational so now my thoughts are turning to what I'll need once it's ready to be plugged in. While I know that a guy can get away with using clamps and a little ingenuity to hold many jobs, to be fully operational I would like to get a proper vise for it.

This brings me to my big question: What size of vise do I need? I see a few shaper vises posted on the 'bay but I'm unsure if they would be sufficient to take advantage of all that the 16" shaper has to give. I think that having a swivel base would be a big plus but other than that, any tips on what I should be looking for? (Especially in the way of "size".)

-Ron
 
A vise for a shaper is a 12" for a 12" shaper, And a 16" For a 16" shaper. All shaper vise's swivel and the base has 4 places to bolt them to the table.

Paul
 
I know good advice when I hear it Rick. I think you just saved me quite a bit of anguish as well as dollars (those pivoting vises are expensive).

One less thing to worry about before bringing my shaper back to life.

Thanks Rick,

-Ron
 
I wouldn't say that it is a firm rule that the vise size is the same as the shaper size. I have a 24" shaper, and it came with a 12" vise, original as far as I know. I've run shapers up to 36" that no way had a vise that size. There are a few subtle differences in vises for milling and vises for shapers. Generally, they are lower profile, and have more "heft", being somewhat squared off to give more strength. Most, but not all, have 4 holes to hold it down. Some have a screw arrangement that actually pulls the movable jaw towards the fixed jaw rather than pushes it. That is a better arrangement.

Although shaper vises can be had, unless you find one locally that you can just drive over and pick up, the shipping costs can be considerable. They are quite heavy. Bottom line though, is that unless you are planning on pushing the shaper pretty hard, taking heavy cuts, no reason a good mill vise can't be used. If you remove the swivel base, you gain back the additional headroom a low profile vise allows.

Unfortunately, I lost my vise. Still makes me angry. Partly my fault, mostly someone else's. So I'm in the same boat. I could use a good heavy vise fro my shaper, but until I happen upon one, I will use a mill vise. Also, some of the work I do is on round parts, so I have a sub plate mounted to the shaper table that is keyed for an index-able chuck, which I use at times with a vee block and clamp setup. Internal splines, keyways, and the like.
 
Hey Guys, I just thought I'd mention keeping the bolt spacing in mind when you start looking; I know that it's not insurmountable, but if you don't have to "massage" the bolt holes it looks nicer.
Bob
 
Tony, I have been watching a couple of the 12" shaper vises on ebay but the prices are scary to begin with let alone the prospect of having to ship them. Go to the 'bay and do a search on "shaper vise" as it's a place down in Texas that is selling them, might still be a bit far for you though. (Cripes, that's a big place. :))

I was starting to think about either finding someone who casts iron or just getting some steel stock and trying to make one. Some of the designs seem fairly simple even if they are a big "chunky". Once I have the shaper operational there shouldn't be a problem with making slots/cuts on flats surfaces that are 12" or more. I'm kind of surprised there isn't more talk/info on doing that. That probably means I'm missing something. :p

OlCatBob, the hole spacing has been a concern. Like I said, I've been looking at some ebay possibles before I put down any green I'd have to make sure that it would work. It would be real disappointing to put that much into a vise then find out that the spacing of the table slots made it impossible to even drill out the vise base for use. :banghead:

-Ron
 
Ron, are you talking about the guy down in Katy? That's about 4 hours from me. Just west of Houston. I'll watch his listings for a while. Thanks for the tip.
 
Tony Wells said:
Ron, are you talking about the guy down in Katy? That's about 4 hours from me. Just west of Houston. I'll watch his listings for a while. Thanks for the tip.
Click to expand...

Yes, that's the guy. Hope he has something you can use.

Blue Chips said:
I have a new-to-me 16" shaper and it looks like the 12" swivel vice I scored will completely cover the table with keys & boltholes lining up. I don't see a larger one fitting very well. The 300 lb. vice came from a 36" shaper.
Click to expand...

I was thinking a 12" or 13" would probably get the job done. I've started looking into what it might take to build a shaper vise. I saw one that was home built over on the HSM site http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/showthread.php?t=39781 and it look like he did a beautiful job. It's still a bit small for what I want but it does appear do-able. :biggrin:

-Ron
 
I prolly shouldn't say PM :biggrin: on here but there is a guy selling a 13" shaper vise there.

Paul
 
Saw that. Price is right but shipping a 250 lbs hunk of metal to my door by UPS freight works out to be $522. I'm sure there is a cheaper way but I don't know how much effort the seller is willing to go through for two hundred bucks. :p

Always open to suggestions... :biggrin:

-Ron
 
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