[How do I?] Atlas 7B Shaper Restoration - advice needed

Though not an Atlas, Stefan Gotteswinter has some nice videos on Shaper Work. His is a Gack HE20, which he describes as a Toolroom Shaper, that can be run in with a more traditional Push Clapper Box and in Pull Mode with a Clapper box change.


There's also an Old Video by Rudy Kouhoupt, called "Operating a Shaper" which is still available, that is a good primer on Shapers.

 
Elmojo said:
You're right, they do adjust very differently, but I can deal with that. I'm looking for exactly the type of info that's in that book - the theory of setup and operation of a shaper. Things like what shape tool to use for what cut, why it matters which side of center the pivot arm is on, how to adjust the knee and foot correctly, etc...
That SB book has most of what I need, along with the original Atlas manual. There's also an old Popular Mechanics article called "Know Your Metal Shaper" that is pretty helpful as well.
The rest will be learning the ins-and-outs of this particular machine.

One other thing that I can't figure out - the vise appears to be partially broken. When I turn the screw to open the jaws, it just backs the screw out and pushes the large "head" out the back, towards the fixed jaw, if that makes any sense. Once it's open a bit, I can easily slide the movable jaw by hand to open the vise. It seems to clamp just fine in the closing direction. Any idea what might be wrong and how to fix it? I can post pictures and/or videos if that will help, but this sounds like it might be a common/simple fix for this type of vise.
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On the vise, I think you are missing the collar M1-310 or the groove pin that goes through it. Basically the vise lead screw has collars on both ends to keep it stationary while it screws the jaw back and forth.
 
The Rudy K vid did the most for me to have a basic understanding of operating the shaper. It used to be on YouTube in its entirety but they got taken down and the last time I looked it was only the second part which is not the best part IMHO.
 
Hi all,
Sorry for the long hiatus. I've been doing a lot of work out of town, but of course I'm working from home now like lots of others due to the COVID-19 fiasco. Unfortunately, that hasn't left me much additional time to play with the shaper.
However, I did finally get back out to the shop for a couple hours, and used it to take a few cuts on an actual part I'm making. It worked perfectly and allowed me to do something I otherwise would not have been able to accomplish with the other equipment in my shop, since I don't have a milling machine.
I was able to take 0.047" cuts in aluminum with no issue, which impressed me greatly!
20200428_171137 (Medium).jpg

I did discover one issue I'm hoping you folks can help out with...
I noticed that when I engage the lever to start the automatic traverse for cutting, that sometimes it doesn't "catch" right away, and I have to put a tiny bit of finger pressure on the shaft to get it to begin ratcheting. It seems to do this in either direction, but it's worse in one direction than the other. I sometimes even have to help it along during the cut, but I notice that if it's under heavier load, it seems to run better. I took the ratchet mechanism apart and cleaned it during restoration, and I oil it before each use. Any idea what else could be causing this behavior?

Here's a short video of it cutting, if you have a minute to kill.
As you see, it's clocking just fine under load, but at the start of each pass, when there's no contact is when it tends to skip.
 
Try tightening the lead screw nut a little, it’s the one on the far side of the box on the end of the (obviously) lead screw. If there isn’t enough resistance the screw itself will just rock back and forth with the ratchet and there will be no advance. Just a little drag on the nut, nothing excessive.

-frank
 
francist said:
Try tightening the lead screw nut a little, it’s the one on the far side of the box on the end of the (obviously) lead screw. If there isn’t enough resistance the screw itself will just rock back and forth with the ratchet and there will be no advance. Just a little drag on the nut, nothing excessive.
-frank
Click to expand...

Thanks Frank, I'll take a look at that tomorrow and see if it's floppy.
 
Elmojo said:
Thanks Frank, I'll take a look at that tomorrow and see if it's floppy.
Click to expand...
I had the same issue on mine and tightening that nut a little took care of it. A certain amount of drag is necessary for the feed mechanism to work. Not intuitive at all but effective.
 
Thanks so much for the quick replies guys. I'm hoping it's just that simple.
I'll check it out this afternoon after work and report back. That's why I love this forum, such helpful people. :)
 
Mine does the same thing. I found that the lead screw bushing nearest the ratchet has too much clearance. When the table is near the right side the ratchet won't work. As the table moves left it gets better and eventually will work on it's own.
 
Eureka! As expected, adding just a little drag to that nut seemed to fix the issue. I haven't had a chance to try it while cutting, but it seems to function perfectly while cutting air, which is what it was having trouble with before.
Thanks so much for the simple fix! I'm pretty sure that would never have occurred to me to try.
 
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