Bought a big-ole shaper today! Rockford 28"

E

ErichKeane

Making scrap at ludicrous speed.
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I picked up an Atlas 7B about 10 months ago now and have loved it! BUT, found it not quite as useful as I'd like due to its size. Mixed with watching too much Abom79, I decided I wanted a bigger one and have been keeping an eye out!

Someone only about an hour's drive from me was selling this guy, a Rockford 28" Hydraulic Shaper! It is a giant upgrade in size, and seemed to run great! I'm looking forward to having this in my shop instead of my 7B (which I now need to find a home for :)).

Picking this up is going to be easy (the seller has a way of loading it onto a sunbelt trailer), but unloading it is going to be a challenge. The shop I typically use only has a 12k forklift that is only so-so on gravel, so he's not thrilled about the idea... BUT, I guess that is the next challenge :)
 

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OOhh nice, I just got myself a South Bend 7" and am worried about the same thing size wise for mine. Only problem with mine is I barely have enough room for the 7", I wouldn't fit anything bigger in there!!
 
Armourer said:
OOhh nice, I just got myself a South Bend 7" and am worried about the same thing size wise for mine. Only problem with mine is I barely have enough room for the 7", I wouldn't fit anything bigger in there!!
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Oh I likely don't really have room for this big one, but went for it anyway. I think the wood shop is about to shrink :)

I love the 7" shaper, it does great work! It is way more capable than I ever expected, but I found myself with like 4 projects in a row that would be great on a shaper.... But needed 8-10".

Face milling something while the shaper is dormant is just sadness enducing.
 
ErichKeane said:
Picking this up is going to be easy (the seller has a way of loading it onto a sunbelt trailer), but unloading it is going to be a challenge. The shop I typically use only has a 12k forklift that is only so-so on gravel, so he's not thrilled about the idea... BUT, I guess that is the next challenge :)
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As I recall, you have a PITA nosey neighbor. So what's your plan, park the big fork truck in your driveway for a few days? Then park the shaper out there and maybe stake off a slab on your property line with a picture of the "new lawn ornament" stapled to one of the stakes? Maybe mike the shaper to a speaker pointed as his house so he can enjoy it too! Nice acquisition by the way.

Bruce
 
I don't really have that bad of neighbors, I have 1 that gets angry at fallen trees on the property line, but I am pretty rural. My driveway is pretty hidden/far from the road.
 
Awesome. I would like to find a 32-36" one myself.
 
SO, it finally got unloaded today! I ended up trading my 7B for rigging services, and these guys did a great job.

On the seller's side there was an overhead crane that they used to load, so that took no real effort. They tied it down and drove the hr and a half to my place. They had a 14k dump trailer with ramps that they were able to pull into my shop:

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They put a hole in the concrete (apparently ~6" thick at that spot!) and a threaded rod and a come-along:

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They had a winch attached to the front of the trailer to slow down its descent, so it was a mix between giving themselves an inch or two on one side, and cranking on the come-along. Tipped the dump trailer to make it a straight shot and went at it!

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The transition to the floor/rollers was pretty uneventful, but getting it to pick up the first roller was a bit of a challenge. The plywood under it didn't do us any favors, and the rods slipped on the epoxy floor. We used a circ-saw to shorten it a little and a hammer to get the rod under it enough to get started.

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So, about this time our threaded rod in the concrete actually bent to about a 60 degree angle! The rear part of wood got stuck on the ramp which made it a little tough and I think bent over the rod. I had a broken breaker bar that we ended up using instead which held the rest of the time.

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Next they yanked it into its corner on the rollers, just making sure the next one got under the machine each time:

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Finally, they just rotated it into place! A second mount point and the come-along rotated it pretty easily.

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The blue line was my 'do not go past this line' marker (so that I wasn't tripping over that spot in the floor constantly) and the machine is seemingly a little shorter than I expected, so I had a little more room than I needed.

I have quite a few things to work on before I can get it running, it needs hydraulic fluid, an oiler-line and a zerk installed, plus the phase converter setup. I have a small static converter arriving, and if that doesn't work I might just use a big RPC, but I have to suck up the cost on that one :)

Additionally, I have to come up with a big wrench to loosen the gibs (which the seller tightened DOWN to keep it from moving during shipping) plus a vise handle and machine handle.
 

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Nice!

I had to laugh when I saw the dump trailer....I have a 14K dump trailer with a scissor lift and similar ramps that I've used to haul and unload big stuff as well, which seems to surprise folks. I've had my eye on a couple of 14-18" shapers lately and it's nice to know I'd be okay using the trailer similarly.

Looking forward to seeing it run!
 
So there is a video of the first cut! I filled up the oil (it took about 18 gallons!) And hooked up the static phase converter. It moves and cuts!

I popped some aluminum in the vise and let her go video here: first cut

I left it pretty slow for this and just used the brased cutter that was in it, finish was fantastic and stepover was about 20 thou I think?

Anyway, I also discovered that the "quick reversing" lever doesn't seem to work (it is supposed to pull the ram backwards no matter where it is), and the speed adjuster leaks oil like a sieve!

Additionally, I tried a deeper cut and found that the vise spun!

The vise itself has 6 bolt holes, 2 with alignment bits for the t-nuts (near the center), and 1 at each corner.

Previous owner only had the 2 with alignment keys in place, so with sufficient force it spun. It seems to work by using the table bolts to clamp the spinning part against the table.

I have to make some T-nuts and buy some bolts to hold it. I also noticed the vise rotary indicator bits are painted over, so I'll strip that as well!

So, plenty to do before I put this into full service!
 
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