Building a Shaper experiences-

But that is an actual data point, there was one sold for $700 or less back when the economy was kickin' a$$. Plus another confirmed sale for $1000 by a member on this thread.

I just turned down someone who offered me less than 40% of my asking price for a trailer I'm selling. I wasn't insulted at all, it was an offer and it didn't take me any effort to say no. It's one thing if you're trying to low-ball someone who doesn't know what they have, quite different if you actually have knowledge about what something should sell for and you're willing to pay a fair price.

John
 
I think a reasonable 40% offer is not insulting. I had a garage sale and tried to sell a power shear for $20. There were no takers, and some low baller offered me $4 for it. I told him $10 was the lowest I would go, and he wouldn't budge. I didn't hold it against him. He probably didn't need it all that much. Neither did I, since I just lucked into two nice shears for a smoking deal and had to get rid of at least one of the three. I ended up selling it at an Ebay auction for $49. There are those guys at garage sales who say, if will fetch that much, why don't you just put it on Ebay? I don't like to hear this unsolicited advice, but I will make very sure that my lowest acceptable price is way below what the item will fetch on Ebay. I'm a sucker for a good bargainer, but not an obnoxious cheapskate. By the way, somebody was selling one of those shapers in my neighborhood at a garage sale for $700. It was gone quickly. These things are really hard to find around here, even without a vise.
 
ericc said:
I think a reasonable 40% offer is not insulting. I had a garage sale and tried to sell a power shear for $20. There were no takers, and some low baller offered me $4 for it. I told him $10 was the lowest I would go, and he wouldn't budge. I didn't hold it against him. He probably didn't need it all that much. Neither did I, since I just lucked into two nice shears for a smoking deal and had to get rid of at least one of the three. I ended up selling it at an Ebay auction for $49. There are those guys at garage sales who say, if will fetch that much, why don't you just put it on Ebay? I don't like to hear this unsolicited advice, but I will make very sure that my lowest acceptable price is way below what the item will fetch on Ebay. I'm a sucker for a good bargainer, but not an obnoxious cheapskate. By the way, somebody was selling one of those shapers in my neighborhood at a garage sale for $700. It was gone quickly. These things are really hard to find around here, even without a vise.
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Yeah, they don't show up very often here either, so I was figuring on an over-pay anyway (would go like $1200?), but $2000 seemed like too much for a tool I'd get a lot less use out of than my others.
 
I often tell (CL) sellers, look, I'm not a collector, I am just going to put this tool to use in my shop. I'm not going to pay a collector price for it. Here is what it is worth to me. Please get in touch if you are unable to find a buyer.

Now, having wasted all those words, I have never had a seller get back to me :)

Something about the kind of seller who overprices their merchandise - probably think they're sitting on a gold mine, the money already spent in their heads.
 
ThinWoodsman said:
I often tell (CL) sellers, look, I'm not a collector, I am just going to put this tool to use in my shop. I'm not going to pay a collector price for it. Here is what it is worth to me. Please get in touch if you are unable to find a buyer.

Now, having wasted all those words, I have never had a seller get back to me :)

Something about the kind of seller who overprices their merchandise - probably think they're sitting on a gold mine, the money already spent in their heads.
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Heh, thats essentially what I did. I sent her 1 final message saying that I realize she was probably pretty set in her valuing, but if she decides she'll take $1000, to let me know. I'll continue under the assumption she'll die with it, and find something else to do instead.

I'm somewhat considering finding a bunch of non welded parts to start on for the Acto Super 8. If I can get it down to only a couple of parts that need welding, I can presumably have the local welding shop do it for me :)

EDIT: Maybe not ! The plans are REALLY welding heavy... I've got a feeling I just wasted the 60 bucks on the plans :/
 
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How about learning how to weld? It is really a hoot! There's a lot of people on this site who can help you.

By the way, you can make a really simple shaper with some pieces of plate and a cylindrical ram that will fit in your lathe tool slot. It can be used to make pulley key slots and simple gears.
 
Well, here's my 2 cents. I have the castings for the strong arm shaper, haven't started it yet. If you want to build very small projects, and you would like to try machining a casting set, it is the way to go. The downside is that it's pretty tiny, I think it only has about a 4" stroke. I bought it mainly because I'm a shaper nut and enjoy building things, not because I thought I was going to get a lot of work out of it (I'm down to only 5 shapers right now, including the casting kit).

The Gingery shaper is probably more capable than the strong arm shaper, but unless you want to learn a lot about casting, it's probably not the way to go.

The Acto Super 8 looks like it would be a capable small shaper, but it also looks like the most complicated to build of the 3.

My recommendation is that if you want to build one, pick one of the three that will give you a tool that you will use while building some skills in the process. If you just want a shaper, I would widen my search area and find a used one. Interestingly enough, I drove up to your area to pick up my 24" Cincinnati. As was mentioned above, larger shapers tend to go for reasonable prices if the seller really wants to move it, as the only people interested in shapers anymore are hobbyists, and most don't have the space to use or equipment to move the big iron.
 
cjtoombs said:
Well, here's my 2 cents. I have the castings for the strong arm shaper, haven't started it yet. If you want to build very small projects, and you would like to try machining a casting set, it is the way to go. The downside is that it's pretty tiny, I think it only has about a 4" stroke. I bought it mainly because I'm a shaper nut and enjoy building things, not because I thought I was going to get a lot of work out of it (I'm down to only 5 shapers right now, including the casting kit).

The Gingery shaper is probably more capable than the strong arm shaper, but unless you want to learn a lot about casting, it's probably not the way to go.

The Acto Super 8 looks like it would be a capable small shaper, but it also looks like the most complicated to build of the 3.

My recommendation is that if you want to build one, pick one of the three that will give you a tool that you will use while building some skills in the process. If you just want a shaper, I would widen my search area and find a used one. Interestingly enough, I drove up to your area to pick up my 24" Cincinnati. As was mentioned above, larger shapers tend to go for reasonable prices if the seller really wants to move it, as the only people interested in shapers anymore are hobbyists, and most don't have the space to use or equipment to move the big iron.
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Thanks! The Strong Arm Feedback is exactly what I was looking for. I've been spending my quarantine time after work doing on a pair of casting kits (A PM Research #3 steam engine, and now a Little Eagle Hit/Miss engine), so the small-reasonably quick project seemed like a fun idea.

I REALLY don't think I want to do any casting. I've heard mention of people making the Gingery without castings, but I presume that uses welding anyway. That said, the design leaves a bit to be desired I think, having to open the side of the machine to adjust things, and the exposed clockworks. That, and the more I see them, the more "home-made" they look, which is disappointing.

The Acto-8 is a BIG project it seems, which is overwhelming. Also, it requires that I learn how to stick-weld, and buy a stick welder! However, it is a pretty darn nice shaper from what I can tell. I'm tempted to just buy the Harbor Freight Titanium 225 stick welder (seems to get good reviews) and start working. The first steps are the 'stand', so it seems like it would be a good intro in a way that weld quality matters little.

I'm not sure I have much use for a shaper, but "want one" :) Abom79's videos I think got me hooked :) The last time one showed up around me, (the $700 one!) I balked at having another tool in the shop.... The current one on ebay is way over priced (and she blocked me for offering $1000 :)).
 
Is there a reason you need to stick weld it instead of mig? Mig is so much easier from the get-go. Also, this is the perfect project to learn if you were inclined. It's ten times easier getting decent welds on thick stuff than the car body gauge stuff most people end up starting with.

Its funny, there's an odd dividing line between machinists and fabricators in the hobbyist world. Lots of YouTuber machinists I watch seem to spend ages doing stuff that would take me ten minutes with a welder, and anything that's cast can be fabricated within reason. My skill set spans both disciplines, and I'm very happy with that!
 
Lo-Fi said:
Is there a reason you need to stick weld it instead of mig? Mig is so much easier from the get-go. Also, this is the perfect project to learn if you were inclined. It's ten times easier getting decent welds on thick stuff than the car body gauge stuff most people end up starting with.

Its funny, there's an odd dividing line between machinists and fabricators in the hobbyist world. Lots of YouTuber machinists I watch seem to spend ages doing stuff that would take me ten minutes with a welder, and anything that's cast can be fabricated within reason. My skill set spans both disciplines, and I'm very happy with that!
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I DID take a MIG class at one point, but I'm leaning toward stick for 2 reasons:
1- Mig welders are expensive, and I don't have one.
2- The plans suggest using stick welds because they are often machined afterwards. Apparently MIG can create problems machining the welds after the fact?

Most of the plans are essentially "weld a few things together, then machine this piece".
 
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