How to ‘shape’ 16” work with 7” shaper

Thanks Rob,

Any idea what the height limit is with the Atlas 7b?

Glenn


About 3.5" with the vise and about 5.5" without the vise mounted to the table. There are a couple of tricks that could possibly get you about an 1" more for items only about 4" wide. For shorter items you can mount them to the side of the table and you could come up with more clearance. It is set up to mount the vise on the side of the table. On the UK lathe info site it states that it is a little over 9" cross feed and I think that is about right. Also as mentioned you should be able to turn the work around and do both sides. Depending on how much time you take on setup and what your tolerances are you shouldn't have any issues. Just a small line where the junction is that should be able to be sanded out.
 
Thanks Rob, probably enuf room for the work I foresee doing.

Glenn
 
You need my planer in my avitar ,,, picture. Made for it , if I ever get. Her up and running. That pictures before I got it. She's a bit cleaner but not operating yet.
 
So, one more question. Maybe more important than the first.

What is the smallest ID, this little Atlas 7b can fit it??

I’ve got 16 6 1/4” OD cast iron wheels, with 1” holes in the center for axles. Thinking about cutting key ways into the wheels.

Is it possible to work this small of an ID with some kind of shaper boring bar?

Thanks again,
Glenn
 
I just made a smaller bar to cut 1/4 keyways in 1inch bores.
The larger bar will porbably go down to 1 1/4.
On the logan I made one that replaced the lantern tool post, with this shaper I had to make the holder to get down to the table.
IMG_3983.jpg


IMG_3986.jpg


Greg
 
I have cut a keyway in a 1" bore before, not that difficult. I would think that the smallest size you could cut would be determined by our ability to make a smaller tool, not a limitation of the shaper.
 
I have cut a keyway in a 1/2 hole so the 1" hole would be a piece of cake. Just learning how to mount things is usually the problem.
 
Greg,

Could you share what dimensions your smaller tool holder bar are? Diameter and length of the shank?

Also, How long of a stroke can you manage before you see excessive deflection?

Still haven’t gone to look at the one for sale in Portland. Just trying to sort out if aimdouls really use it... it’s a 10hour drive RT, for a looksee.

Thanks
Glenn
 
I made the bar as large as possible to keep it stiff. Think it was .8 dia, giving .2 clearance, the keyway required .125 depth, so I had room. As for length they act like boring bars, keep them as short as possible. You only need about a 1/4 inch clearance going in and coming out of the bore. If they get too long you'll get chatter. Keeping the cutter stick out as small as possible would held there.
When cutting keyways you need to lock the clapper box, as the geometry of where the cutter is makes it want to lift. Mine will lock. I haven't tried it but cutting on the top of the bore should make locking the clapper unnecessary.
I mentioned the bar I made for the Logan mounted directly in the clapper. A much simpler and stiffer system but wouldn't work on the Peerless.
This is the best picture I could find of the Logan setup. It had a boss at the back that fit the clapper and the nut locked it in.
IMG_1774.jpg


Hope that helps.

Greg
 
U da man Greg. Of course as a net bystander I get the concept so the "I could do that" flashes through my pea brain. But it's always another matter when I go to do it :)

I don't know where I saw it but I could swear I saw somebody use a rectangular piece of HSS on edge with the proper relief and grind in the end and mounted directly to cut small key ways that way. Now whether that was on a shaper I can't be sure. I mostly remember doing a search of eBay for rectangular HSS and seeing it was pretty rare and most of the stuff was old and bigger than the 1/4"x 3/4"x 4" I was inquiring about.

Like has been mentioned the space for creativity on mounting work on the shaper is pretty unlimited. I'm doing a lot of projects on the shaper just to be able take advantage of this.
 
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