Is a shaper a tool worth adding to my home shop?

A slotting head can be a good alternative for small work like you mentioned. Many of them are not all that tight in the ram though, so if you do go that route, you might want to consider refurbishing the slotter before doing any close work.

I wouldn't mind having a slotting head myself, and I DO have a shaper.
 
Any tool is worth adding to your "tool arsenal". Some may be used frequently while others sit for long periods until that special job comes along that requires it. The very nature of this hobby states that it isn't a money making pursuit but rather one for pleasure and accomplishment. My South Bend shaper is used far less than my lathe but I wouldn't get rid of it. I have found it useful on several small jobs and it machines flat surfaces better than any mill I have. Other than filing, I have no way to machine an accurate square or rectangular hole. Here are a couple of pictures of my shaper in action cutting a keyway in a handle for a small horizontal mill.
 
Is a shaper right for the home shop? I'm not the person to ask – since only you can answer the question yourself, based on what you do in your shop, and why you do it.

I happen to like shapers – so I'm biased in favor of them. Other people don't like them – and that shows in their dismissal of them without further examination.

Let's start by saying if your shop is closet sized, then there's probably better ways to use your small space instead of trying to wedge a shaper into it; after all, some people don't even have a milling machine of any sort, resorting to adapting their lathe for most machining tasks.

There are plenty of arguments against having one, such as there being "better" or faster ways to remove metal from a surface. They are obsolete, outmoded, old fashioned, slow, and a host of other terms intended to denigrate them and dismiss their usefulness in the home shop. Personally, I never understood this, because for me the working of metal and working with various machines _is_ the reason I enjoy metalworking. Making a part as quickly as I can, either to make a buck or simply because metalworking isn't what I really want to do but it's required to build some widget that really is my hobby focus isn't what I'm here to do. In other words, for me it's not only the destination but the journey that I fine enjoyable.

The arguments for having a shaper in the shop are manifold, in my opinion. It's another way to do what I need done, when I choose to employ that machine in my task instead of heading for the mill. Why might I do that? Could be that I don't have a needed milling cutter on hand, and want to do the job today; the shaper often lets me do that by grinding my own and continuing on my way without interruption. It might be a part where surface finish is important, and the shaper lets me make parts that are almost mirror finish; a short time with the buffer on a part from the shaper and you'd think it came off the surface grinder. It might just be because I _like_ using that machine instead of a different machine for the task. Shapers are flexible in terms of their application; I've heard it said that "shapers are lathes for flat things". I rather like that " since they really are versatile, and like a lathe, with a little additional tooling can do all sorts of machining operations that one wouldn't normally think of doing on the machine.

No, I'm not the right person to ask this question of; after all, I've had an Atlas 7B and an AAMCO 7" shaper for years. No I don't use them every day, or even every time I'm in the shop, but when I do use them I enjoy what I'm doing with them.

No, I'm unquestionably the incorrect person to ask this question of, because just a week ago I saw a shaper that had been pulled out of an old foundry building that's being sold, and stopped to look it over. I sought out the person that was handling the clearing of the building and saved the machine from the scrapper. With the help of a rollback wrecker, I now have that machine in my garage. I've started going through it, and it's in amazing shape – much of the frosting still on the bearing surfaces. Internally, it's also in really good shape from what I've cleaned and inspected so far. It will be operational in another week or two, with any luck and a little free time in the garage. What did I adopt? A 20" Rockford Hy-draulic universal, with power downfeed and tool lifter. Even has the original vise and safety cranks. Paid less than scrap for it. Likely just shy of three tons. Makes my Van Norman #26 " which I always considered to be a large mill " look unremarkable sitting next to it in my garage shop (large tools in the garage, small ones in the basement).

In the final analysis, it's not really important what someone else thinks about the usefulness of a particular machine or machine type " it's what you think about it, and what drives you to work metal. I found that I like saving older machines, bringing them back to useful life, and using them to work metal " often to make parts for more broken or cast-off machines that need saving. Why? Because it amuses me to do so. When it stops amusing me, I'll find another hobby " because that's what it's about for me, and based on the name of this message board, it's a hobby for many other people, too. Enjoy it!

-Carl
 
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Good find on the Rockford shaper. I have a really old 24 inch Rockford shaper that must be the great grandfather of yours. It doesn't have any bells or whistles but still works good. It is like me.......old and slow but still steady. lol.

I would also like to see pictures of your progress on the shaper.

Bill
 
I'll take some photos of the Rockford and post them. Just doing a clean-up at the moment so I can fill the sump with hydraulic fluid and test the machine before going further. There's at least 40 years of grime on the outside of the machine, atop the nasty flaking blue paint. Inside wasn't too bad - took on some rainwater from being outside two days before the rescue began and it was covered. I'm cleaning the sump at the moment, as I want it spotless before adding 20 gallons of rather expensive fluid. Fortunately, the water never got deep enough to make it up near the intake and discharge lines - but was deep enough to drown a rather large number of mice that climbed up under the ram and fell into the sump. It is fortunate they had pumped all the oil out getting ready to scrap it before they moved it outside, or it would have been even nastier to clean out with a mix of oil and rain water.

As I've been going through the machine, it is obvious to me that before being moved outside it had been pretty well cared for; I have yet to find one stuck nut or bolt - only surface rust from being out in the rain. I've greased and oiled all the bearing surfaces, moving table and other exposed parts and displaced the rain water. I want to make certain the machine is operational before doing an in-depth effort; there's many hydraulic valves, the main pump, and other parts I need to check the health of before deciding to dive in and do more work. With any luck I'll be ready to make some tests of the basic machine, and some test cuts if all goes well, by the end of next weekend.
 
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