Picked Up A Shaper...

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63redtudor

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I was in Denver this last week and found a shaper. On a whim (and with the boss's permission), I picked up a shaper. Now I have it home and am trying to figure out what it actually is. There is a brass tag on the R/H side that says "Mountain Machine MFG Co. 12" Shaper." Its my guess that this was a machine shop in the Denver area and not who actually made the machine. Having said that, it has the 'look' of one of the kit machines that I've read about (Lewis, etc.). When I first looked at it I thought that it was plate steel, but now I think that it might actually be cast iron.
So, in addition to wondering what it is, I have a few more questions:
- Would anyone from the Denver area have any knowledge of this machine shop and when they were in business? The guy who sold it to me thinks his dad may have picked it up in the 60's (maybe early 70s).
- How would I verify the stroke of the machine, I'm not 100% convinced that this is a 12" (not a big deal for me actually)?
- What would be a decent size motor for this machine? Right now it has a 1/4 hp, 110v AC motor. I'm thinking along the lines of a larger 110 or 220 (single phase). I don't want to fool with either 3-phase or DC.
Thanks for any help.

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Where you adjust the stroke, it might have a scale. Or set the ram at maximum stroke, turn by hand, and measure the length. That should be an indication of the size of shaper.
It looks like the door on the side is missing. Darn, that would have given you the brand and where it was made.
Oh, well, I'll just keep researching, Dad
 
How about posting a close up picture of the brass tag?
 
The nominal size was probably on the door too. These smaller shapers don't need large motors. Generally they are geared down so much that there is ample torque to make reasonable cuts. I'd try it with the existing motor, unless there is something wrong with it, or you just happened to have another motor around and just want to swap it.
 
It would have been great to have the side door! Unfortunately the PO had no idea as to where it had gone (or if it even had one). Apparently after his dad died he started going through the garage and at first he could barely open the door. He found the shaper in the back of the garage. He thinks that there might be more tooling, he's still going through boxes of 'treasures'...
Here's a picture of the tag.

MtMachineShaper_06.jpg
 
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