Shapers, what happened?

[C-Bag]

Seems machining as a hobby might have been just one more casualty…..

This was going on years before Covid. It was certainly exacerbated by it but I noticed there was a vast difference in certain brands and size machines and noticed these were what hobbyists were looking for. Whatever the market will bare right?

I had become aware of shapers when I was first doing my research because of two totally stripped Atlas 7’s came up locally. That’s when I learned about how they worked and how potentially rare parts were. So it went on the back burner as I could see use but they were already over $1,000 on eBay for most that were missing parts. Alongside the missing parts like the vises for over $300. So that’s where all these missing parts were going and why so many shapers were missing parts. An inexperienced or super optimistic person would buy a machine and think “I’ll just get that part”. I learned that hard lesson early and had a 50yr ban on basket cases.

But that bit of research paid off because to my surprise a complete Atlas7b was in an estate sale and I was the only one who seemed to know what it was and picked it up for $125. It has proven itself super handy for my smaller type of work but I would not have paid over $500 for it. It is slow but produces the best finish because I don’t have a surface grinder.

 

[Ultradog MN]

A very timely post for me.
I bought this SB 7 last fall and took it apart this winter to clean and repaint it.
I discovered the Bijur oil pump in it has been taken apart in the past and is missing a ball and couple of springs so it is not pumping oil.
So I moved it out of the little heated office and let it sit while I did an upgrade on my drill press. Time to get back to work on it here.
In fact, I just now moved it back into my office.
Thanks for the shove.

 

[Projectnater]

Yep, there were quite a few of the Youtubers who caught onto old shapers roughly the same time (Abom79, Stephen ?Gotswinger?, ThisOldTony, and a few others) that I think inspired a bunch of hobby machinists. As one such victim, I'll tell it from my perspective:

Owning a shaper is a tempting proposition after watching all of those youtubers. They are incredibly versatile, use cheap cutting tools, don't make a big mess, and are incredibly fun/mesmerizing to watch work. For those of us who make chips JUST for fun, the "you can make anything but a profit" is REALLY tempting: NONE of my machines make a profit, but the ability to make anything with them is tempting!

Additionally, these shapers are available in a bench-top size (7") and are quite capable. They don't require much space at all, are pretty quiet, and again, a lot of fun! So anyone with a really small shop can probably fit one and increase the capability of their shop a whole bunch.

From my perspective: I needed a little bit of an oddball keyway in a gear for a project (some antique european pasta maker for a friend). The chinesium broaches weren't available in the size, plus I didn't have an arbor press. The only broach I could find of the size was nearly $1000, let alone needing to make the bushing AND buy an arbor press big enough.

A 7" Atlas shaper showed up on craigslist for ~$1000, so I bought that instead. Instead of blowing $1000 on a broach that would get used 1x, I improved the capability of my shop! The shaper was a champ for the project, and got it done in an hour. I was over the moon!

After that, I kept finding great projects for the shaper, it was really useful! Everything from facing stock while I did something else, to cutting odd angles, to getting through casting shmoo, that little 7" shaper did a ton of work for my shop.

In the end, I just kept running into projects that it COULDN'T do, not because it was a shaper, but because it was a small shaper. The 'height' above the table it could cut wasn't big enough for a project, and it wasn't wide enough/etc. SO I found a 28" shaper on offerup, and brought that home as well! I ended up trading the Atlas shaper to someone who got $2500 for it afterwards.

I STILL love my 28" shaper, but the little 7" Atlas was way more capable than something its size should be. I've used a small benchtop mill of roughly the size, and a 7" lathe about that size: Neither was as good at its job as the little 7" shaper was.

So in the end: Everything that made a shaper an indispensable part of early 1900s machine shops, still applies to a home shop. Everything that made a shaper a waste of space in the 1960s doesn't matter to me/doesn't apply in a home shop. And I think that is math that is common to many who own one.

I agree 100%, I went through machine school in the US Navy in 1979, the first machine they turned us loose on was a 20" shaper. I'm retired now and not concerned in making a profit in my hobby shop, I spend most of my time making parts and tools for my own machines and restoring old machines for the fun of bringing them back to life. I'm fortunate that about 20 years ago I invested in a big metal building on my property so I've got about 5000 sqft to play with but in the area that I've designated as my machine shop I just don't really have the room for a really big shaper I try to separate the welding/fabrication area far from the machines because of all the grinding and keeping the wood working area away from all the oil and chips of the machining area plus sawdust doesn't go real well with welding sparks!

 

[RJSakowski]

I don't have a shaper yet but have several jobs that would be difficult to accomplish without a shaper.

Given the apparent interest in them and the resultant scarcity, I am surprised that no one has come up with a modern version for the hobby machinist yet. The early 1900's version relied on mechanical mechanisms to accomplish the various required movement. I would expect that much of that could be done using more modern technology.

It wasn't that long ago that an ELS equipped lathe was the stuff of dreams. A few enterprising pioneers took up the challenge and the ELS was becoming ubiquitous. Now, there are at least two manufacturers offering ELS equipped lathes. 3D printers, virtually unheard of 25 years ago are another device that has exploded in the marketplace. CNC lasers, the same.

Coming out with a new product always has some risk involved as one doesn't know how well it would be received. It takes a considerable amount of investment in time and money to bring a product to market. Perhaps, all that is needed is for someone to get the ball rolling.

 

[Aaron David]

I think any tool that is man portable is going to be worth more to the home hobbyist, and that definitely includes the small shapers. I found mine last summer, at an estate sale in Sandy, Oregon. and I was surprised it was still there on the third day when I went back to the sale. I had been there on the first day, as there was a Walker-Turner 7" bench grinder I was interested in. And I had even looked around for as long as I could (I was pressed for time that day) but when I was paying up and they were loading it for me, the guy casually mentioned if I saw all the spare grinding wheels in the "back shop"

"Back Shop?" I though, I didn't see that! So he took me back there. And while the grinding wheels were the wrong type, I spotted the shaper. They wanted a little more than I wanted to pay, but I was surprised that they hadn't put a picture in the ad, as I think that would have sold quickly, as it wasn't a bad price. Well, I couldn't get it out of my mind, as I had been looking for one for about 5-6 years. So, as soon as I had time, I went back, convinced it wouldn't be there anymore. Well, it was, and they were looking to move stuff at that point, so I made an offer, and it was accepted.

The only problem is that I was just starting to tear into it when I stumbled on a 9" South Bend at a ridiculous price. So, I got most of the way done with the shaper, and started digging into the SB. And now my shop is a complete disaster.

 

[GT-6 Racer]

I love my little Cincinnati. 24“ universal table, power down feed, tool lifter. I really like chips that clang when they bounce off the floor. many times I use it as a planer for stuff under 24” square. I also have a little 8” Rhodes that is perfect for internal keyways in gears and pulleys. Both are super fun to use and really will teach you about machining old school. BUT, my Trak bed mill is so much faster in every respect. But for internal work the shaper really shines

 

[NCjeeper]

^^^^
Nice Cincy there.

 

[GT-6 Racer]

^^^^
Nice Cincy there.

Thanks. She’s a survivor. Original flaking, original paint. Was at an R&D facility wasn’t used much by the look of it. So fun to operate.

 

[Ultradog MN]

I agree 100%, I went through machine school in the US Navy in 1979, the first machine they turned us loose on was a 20" shaper.

I'm curious,
MR A School in San Diego?
That is where I got my start.

 

[Projectnater]

I'm curious,
MR A School in San Diego?
That is where I got my start.

No, actually it was OM "A" school in Great Lakes, 1980. I started out as an Opticalman, fixing Periscopes, Big huge range finders in gun turrets, navigation equipment. 13 month "A" school, the first phase was machine shop, We had a MRC who taught that phase, about 12 weeks long. all of the equipment we worked on was so old it was obsolete and no parts were available so we had to make them. Some of the most advanced nuclear submarines back in the 80's had 2 periscopes, a Navigation scope and a attack scope, the attack scopes were all pre WWII! Most of the stuff we machined was really small gears, racks, lens retainer rings. Was at Subase Pearl Harbor from 81-85 then the USS Prairie AD15 1985-1991 Long Beach Naval Station, was only a OM till 86' went to Dive school, and switched rate to EN.