The side of a Shaper Table-block with a V Groove

[matt_at_home]

What are these used for ?

They seem quite narrow, too narrow to positively clamp something round with a diameter much more than 3x the groove width. On some shapers the groove is aligned with the stroke, on others it is perpendicular. Most importantly, not all shapers have a groove on one side of their table block.

 

[C-Bag]

My Atlas7b doesn’t have a groove in the side of the table. But if it did I’d use it as a quick reference for a setup for something more substantial. I’ve used the side of table quite a bit and made a backstop specifically for it. It has been since moved to my converted wood band saw sled. I need to make another and leave it dedicated to the shaper.

 

[projectnut]

Here's a link to a manual for the Delta/Milwaukee 7" shaper also sold under the AMMCO name. Note the table has not only slots for T nuts it also has drilled and tapped holes on several sides for accessories like a vise, rotary table, indexing head, and dog plates among others. The later section of the manual includes the available accessories like T nuts and other types of hold downs.

Delta Specialty/Delta Mfg. Co./Delta-Rockwell/Rockwell Intl. - Publication Reprints - PM-1737. No. 27-100 Delta-Milwaukee 7" Precision Shaper for Metalworking. | VintageMachinery.org

 

[matt_at_home]

Very good, ProjectNut, that manual gave an example for a shaper that has a transverse v groove between two transverse T-nut slots, using it work the end of a piece round bar of a diameter unlikely to be more than 3x the width of the v-groove. I have seen that pattern of T-nut slots and V groove before as one of the options... that photo explains that pattern beautifully. With the V-groove transverse to the shaper stroke, the clamping only has to hold it into the slot to hold it positively.

Mine has a V groove aligned with the stroke of the shaper, with no T-nut slots. The slot being aligned means the axial tool forces would be in line with work sliding away down the length of the slot. The same clamping would not necessarily hold the work as firmly as a transverse slot example. I was thinking splines on the end of a shaft, like an axle shaft for a rear wheel drive vehicle with a differential. It is all I could think of but with nothing else on that side of the block to help with clamping, I was uncertain.