Turned into a shaper/slotter kind of day

DiscoDan

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I was at the local Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association show today and stopped by the maching shop. Got to see a shaper in action and a vertical slotter in action. Then outside was a flea market vendor selling an AMMCO 7 inch shaper that looked complete. Didn't buy it but got his number. The machine shop also had a shaper for sale but it was in pieces. I think God was telling me something!
 

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Mesmerizing machines to watch aren't they? I was bitten by the shaper bug awhile back and just managed to land one of my own, a Rhodes 7". Cant wait to have time to use it.
 
Alba 1-A and won't part with it. Some jobs are just so much easier on a shaper plus they are one of the most satisfying machines to use.
 
They are fun/mesmerizing to watch. The vertical slitter was interesting. It was a donated machine that they were using for the first time. It has a rotary table and they had a steel round set up and they were basically shaping the outside diameter to make it round. Did a fine job.
 
Dan I think the signs are all pointing to you having a shaper Lol. That would have been cool to watch them doing a round on the shaper.
I find I have been using my shaper more than my mill lately. Partly because its new to me but its perfect for a lot of jobs.
I had to machine down flat a large flame cut flange. Had it all set up in the mill, but its very hard on cutters . Put it in the shaper and it cut thru the slag no problem. I even ended up doing all the edges on the shaper too.

Cheers
Martin
 
Martin, last night i was watch Abom79 use a shaper on some flame cut edges but he used a grinder to get through all of the cap and take down the ridges. Glad it worked for you without the extra step.
 
Shapers and slotters can preform work that would otherwise be quite difficult, such as internal features, square and rectangular holes, keyways, splines, etc. Recently, I needed to make a special hex socket; the slotter (vertical shaper) is a natural for that job, and yes, shaping segments of circles. My slotter is a 6" Pratt & Whitney, it has a 20" rotary table built in, with automatic rotary feed, plus shop bolt indexing and indexing in degrees by worm feed, and I have index plates for accurate indexing like on a dividing head. The P&W is intended primarily for tool and die work, so the ram is inclinable for die clearance. I also have a B&S slotting head for my B&S #2 universal mill, it can be sometimes better than the P&W for some work, as the slide is inclinable sideways 360 deg. Also have the Gould & Eberhardt 20-24" industrial universal shaper, especially ,,nice for such things as tapered gibs, or most any long skinny part within its range.
 
I love my G&E shaper. Doing a job on it right now for a friend. Squaring up a large piece of stock.
 
That rusty shaper sitting outside has a vise with it. If original, that might be a good find in itself. Can't tell from the picture if the rust is a problem or not. I suspect that rust would be less of a problem for a shaper than for your precision machines.

I just cleaned up a Lewis 10" shaper, but the rusted parts were generally not on any sliding ways. Turned out ok tho I haven't used it to make anything yet.

Guess I'm saying that if the price is right, and you have room, a shaper can be a good addition to your shop.
 
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