Return of the Shaper

A friend has one for doing keyways. Works really well for odd sized keys and in places where you cant get a through broach.

Neil

I think their elusiveness comes down to the fact that many of the jobs it does can be done with just a hack saw and files, okay, a lot of effort involved with that and you might not be brilliant at it, but it will do the same job.

Milling and turning would be very difficult to replicate the results with just hand tools. Milling can perform most of the roles a shaper can and mill pockets and enclosed spaces. Turning would just be downright awkward to do without a lathe of sorts.

Michael W

My Number 2 is immaculate, hardly worn, just has a replacement lever and the original angle plate was missing.

Strange thing is that all the Adept shapers are very good for their capacities.

Neil

The one real job mine has done was an accurate 70-degree internal dovetail. File and hacksaw would have struggled - a lot!

A previous version done on a mill using an end mill and angle vice was not as good because it didn't have a sharp internal corner.

Next job is likely to be a very large gear.

At the mill we did a similar thing with a 24" stroke shaper and an air grinder to grind hard faced wear plates. We only did it on night shift as the noise was horrendous!

This thread has been an education all on its own and probably increased the value of 2nd hand shapers at the same time

Shapers were in general use before low cost carbide tips were available. During my tool room years I used one a lot for getting black tool steel slabs flat and square as a preliminary process to machining press tool dies. This was done with HSS toolbits in a holder and these could easily be sharpened. I have an Elliott 10m shaper and it is very useful for preparing work for the minimill quickly as it is usually set up with it's own homemade vice and can be used instantly. I used it to machine down some old leaf spring steel, which I couldn't anneal satisfactorily, that would almost certainly damage any milling cutter. Colin

As an Apprentice, I had the frustrations of setting the position and the stroke of a couple of shapers. The one in the Toolroom had to be hand started by switching between Star and Delta connections once it was running.

I often wish that I had one, (Would have to be a hand powered one) but wonder

a) Where would I site it? and

b) How much would I use it? (Can already cut small keyways with the Slotting Tool on the lathe)

Just think what you could do with a CNC one!

Howard

Some shapers are better than others for setting up. The larger Albas (14 and 18 inch at least) have a feature where you don't have to open the door and mess around inside. Instead there is a knurled collar and a square on the end of the bull wheel shaft on the drivers side. You loosen the collar and turn the square with the crank handle. I much prefer this to putting my hands inside the machine to adjust the die block directly.

I know the conventional wisdom is not to use carbide on interrupted cuts, but I have had good success with using it on shapers. The carbide I use is some triangle inserts with no coating and no holes that were left on the table at the club years back. Apparently they were unsatisfactory for whatever they had been bought for at someones work. Anyway, silver soldered onto a key steel shank they have been very useful on the shapers and don't seem to chip.

John

Raining hard here tonight, so I didn't really feel like a trip down to the Shed. Been meaning to do this job on the Acorn 7" but (given the interest in hand-shaping) decided to try the Adept instead. It's a 'V' rest - used to hold stuff on the cross-slide a bit higher than the T-slots but not as high as an ordinary 'V' block. It's had a hard life and is not a precision tool - just a work holding device...

​Just over two hours later, half way there - bottom, end and side edges machined - leaving the top angled surfaces to do. Could have done it faster on the mill but they are down the Shed too! Listening to the radio (mind in neutral mostly) it's better than just watching Poldark (which is what the wife did tonight). Hard to explain hand shapers rationally - don't normally do anything too large with mine but this lump turned out to be very free-cutting, so it wasn't hard work...

I've put a few more photos of this job in progress in my 'Adept' album if anyone is interested.

Time for bed!

Regards,

IanT

Hi all, if you wish to perform intermittent cutting with TC tips on shaper or lathe the grade you require is S6, a plain ie uncoated tip, I have machined many sets of soft jaws on manual & CNC lathes up to 22 inches in diameter & it doesnt get much more interrupted than that! To reinforce the wisdom of being able to use the same tooling on lathe & shaper I have a V point 55 degree rhombic lathe tool taking positive rake tips, I shaped the width of the shank down to fit through the toolholder on the shaper many years ago followed by making a dedicated toolblock to fit it on the lathe, using the shaper naturally, the time taken to switch it between machines is measured in seconds & by swivelling it left or right its area clearance (technical term) capabilities are astonishing, yes it really can shift some stuff.

Cheers Bob.

And this is my small shaper. It has 200mm ( 8" ) capacity.

Edited By Thomas Staubo on 09/08/2017 16:22:50

Nice finish Thomas - and I enjoyed the music too.

Regards,

IanT

Wiping swarf off with a bare hand?

Nice one Ian!

To clarify, the first video I posted titled "Whipp shaper" was not mine. I just think it was a nice video with appropriate music

The second video is mine.

Got a problem?

It was soft aluminium, and not very fine chips. A chip brush would be better though, and I would use one on sharper chips especially.

Nice shaper Thomas,is the feed 180* out ie it's feeding on the cut stroke instead of the return stroke? .

Only that I was concerned for your hands!