Alba 1A shaper - my new little lady

I mentioned on one of my other posts that I had recently acquired an old shaper. Like most of my kit this also came from a car boot sale. I paid the bloke a small deposit and it was delivered some weeks later when I was ready for it. My Alba 1A - born in 1959 - arrived dressed in the grime of fifty odd years and really looking like the mucky little trollop she was:

In between relocating workshops and over a couple of months I have fixed her worn bits, sluiced her down with white spirit, filled and sanded her paint cracks and finally applied her "makeup" in the original colours. I like her lots now!

Her graduated scales are in millimetres and for an English lady from that era I think that makes her a little unusual.

Rik

Rik, she looks perfect now !

She looks gorgeous,could take her anywhere.

Absolutely superb, you have made a lovely job of her. be nice to see some pics of her in action

Well done a lovely job

Nice job now get cutting some chips!

Paul

Sounds like you have somehow aquired one of my ex's .

Nick

I tend to just grease and oil them up because I expect to work them hard over the next 30 years

Once they are knackered and useless, then I'll push in some filler, tart them up... and give 'em to a museum

For me there's nothing sadder than seeing a perfectly capable machine put on display and not allowed to be used for its intended purpose

The skills these machines can unleash can change a persons life

Edited By Ady1 on 29/01/2015 01:20:53

Rik If it is a metric machine it seems odd that the feed per stroke on the label is in inches

Roy

Roy - maybe not so odd.

I would suggest that if a customer back in '59 had ordered a metric version it would probably have been deemed a "special" and by simply swapping the two graduated imperial collars on an already completed imperial machine for metric collars it would have met the customers requirements.

In my opinion, the fact that the existing label indicates the feed in imperial is neither here nor there and is not operation critical as it would have been if we were talking lathe lead screws.

If any one was in any doubt about the label, the penny (or pfennig), would surely drop after reading what it says on both sides of the machine in large letters "MADE IN ENGLAND".

Rik

Rik It would not be a metric version just by swapping the grduated collars If it still has imperial lead screws the metric collars would make the machine very interesting to use

Roy

Sorry but I don't understand that, on a shaper does it not matter what thread it is as long as the collar graduations are "synched" to whatever screw pitch is being used ?

Roy - I have been a little misleading, my apologies. I have just been back up the shop to double check stuff. First, the machine has three not two graduated collars. The tool slide collar is metric and is clearly marked m/m.

I made my assumption that this was a metric machine on that collar alone. I have just clocked the movement of the cross slide and the vertical slide using one rev of their respective graduated collars both of which are missing the m/m engraving but which show graduations thus: 0-.25-.50-.75-1 and back to zero again, 125 in total. Applying the DTI I get a reading per one rev of the collars of exactly ".125. The lead screws ARE imperial. Thank you for your observations.

Is my lovely lady now an hermaphrodite?

Rik

PS I should have checked the ACTUAL movement on the toolslide against the metric collar while I was at it but forgot - manyana

Edited By Rik Shaw on 29/01/2015 18:06:51

Rik,

Very nice job with your shaper. Below is my small 7" shaper which I refurbed earlier in the year.

It is now sat on a mobile bench elsewhere in the garage. This was an Ebay purchase. I replaced the motor and mounting bracket fitted by the previous owner and it now is a lot more like original and is around 4 " shorter overall. I believe this is a Corbetts XL 7" machine having looked at lathes.co.uk

Colin

Yes a nice refurb Colin, well done. Will you use it or move it on?

Rik

I concur with all the above, although, when I saw your first picture, I thought you'd got it standing on the lounge carpet!

Nice one.

John

Rik,

I intend keeping it. Need to source some suitable tooling for it and then learn how to use it.

Rgds,

Colin

Posted by Mick Betresford

Sorry but I don't understand that, on a shaper does it not matter what thread it is as long as the collar graduations are "synched" to whatever screw pitch is being used ?

Mick I don't think you realise that a shaper can be just as precision a machine as any lathe or mill I certainly expect the same results from my Drummond shaper as from my Myford lathe

Roy

I appreciate that Roy and that it's not very good to have Imperial and Metric threads and markings mixed up on a machine. But my query was though it would be bad practice I couldn't see any reason not to have metric collar markings on an imperial thread screw which would be accurate given it was done properly as it was initially thought Riks shaper was a manufactured metric/imperial one.

A lot of shapers never came with graduations on the dials. My own Alba 1A has a graduated dial on the downfeed, but I am not sure if that is original. My 6 inch Ammco came with a 13 tpi downfeed (Half inch Sellers thread) and a 62.5 graduation downfeed. Almost certainly not original, and not a lot of use...it now has a 10 tpi leadscrew with a more sensible dial. The only one with sensible dials and screws is the 18 inch Alba.

Metric markings on an Imperial leadscrew are never going to be completely sensible. The closest is probably if you mark a 10 tpi leadscrew as 2.5mm. Of course you will be .04mm out with every turn, which might be OK for short movements.

John