Perfecto Shaper

I recently acquired one of these interesting machines. A search of the site threw up a solitary thread with this title which frustratingly turned out to be all about switch wiring.

I deduce from this that shapers are a minority interest. I know very little about them and tried unsuccessfully to get hold of a copy of Ian Bradley's book which I understand has a section on this machine.

Has anyone a copy they would be prepared to lend, please? Or other relevant guidance?

I plan to mount my machine on a stand with the motor underneath so as to allow for long pulley centres and thereby compensate for the very small size of the smallest of the three motor pulleys. Is there a "correct" height for these machines akin to the advice one sees about lathe centre heights?

If you use the front page searchbox you will get more results and a couple of replies

**LINK**

gl

Edited By Ady1 on 28/02/2017 15:02:37

Hi you will receive all the information regarding Perfecto shapers at www.lathes .com. I had my motorised shaper elevated on a 4 inch plinth at bench top level.

A great little machine if you require any more info please feel free to PM me.

B. Reilly Glasgow.

Ady1

Thank you for the helpful link (I did try to find the "front page search box" before reluctantly trying the next-to-useless version at top right).

Bernard Reilly

Thank you. I did look at the lathes.co.uk entry before posting. Tony has some literature but it is for the Perfecto lathes as well and possibly not economic therefore.

I will bear your kind offer in mind for when I begin to work with the machine. A plinth or baseboard is an attractive idea since it allows the whole machine to be put out of the way but they would need to be rather deep front to back to optimise the belt centres.

Hi ega

There is some general info on this webpage **LINK**

There is a picture of a homemade stand, which I think is quite neat. It has a adjustment lever to allow the motor mounting plate to be moved, to slacken/tension the belt when changing between pulley grooves. There are some other mounting ideas in the pictures, including a single column pedestal (off a grinder iirc).

Steve

ega - I have, and have used, the Perfecto and was most impressed. The long belt centres needed I managed by mounting the shaper on a home-made bench top and fixing the motor on the lower 'shelf'. I have a copy of Bradley's book and should be able to make page copies. PM me if more specific info required.

rgds

Bill

Hi there ega - and congratulations on your new "acquisition" !

Shapers within this community seem to be a bit like 'Marmite' - people either love them or hate them. I'm happy to admit to being in the former group and if you PM me, I will try to help you with the Ian Bradley book.

It's OK as an introduction but believe that "Shaper Work" (a set of courseware) by Delmar is better & more detailed, although it was intended for industrial students and covers a lot of ground not really applicable to hobby users... but all the essential basics are there and they apply to any size of machine. It's out of copyright now, so available for download - I'd look at the various chapters to decide if you need them all...

Regards,

IanT

ega - I believe you will find this link useful...

http://neme-s.org/Shaper%20Books/shaper_book_page.htm

Regards,

IanT

Steven Vine, Cornish Jack and IanT:

Many thanks indeed for your valuable help; I've been in Perfecto heaven most of the afternoon pursuing the links you provided.

I "acquired" my machine at a competitive price judging by the information on the bedroom workshop site - interesting that the hand machines go for not much less than the powered. The same site has extensive extracts from the Bradley book which should mean I don't need to trouble you. I will look at Delmar.

Stands for the hand machines obviously have to be fixed but I wonder how far the powered version needs to be secured; would the reciprocating motion cause a castor-mounted stand to walk across the floor?

It also occurred to me that a custom stand could incorporate an adjustable brace for the table.

Edited By ega on 28/02/2017 17:30:02

ega - "would the reciprocating motion cause a castor-mounted stand to walk across the floor?"

Very likely, I would think. Mine was mounted on a bench which also held a Fobco Star drill, so fairly hefty but there was still obvious reaction.

rgds

Bill

Hi In my situation with my Perfecto shaper it was bolted to the raised plinth and also bolted to the work bench. The motor was also bolted to the work bench.. I also fitted a table support bracket this made the whole set up very stable.

It is good that you are receiving a lot of help and advice.

B.Reilly Glasgow.

There is only one page of text, plus 2 pictures, directly about Perfecto power shaper in Ian Bradley's book, can make copies of them if you wish.

I don't understand why the book commands such a high price.

Robbo

Very good of you but it seems that the relevant pages are available on the bedroom workshop site.

I assume that printed copies are rare - hence the crazy prices.

Thanks to all who responded to my post.

+1. Wot he said.

I have both books downloaded off the net. The Delmar is very very good.

My experience of overhauling my shaper may be of interest to the select band of users; I see from MEW 246 pp 14 and 15 that Mike Haughton is also one.

I was not surprised to find my machine needed attention in a number of areas - not quite Perfecto!

I noticed straightaway that the tee slots in the table needed re-machining but could not immediately see how to mount the table on my small mill. The photos show how I eventually solved this problem:

This necessitated first milling the front and bottom edges of the table parallel and tapping two holes in the front edge, alterations which I thought were acceptable.

The other major problem was that the saddle became progressively stiffer as it was moved by the handwheel from right to left; dismantling and measuring revealed that the leadscrew bearings were badly out of alignment. This was cured by installing an eccentric bush at the left end as shown:

Here is how the bed was set up on the cross slide of the lathe for opening out the hole for the bush and machining the necessary facing:

The machine's own table came in handy for this job.

I now plan to build a stand and would be interested in some further details of Mike Haughton's version which as shown in his article has a rather elegant curve to match the radius of the base.

It sure looks small on that lathe

Benny Avelin:

The lathe is the small Willson slant bed; see lathes.co.uk for details of the large one!

You seem to be doing great things on your own equipment.

Thanks ega! I try to work with what I have, but I always think that my machines are too small.

Manual slant bed lathes is not something I usually see. It seems like a really nice lathe, large capacity w.r.t. size.

Hi,

I am curious as to why you did not use the shaper to recut the T-slots?

I've got an Alba - 1A and can send a munual,(pdf), if anyone wants one. A good site for information is the N.E.M.E.S. site as mentioned by Ian T, he is on the money with regard to 'Shaperwork' by Delmar aswell. Anything powered has to be nailed down, my Alba will walk even at low speed if not bolted to the floor.

Barry Taylor 3:

Thanks for your comments.

I'm a complete novice in this area, having done no more than take a few trial cuts before starting to overhaul the machine. However, the tee slots on the Perfecto are at right angles to the ram travel which seemed to make your suggestion difficult (although it may yet be possible for the machine to true up its own table).

My understanding is that "proper" shapers like the Alba are in a different category but I will certainly bear in mind your point about walking. Like most amateurs I have a restricted work space and I had hoped to make the shaper semi-portable. The Perfecto is essentially a bench machine although I know some users have contrived stands.