By continuing to use this site, you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more
Forum sponsored by:
Forum sponsored by Forum House Ad Zone

Alba 1A Shaper Graduated Dials?

All Topics | Latest Posts

Search for:  in Thread Title in  
_Paul_18/01/2012 20:45:41
avatar
543 forum posts
31 photos
I have a late 30's Alba Shaper (an early type with no box support).
 
The machine currently has small plain unmarked collars making accurate work difficult so I would like to add graduated dials to both the topslide and crossfeed.
 
Sounds reasonably simple so far, (i'm not that lucky) my problem arises with the machines screws which are all 6 T.P.I.
 
This means that one revolution of either feed produces a (measured) movement of 0.16666 therefore (working in thousandths) giving a dial calibrated with an unusual amount of divisions.
 
I did then start to think that it may be calibrated in 64ths as some really old machines are, this dosent seem to produce any kind of meaningful number of divisions either.
 
Does anyone have any ideas?

 
Regards
 
Paul
David Clark 118/01/2012 20:54:37
avatar
3357 forum posts
112 photos
10 articles
Hi There
Near as dammit 4.25 (4.233333) mm
I would divide it into 34 and use that.
You are unlikly to want any closer measurement on a shaper I would think.
regards David
 
 
John Stevenson18/01/2012 22:27:49
avatar
5068 forum posts
3 photos
Chop a cheap digital caliper up for the top slide and use one of the horizontal DRO bars for the cross feed, probably a lot quicker than making and graduating odd sock dials.
 
John S.
Ady118/01/2012 23:39:50
avatar
6137 forum posts
893 photos
A $15 DRO will sort all your problems.
 
Something I haven't really seen anywhere is profiling with a laser.
 
Attach a $2 laser to the head of the shaper, put a ball point pen picture of the shape you want on the opposite wall, or a freestanding markerboard, and profile the shape.
 
 
edit:Not many shaper users left nowadays though.

Edited By Ady1 on 18/01/2012 23:50:23

alan frost19/01/2012 00:30:30
137 forum posts
3 photos
Don't you believe it ,Ady. Even the venerable editor is pushing his luck with a comment like ,and I quote, "..unlikely to want any closer measurement on a shaper". Some of us use a shaper to pare off layers of atoms and the really hot guys can even remove selected electrons. I can think of a website not a million miles removed where new members have been advised "watch out for the shaper boys ". Certainly no one on that site would be rash enough to make these sort of statements.
Like the laser profiling idea--Try that with a mill, if you get any spare time from sorting out the rough finish !!!

Edited By alan frost on 19/01/2012 00:31:54

Ady119/01/2012 01:38:40
avatar
6137 forum posts
893 photos
Like the laser profiling idea--Try that with a mill, if you get any spare time from sorting out the rough finish !!!
 
ooh...nasty...lol
 
It also occurred to me that it might be possible to finish off bores for bushes and perhaps even model engines with a shaper, with a rounded tooltip on a rotary table, although the highly skilled engine guys do talk about a slight tapering when they hand finish the bore.
 
Even by hand, with no graduated dials on a shaper, you can skim minute amounts of material from a piece of metal.
As soon as an endmill/slotdrill touches something it vibrates.

Edited By Ady1 on 19/01/2012 01:45:12

John Olsen19/01/2012 09:03:31
1294 forum posts
108 photos
1 articles
Seems to have been traditional to use odd threads on shaper feeds. I have a six inch Ammco which came with a half inch Sellers thread on the downfeed, eg 13 tpi, and a V form thread at that. Somebody had put a little dial with 62.5 calibrations around it, which might have been some use had the thread been 16 tpi. I scavenged a nice 10 tpi thread leadscrew and nut from an old lathe cross slide, peace at last. I have four shapers, the others all came with calibrated dials and sensible threads. So either change the thread or put the digital readout on, the latter might be easiest and gives you metric as well.
 
regards
John
_Paul_19/01/2012 17:28:19
avatar
543 forum posts
31 photos
Thanks to one and all for your replys & advice, sounds like it will be having a cheap digital caliper grafted onto it.
 
Has anyone done this with a shaper? any design ideas would be gratefully recieved.
 
Another thought gripped me before I started this thread which was what about a CNC shaper? has this been done I wonder
 
Regards
 
Paul
Bazyle19/01/2012 19:29:24
avatar
6956 forum posts
229 photos
The Boxford tailstock screw is 12tpi so I have thought of a 42 division dial but since the usual adjustment is a 'tad' or 'smidgin' why get obsessed with a subdivision of a distance that was imprecisely chosen a few centuries ago.
If it is reasonable to divide a foot by 12 then the next division is logically 6 or 12, or some multiple thereof so 42 is on the cards for the next stage.
Anyway counting in base 10 is just a passing fad of a couple of thousand years and we will revert to base 60 again in time.
 
 
Stub Mandrel19/01/2012 21:15:56
avatar
4318 forum posts
291 photos
1 articles
Bazyle,
 
We need to redefine the centimetre as 2.56 to the inch.
 
Work out the implications.
 
Neil
Michael Gilligan20/01/2012 23:33:29
avatar
23121 forum posts
1360 photos
Neil,

Agreed; it would be wonderful ... bringing instant convergence of Metric, Imperial, and Binary.

On a practical level [as I'm sure you realise]; we can often get away with the approximation ...
"Quarter Scale, Metricated" is a favourite of mine.

i.e. One Inch at QSM is 25.6/4mm = 6.4mm
One sixty-fourth is then a very convenient 0.1mm

Makes scaling-down from old drawings very simple!

MichaelG.
alan frost23/01/2012 16:53:24
137 forum posts
3 photos
We've got Napoleon to thank for 2.54. Bloody French, what can you expect !!
 
I expect his thoughts at the time were. "Vell, the bloody English fink they rule the world-ve vill see. I vill metricate and the world will follow. Now eet would be sensible to make the centimetre 2.56 to ze eench, but ve vill make eet 2.54. Eet suits me and I have ze beegest army in Europe. Ze Eengleesh will be so busy making 127 teeth gears France vill be number one for years"
 
What the basket forgot was we had the only universal language and once Le hotdog and Le computer were invented the French were on the slide.
Stub Mandrel24/01/2012 18:19:03
avatar
4318 forum posts
291 photos
1 articles
I suppose we should be grateful they standardised at 2.54 - for a long while it was 2.54and a load of tiddly bits on the end.
 
Neil
Nobby30/01/2012 13:22:13
avatar
587 forum posts
113 photos
Hi

I read once that the Congress of the USA stated that The inch Should be 2.54 What year I can't remember. Having said that I found it easy to program machines in metric . also a 127 m.m sine bar can be very useful !!!!!

Nobby





Michael Gilligan30/01/2012 20:15:37
avatar
23121 forum posts
1360 photos
For info ...

http://www.npl.co.uk/reference/faqs/on-what-basis-is-one-inch-exactly-equal-to-25.4-mm-has-the-imperial-inch-been-adjusted-to-give-this-exact-fit-and-if-so-when-(faq-length)

MichaelG.

All Topics | Latest Posts

Please login to post a reply.

Magazine Locator

Want the latest issue of Model Engineer or Model Engineers' Workshop? Use our magazine locator links to find your nearest stockist!

Find Model Engineer & Model Engineers' Workshop

Sign up to our Newsletter

Sign up to our newsletter and get a free digital issue.

You can unsubscribe at anytime. View our privacy policy at www.mortons.co.uk/privacy

Latest Forum Posts
Support Our Partners
cowells
Sarik
MERIDIENNE EXHIBITIONS LTD
Shopping Partners
Subscription Offer

Latest "For Sale" Ads
Latest "Wanted" Ads
Get In Touch!

Do you want to contact the Model Engineer and Model Engineers' Workshop team?

You can contact us by phone, mail or email about the magazines including becoming a contributor, submitting reader's letters or making queries about articles. You can also get in touch about this website, advertising or other general issues.

Click THIS LINK for full contact details.

For subscription issues please see THIS LINK.

Digital Back Issues

Social Media online

'Like' us on Facebook
Follow us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter
 Twitter Logo

Pin us on Pinterest

 

Donate

donate