Shaper parts and progress

[ScrapMetal]

Anyone have a guess as to what kind of wheels/cranks/handles might go on these two bare posts?...



-Ron

[ScrapMetal]

May have found an answer to my own question. Look at the bottom left-hand corner at the base of the shaper. Someone carelessly left a crank handle laying there. I'm guessing that both square posts/drives shared one handle. As it wasn't attached it would be the first thing lost.



Now, where to find one?

-Ron

[rleete]

Now, where to find one?

I have a friend with a full sized Bridgeport. He was missing the handle to raise the knee (busted off), so he ended up getting a fairly large ratcheting wrench and uses that. Doesn't look "authentic", but does the job.


Edit: I see from the pics that it appears to be a square drive. Might have to make some sort of adapter to use a hex wrench.

[ScrapMetal]

I was kind of thinking that as well but I was browsing through McMaster-Carr's site http://www.mcmaster.com/# last night and came across something that might work. Under a search for "crank handles" I came up with two choices. The first is a "Malleable Iron Crank Handle"



They look about right although I haven't measured the "square drives" to see if one of these would work and unfortunately, they are on the pricey side. http://www.mcmaster.com/#crank-handles/=g5vl07

The next option that looks about right is the "Steel Crank Handle" with "unthreaded square through-hole"

http://www.mcmaster.com/#crank-handles/=g5vn6f

They have a couple more sizes (not that it matters I only need one size ) and they are also "pricey".

As I kind of want to "restore" the shaper I may have to bite the bullet and go for the authentic look. Here it gets a little tricky for me though, as which would be more "authentic" the malleable iron or the cast steel? My gut instinct (which is often wrong) would be the malleable iron. As I know absolutely nothing about what materials they commonly used between roughly 1905 and 1925 it's just a shot in the dark. Now that I look back at the shaper I think that I will also have to watch how long the neck is on the crank as it wouldn't be much good if it ends up hitting the old belt drive stepped spindle.

I've got to admit that it kind of kills me to go with the pricey solution (no matter how nice it looks) when I can fab something out of a couple pieces of square "bar" steel and a few bolts/nuts. Paying over a hundred bucks for just a handle when I bought the whole pile of scrap for $350 seems a little on the "this is a sickness" side.

-Ron

[rleete]

Well, you could always spend hundreds to set up a furnace and cast you own...

[ScrapMetal]

Well, you could always spend hundreds to set up a furnace and cast you own...

Great minds truly think alike. That is almost always my first instinct. The conversation with the wife starts something like, "Hon, I can save xxxx dollars if I get the tools and make it myself!" Of course this is inevitably followed by the all-to-familiar wife "eye roll" and "the look". It usually doesn't get much better from there...

-Ron

[Turbinedoctor]

Is a shaper really all that much better than a mill? What are the selling points other than having spare time on your hands and wanting to restore a nice old cool piece of machinery?

Durwood

[ScrapMetal]

Is a shaper really all that much better than a mill? What are the selling points other than having spare time on your hands and wanting to restore a nice old cool piece of machinery?

Durwood

That's a really good question. As I understand them the answer is pretty much "No", a shaper is not better than a mill. Now, that being said, there are a few things that the shaper excels at compared to a mill. You can follow a curve, cut gears, produce flat surfaces, and cut splines using very inexpensive cutting tools (pretty much like the HSS lathe bits). The downside on even these operations though is that the shaper is slow. If you are in a production environment or being paid on the clock they won't make a whole lot of sense.

I suppose if a person were knowledgeable enough on the shaper he could accomplish most of the operations being done on a mill but it would take a lot more thought and creative setup to get them done, as well as time. Then there are things that a mill can do that a shaper just can't (at least I can't think of a way). Things like plunging in with an endmill and hollowing out a "box" or any other operation that would be like "drilling a blind hole" or boring.

Now, I guess, for the "why?". In my case I like machines. I like working with old tools and doing things the "old way". It's the same way that I prefer to play pinball machines instead of video games or hunt with a longbow as opposed to a modern compound bow or rifle. It's much the same as why most of us use manual lathes and mills instead of going with CNC (other than the cost of equipment) but it's just taking a bit bigger step "back". There are guys that use treadle lathes or take out a file and turn a block of steel into a precise flange or some such. I don't know why it is but I have more respect for the guys that can do that kind of thing than I do for someone who learned how to program the machine to do it (I spent 25 years as a computer programmer btw. ) In all I think it's just trying to have some kind of connection with the guys I respected (like my grandfather) who did things "the hard way".

Bit of a ramble but I hope that made some kind of sense. Don't get me wrong though, I'm not some kind of masochist either and I'm still looking/planning on getting a decent mill as well.

-Ron

[Turbinedoctor]

Thanks for that little education. I too like to work on and with older style tools and machines, just thought I was missing something with the shapers. When I get more time I have three old International tractors to dig out of my father in laws barn and restore. I like old tractors and tinkering with old stuff so these projects should be right up my alley although I have never worked on a tractor restore project.

Durwood

[rleete]

I found handles like the pic above on eBay. Sold as parts off an old engine, as I remember. Square drive, but not sure of the size.