Shaper............!!

[Artie]

Ive been watching shapers being sold for 6 or 7 months and while I dont need one, I certainly WANT one. Problem is they dont surface too often and when they do they normally go for largish chunks of money. Sort of not too high a priority. I have a golden rule which says I wont throw money at his hobby, hence I make so much of my own stuff, thats what I enjoy....

On fleabuy a Royal shaper was listed, I got the owners number and rang him and spoke at length about the beasty. 61 years old, Owned by his brother who bought it new and he has owned it since his brother passed away. Its quite stained but he thinks it probably hasnt operated for more than 100 hours in its life, certainly bugger all in the time hes owned it. He broke a ratchet gear while moving it and that is all thats wrong with it.

I paid... (drum roll).... $305 Aus for it ($255 US or 175 English pounds).

I pick it up Friday week... Im pretty excited!!!

[Trion]

Congratulations on a nice find! Looking forward to seeing pics when you get it home and start fettling with it

[John Hill]

Considering the history of the shaper the vendor may have the original vice somewhere?

[Rob.Wilson]

Hi Rob
  That's going to be a nice addition to your shop 


Cheers Rob W

[Artie]

Hi Guys, its here!

I must say Im pretty happy with the beasty. Its in very good condition, the owner mentioned one fault but I found a couple of other issues which Im dealing with. Ill show pics as we go.....

As I picked her up....



The broken part and the freshly made replacement....



The old girl after a bath.....



And her neighbours....





And  a little action.... click on the pic



Shes clutched, 2 speed with an 8 inch stroke (I was told it was 6) with auto feeds on both axis. and mechanically brand new.The ways have the scrape marks still fresh and proud, the owner (I thought) had told me it was his brother who had it before him but it turns out his father bought it new in 1948 and the best of his knowledge never cut a piece of metal with it. Maurice (now 84) inherited it 45 years ago and believes hes turned it on less than 100 times in all those years.

It has a little damage from storage but I have that under control. I thought teh paint was very good, but after degreasing it, it isnt so hot, all chalked..... but.... I think it adds to its history abd I wont be painting her...

Now to make some tool holders...... ALmsot forgot, it came with all the original tooling but sadly no vice... for the time being Ill use my large beast but will keep my eye s openn...

[ieezitin]

Artie

May I say your purchase is wonderful and the history makes it better. The sound of the clapper box and smell of the oil while working is surly art in motion while flooding the smell senses.

It’s a shame that the younger machinists out there don’t really know what this machine is or what it can do, I hope you come up with some challenging jobs to put this old girl through and show how versatile this type of machine tool is then post pics and the results.

You certainly have a set of nuts towing that top heavy beast with a small Ford. I suppose that’s the spirit that built your wonderful nation.


Enjoy your gem.             Anthony.

[Rob.Wilson]

Hi Rob

Nice bit of kit you got there mate    ,,, looks very similar to the Alba shaper i had ,,,,,,, nice looking shop too  


Cheers Rob

[Artie]

Hi bloke... theres a reason why it looks similar.. Royal became Alba (they were something else in between as well). Thanks Rob, its a good shop and its gets a lot of use but its gettin a little crowded.

When I was 23 I had an auto repair shop. I sold that 22 years ago... but.... forgot to move out.... this is an annex on the old shop.... I keep adding equipment and the now owner John just shakes his head (I had to build an extension several years ago  ).

Downside is I get to help him maintain his equipment as well as mine.....

Its a nice little machine and doesnt make all the slapping noises that a lot of these make... if I do my job well... it will! I just gotta get some wear into it....

[Artie]

Great news.... Maurice just rang me.. " Ive found the vice that belongs to the shaper... you'll have to pay postage"..... oh..... alright....... some things were meant to be.... and at 84 years, it may take a little time to remember things...... In the end I offered to make payment and he grudgingly agreed. Hell I paid $300 aus for the damn machine, he gave it to me I wont take the vice for nothing. 

[Artie]

Things that need doing.....

 
The repairs needed are:

Feed ratchet pawl... (already dealt with)

Hand bump wheel (broken off, shaft ok)

Motion rod adjusted split (over tightened and split teh cast iron)

Missing teeth on feed gears...

The hand wheel is cast iron and I decided to replace it rather than repair... So I chucked a lump of brass (my very first brass casting project about 10 years ago, finally!), trued it up, knurled it and then shaped it.











One down....

The adjuster...





Can you see the replacement emrging from the lump of steel?









And thats as far as I got.... apart from making teh brass height adjuster nuts for the qctp tool holders, pretty good afternoon in the shop...
 

[dsquire]

Artie

Very nice machine that you have there and glad to see that you are getting it all sorted out. Nice to see that the previous owner found the vice and is getting it to you. It is extremely nice of you to offer to pay him toward the vice. Even though you got a good deal on the shaper I bet the old genteman is just happy to see it go to a good home where it will be used and respected rather than just scrap iron.

I look forward to seeing this shaper make smoking chips in the future as you continue to get it sorted. It will be the envy of many on these forums I'm sure. 

Cheers 

Don

 

[Artie]

Hi Don, yes he is happy, the sale of all his 'dangerous' toys is, I think, being forced upon him by his children... so to think that this will be used rather than scrapped has influenced him to find the vice... I like to think of it as karma.... 

Smokin chips? Watch tonights vids! I had to make a tool holder as I couldnt find the ones I had... theyre here somewhere.... but hell yeah....

The motion link aduster worked out well, I still need to find a roll pin for the ratchet pawl and get rid of the split pin temporarily in use and the final suspect bit is the stripped gears. I was able to adjust the rod link to a minimum fine feed and re time the gears so the damaged teeth arent in play.. not ideal but enough to get by until i can remake them...






Click on the pics to start the vids. In the first one the noise is the power hacksaw cutting the stock for the tool holder, noisy but pretty good old machine ..(like the older stuff ;D)

[Rob.Wilson]

Hi Rob
     you did a great job on the repairs mate ,,,,,,good to see it up and running 

Regards Rob

[Artie]

Hi Rob, thanks. I have had a ball with the beast and fo rthose who are interrested I have found this site to be great.  http://www.neme-s.org/shapers/shaper_columns.html The Kay Fisher mentioned is actually a 'he' not a 'she' and he is just chocka full of info....

I also found this info rearding this shaper.... first an old description and the advertising blurb.. gee... it looks like I paid full new price for my machine... bummer... thought I was getting a 'deal'.....

"Royal Shaper



An especially well-made shaper, the 10.5-inch stroke, 4-speed "Royal" was ideal for use in the smaller professional workshops and training establishments. It's only drawback - though common to similar sized machines from several other makers at the time - was the lack (on early models only) of a support bar under the front edge of the box to stiffen the structure under heavier cuts.
Manufactured by Realm Engineering of Croydon, Surry (not to be confused with the Relm lathe makers) the machine stayed in production until the 1960s - a decade that was the last to see the installation of such machines in schools and colleges.
Fitted with a clutch as standard, the machine had square ram guides with the stroke rate controlled by a combination of a 2-speed gearbox and 2-step V-belt drive. Both automatic vertical and well as horizontal power feeds appear to have been fitted - though the vertical may well have been an extra-cost option.
With a box table 10.125" long, 6.875" wide and 7.375" tall the Royal could tackle work up to 10.75 inches wide and accommodate a job up to 8 inches high. The tool slide had around 2.5 inches of travel (it accepted tools up to 5/8" square) and the ram stroke could be set at, 43, 58, 88 or 118 per minute.."

[Rob.Wilson]

Hi Rob  Great link 

Pleased your having fun with the shaper 

Rob W

[Artie]

Gday mate.. have a look at my QCTP thread as the old girls in full flight! Couple of vids posted tonight... yes, I am enjoying it, in fact I havent heard of anyone who has one who doesnt enjoy em... this is in my shop for the remainder of my life... lathes come and go, not this.....

[Rob.Wilson]

Hi Rob 

I had a shaper long before i got a mill ,,,,,, great fun dodging hot chips 

Rob W