Thread: I have just been given an ancient machine!

Holly molly if you can't use it or don't want it I'll give you $2 for it

Its a hand operated mill/slot cutter by the looks of it

Originally Posted by wheelinround

Holly molly if you can't use it or don't want it I'll give you $2 for it

Its a hand operated mill/slot cutter by the looks of it

You would probably get more than $2 if you were to scrap it

Looks like a small bench mounted and hand operated metal shaper to me.

Handy acquisition for a small model engineering workshop.

Ken.

Yep it's a hand operated metal shaper .Used for flattening or machining down steel or any other metal .With the correct tooling you can cut internal key ways slots and splines and even gears .
If you are thinking of getting rid of it at any time please email me.
Just though Id hop in for my chop too Ray .

Definitely a shaper - how could I ever forget, it was the first machine I ever operated as an apprentice ----- weeks and weeks and weeeeeeks of the damned thing. Facing castings so that they had a face to reference from for further machining.


Denn

Obviously the queue of people who would love to have it is growing.

Denn

Just think of it a muscle building workout .I remember months on the hand files ,filing a
2 1/2 " square lump of tool steel into a cube.

Kev

I've seen someone using of these many years ago and all I could say was - I wanted one. In the hands of a skilled operator these things are pretty impressive. In my hands maybe something else, but I would still like one!

What Toggy said. Its a hand powered shaper, superseded in most workshops by a milling machine. Hare & Forbes at Nth Parramatta had an even smaller & more primitive one, lovingly restored, in a small exhibit of old hobby tools in their showroom.

That said, it will still work, even when the power is out. Maybe you should apply for carbon credits? After using it for a while you'd be able to twist their arm really well

Are you going to restore it to its former glory? I think it would come up really well.

Cheers,
Russ

Wow! What a great response! They were throwing it out :O

I intend to clean it up - but I don't know how? I was going to let it sit under degreaser for half an hour and then just hit it with the high pressure hose - but I'm sure there are better ways, and I'm willing to learn how to clean up a machine properly.

Any suggestions?

Cheepest and best way to get it clean is to send it to me , I will loving restore it for you and display it in my shed, you can come and look at it any time

Originally Posted by Ashore

Cheepest and best way to get it clean is to send it to me , I will loving restore it for you and display it in my shed, you can come and look at it any time

'e don't want someone to do it for him, wot 'e wants is to know 'ow to do it 'isself.

Silly twat!

Hi , congratulations on your most interesting acquisition, I would love to hear more of its history, where it was made and what it has been used for during its working life.
As for restoration I would try the electrolytic method of rust removal, assuming there are no aluminium parts. I have had good success with this process, and as I write this I have a LeBlond Regal lathe bed bubbling away and tomorrow I plan to remove it and hose it down and follow that wth a good scrub with an old nail brush and then a scotch pad scourer and finally on the ways I will use grade 0000 steel wool. Rust that was so thick that it jambed all the slides, just washes away, leaving the original machining marks clearly visible (I have had to turn this bed over as the bath was not deep enough to submerge it all at once).
You will need to contain your shaper parts in some kind of vessel which is resistant to alkaline solutions, perhaps one of those blue plastic drums similar in size to a 44 gallon drum would do the job - you could either cut the top out or maybe lay it on its side and cut a slot wide enough to fit it in and support it in some kind of cradle. I used a stainless steel trough But I have kept it from being part of the circuit by laying the lathe bed on thick wall polly pipe and likewise I have kept the anode material from touching the stainless because if you do it apparently will over time dissolve the chromium from the stainless and form toxic chromium salts which are real enviorenmental hazards. For a power supply I used a 4 amp battery charger (Arlec charger 4) and connect the item to be de-rusted to the negative or black line and as big a piece of scrap steel as you can practically manage to the positive or red lead from the charger or other power source.
This next bit is most important. For your safety and that of anyone around this setup, make sure that you keep the 240 volt mains well away from this tank of solution. The best way is to put your tank away from the power point and run the 12 volt output from the charger to your tank with suitable wire cable, acting as an extension of the charger leads. That way there is no chance of anyone getting fried.
Also be aware that Hydrogen and oxygen are given off as your tank works, so good ventilation is important, it may even pay to have the tank outside. If you do that try to screen the tank with something like shade-cloth which lets the gasses disperse but keeps insects, leaves kids and pets out.
The solution to use to fill your tank is lectric soda, obtainable from your supermarket. About $3.00 for 1 Kg gets you enough to make up 150 litres of solution. Lectric soda or more correctly sodium carbonate, (not sodium bicarbonate used for cooking) can safely be disposed of either down the drain, or if you have mossy lawns, the grass will love it and the moss will go black and die as the grass gets greener and healthier. Some sources of info suggest caustic soda or sodium hydroxide instead of sodium carbonate, but it is more dangerous to use and I would advise you to stick with sodium carbonate. Both will shift paint, but I suspect that the sodium hydroxide would be more effective in this regard. That said practically all the paint is coming off the lathe bed in the carbonate solution.
You may want to have some form of current limiting for your power supply. I have an old car headlamp in series with my circuit, and if when I first connect it the current is high, the headlamp will limit it to around 4 amps which is the maximum for my battery charger. If with the lamp in circuit it only pulls about 2 amps I take the lamp out and it then settles around 3,- 3.5 amps. If your power supply had no overload protection, something will overheat if there is no current limiting and an overload occurs.
Just google electrolytic rust removal and you will get plenty of information. I will endeavour to upload some before and after pictures to show this methods effectiveness. The harshest abrasive used was grade 0000 steel wool. Cheers and best wishes,
Rob.