Thread: Alba Shaper progress

Talk about moving right along, well done Kev

I've had a lot of help ,without my friend the sandblaster I would be no where near where I am now ,he's the one who has been sort of pushing me along and offered his services as a blaster and painter .
Plus the guy who bought the old workshop wants to clear it out so he can get his business up and running .
I also got first dibs on a floor mounted drill press ,it's pretty old and rusty , on the head casting it has the word Canadian.
Its a five speed jobbie.
A good clean up and a new motor ,new spindle bearings I reckon it will be a good one. A small restoration for when I have nothing to do.

Kev.

Hi Kev,

Sounds like it's going to clean up pretty good, it will be interesting to compare the before and after pictures when you've completed the rebuild.

What's the condition of the ram dovetails like? Much rust damage?

Regards
Ray

Ray ,
Very little damage from rust , the ways where not covered had a fine surface rust on them , but removal with a very soft slow speed wire brush has revealed very little pitting at all.More of a stain than anything .
The the good thing about rust , once it form and dries out it basically protects the surface from further rust ,unless of course the thing is continually being doused by water and the elements.

Here are some pics of the frame ,base ,and sub base in the primer coat .the base is upside down , and you can see the channel iron sub base in the background.
Last pic is a before .
I could not get the POR paint as it has to come from Sydney ,the distributor in Darwin did not have the colours in stock that I wanted ( typical Darwin) .
I need to get the paint finished tomorrow and get the parts out of the paint shop ,the painter comes back to work on Monday and will want his space .
So today I bit the bullet and went to M10 and bought a litre of True Red ( Dulux Super Enamel ) and painted underside of the base , interior of the sub base and the interior of the frame .
Tomorrow I'm going to get some green mixed up ( same paint brand ) and get the exterior colour on .
I'll take more pics tomorrow.

Kev

Coming along nicely Kev. I always like hanging around at the blasters to watch my parts transform into clean metal.
Pity about your paint supplier and the painter coming in Monday.
I have just been painting boxes with enamel myself, and it will take 3-4 days to start to really set. I told myself this time it's the last time I ever use house paint, I hate it as it dries so slow. I have a 4 ltr tin of green spraying enamel down here, but no good to you up their. LOL

Looking forward to your updates.

Dave

Hi Kev,

Looking good.

You are making quick progress, it seems like only a short time ago that you found it!..

I notice your dovetail setup is the same as mine, one side fixed and one side removeable, that should make for easy adjustment to compensate for any wear.

Was there any tooling with it? I'm about to start making some tool holders.

Regards
Ray

I just used Dulux Super enamel ,I don't have time to wait for the two pack to be mixed and sent from Sydney .

Two tool holders with it , one is a made up one for cutting internal key ways and the other is a Lock straight tool holder ,but has the 5 deg back rake which can be used but is basically a lathe tool holder .
I've been looking at a couple of forums where some discussion on making tool holders has been discussed .
I'm sure you have already seen the posts ,from the guy who has the planer.
Have seen shaper tool holders on Ebay US ,but way too big for my machine and woefully exxy .

Ok put your sunnies on here is a couple of colour pics.
About the best green closest to a industrial machine I could find locally .
Tomorrow the two bases and the frame gets assembled and then it will go into storage ,in the mean time I'll continue working on cleaning and restoring the other bits and pieces.
Kev

Hi Kev,
Its sure is bright. Good to see it coming along so quickly.

Stuart

Hi Kev,

No chance of tripping over it...... actually when it's all together, you will only see the green. Should look the goods..

I've been reading up on shaper tool holders, and after seeing the prices they go for I've started making an Armstrong style, what size tool holder does yours take?

I take it you've come across this one.. Metal Shaper Column 33

Also Bryan posted a simple tool holder design that would be easy to make.

The reason I want to try the Armstrong style is you can reverse it and get the center of rotation ahead of the cutting edge like a spring tool holder.

Regards
Ray

Kev, did you say you were brushing this? I think Dulux super enamel is what I got mixed for the lathe. I couldn't get it to flow properly and was left with permanent brush marks. A bit frustrating after the White Knight enamel I used on the shaper which flowed beautifully.

Bryan ,
Yes I brushed it ,didn't have any problem with it flowing , does get a bit sticky when you over brush it. Considering it has been pretty hot here I was surprised the paint behaved as it did.
I found a really cheap brush made in Indonesia with natural bristle the best for brushing it on .
I've just remembered I have four litres of colour bond Rivergum I could have used ,but is a water based acrylic so I think I'm better of with the mineral based enamel .
Ray I have that site book marked and will get to read more as I get along .
Got a couple of repairs to do for the shaper ,one I'm not too happy to talk about right now,when I get over my unhappy attitude toward myself I'll post the details.

The thread I was reading last night was on practical machinist regarding tool holders .
Not sure what size tool holder my machine takes but Ill measure up and let you know. I have some very large pieces of HSS ,5/8 and 3/4 square I think the 3/4 is too big to fit in the tool holder post on the shaper. Been using the 3/4 for parallels on occasion.

Do you mean the universal tool holder , the one that you can swing the tool left and right ,turn it around and have the cutting edge behind or in front of the clapper box?
Like this ?
Shaper Project: Toolholder and Toolpost

Here's a link to a thread on PM regarding shaper tooling and tool holders.
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb...ooling-217850/

and the best one with more info and more tool holders
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb...nation-194069/

Kev.

Do you mean the universal tool holder , the one that you can swing the tool left and right ,turn it around and have the cutting edge behind or in front of the clapper box?

Hi Kev,

Yep, that's the one, I'll post up some details when I get it finished.

Regards
Ray

Just found the other link and added to my previous post .
Makes interesting reading
Kev

Hi Kev,

That PM thread with the Stephen Thomas setting up his planer makes interesting reading. I was copying the Armstrong tool holder based on pictures i'd seen, but that thread has some better pictures.

This is the general idea. More like the top one, with 1/2x1/2 HSS tooling




Phil, (Steamwhisperer) sent me a stack of shaper information on usb stick, I'll ask him if it's ok to pass on. There's lots of good information on tooling and various setups as well as operation and tutorials.

Regards
Ray