Thread: Douglas Shaper Modifications

Jordan,
Just to answer your email question, I don't have a 270 and it was only after I re read the posts I realized it would be no good to me as it wouldn't fit my machine.

When I bought my machine the guy gave me a pile of spares, I basically got everything other than the main castings, but it included a spare ram and bull gear etc. The ram on my machine has a chrome badge and the other ram has Douglas cast into it, the spares also came with sheet metal pulley cover where mine has the mesh pulley covers. Do you know what the difference in these models are?

Ken,
Here are a few pictures and links of shapers doing their thing.

These ones are from Rob Wilson in the UK, a very talented guy
what can be done with a shaper




More from him here
Repairing a Cub Lathe




And some other shapers taking some serious cuts





Dave

I forgot another link which may interest any member that owns a shaper as well.
ArtfulBodger.net: Shaper: Dovetail

Dave

From the Douglas shapers I've seen, the ones with the name cast onto the ram seem to be earlier models. They also had plain bushes rather than ball bearings for the main gear, pinion and counter shafts, unlike the chrome badged model which has ball bearings throughout. The mesh covers are what's shown on the pictures in the brochure/parts list for the chrome badged Douglas, and I've seen them on the earlier models too, but with different shape due to the way access was provided for belt changing. So, mesh was the standard fitment I think. The only sheetmetal covers I've seen look decidedly like a non-factory replacement, but they are all the same or very similar. The story with these is that the schools had them fitted to prevent little Johnny from poking fingers where he should have had sense not to put them.
Dave, do you need anything for your Douglas? I have some parts, although they are a bit ropey.
That Cincinatti has some grunt!

Jordan

You can age the Shaper by the numbers stamped on the Ram.

Holy crap those are some big chips.... Now I DO want a shaper....

[Hi Pipeclay,
Can you tell me where to find the No. you speak of and what the No. tells one of the age of the machine? My machine has a chrome badge and the "bird cage" guards The bull wheel cover has L803 on it via a metal plate
Cheers Alf

If you were to look at the Top Right of the shaper from the stroke adjustment you should see a series of letters and numbers stamped into it.
There should be 2 lots of numbers broken up by a slash,the 1st lot indicate month and year,the 2nd the number of the machine.

Originally Posted by pipeclay

If you were to look at the Top Right of the shaper from the stroke adjustment you should see a series of letters and numbers stamped into it.
There should be 2 lots of numbers broken up by a slash,the 1st lot indicate month and year,the 2nd the number of the machine.

Peter,

I would have thought my machine was older. I wonder when Hercus commenced production of the 270. The Hercus shaper brochure that I have includes a fax number. The Hercus No.3 surface grinder brochure, printed in 1978, has a telex number.

Bob.

Not much of one but a definite improvement. Yesterday I commenced work on a cast iron plane body. I dressed the two wide faces of a piece of cast iron bar on the shaper before using the mill. I had fiitted a recycled spindle locking lever, previously mounted on my dividing head, onto the Douglas tool head as a gib lock. Works well. Certainly easier than fooling around with a spanner and screwdriver. The next modification will be the installation of two more gib screws.

Bob

My production number is 200 less than yours and the shaper is 4yrs older,appears they didnt make tomany each year,the latest model that I have sold has been a 78 and its production number was only in the 1900's.

Mine is D/ 6 72 / 1781 Maybe the B on Bobs and the D on mine is the finisher or the guy that made it?
Or it could be that they knew the B would end up with Bob and the D would end up with Dave,LOL

Dave

Couldn't help myself, I just had to add a pic of mine

What I would like to see is pictures of boring attatchments and tools that you use in your shapers to cut internal keyways and splines. From my experiance there are some really unique setups out there and it would be great to see them

Just a simple way of keeping the swarf at bay. I should come up with something better for the cross slide.