Lets take a look at Metal Shapers

[Movin/on]

Bought mine about 14 years ago and made sure it worked then put it in the back of my shop where it never got used. My thread about what type of attachment is this ended up with it being a clapper for a very large shaper.
So I searched for a thread about the various metal shapers, didn't see one that specifically showed all manufacturers and photos.

I've seen names like Atlas, South Bend, Porter Cable and AAmco Mine is a Sharp Sharp-Rite 8". Here is a picture but I really cant get a good view without moving a lot of stuff. I'll get a better photo in a few days.

Lets see pictures of other shapers.

Movin/on

 

[Packard V8]

My machinist mentor said, "You can make anything on a shaper, except money."

jack vines

 

[cvairwerks]

Your's has been OSHAfied a little bit, but that could probably be reversed pretty easy. For fun, pop over to Fireball Tool, and Jason's youtube channel and look at his 36" Cincinnati shaper. Adam Booth has a nice 25" I think..

 

[bmwrd0]

lathes.co.uk has a whole listing of them. I have been looking for a bench top shaper for years now, but they all seem to be either broken or too expensive. Oh well, one will show up eventually.

 

[lilredex]

Always found this DIY version impressive.

https://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/guest_bruce.html

 

[My Old Tools]

I have a nice Atlas 7B in mint condition with vise and all guards. It's a nice toy but my Powermatic Millrite gets more use.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Adam Booth (YouTube Abom79) loves his, but it is HUGE !

It does probably make a nicer finish than a mill with any style of cutter but I have not seen him do anything that a mill can not do.

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

I've got a few shapers still. I picked up my first Atlas 7b from a friend of mine who lived in Newport. Very nice shape with the correct vise. He gave me the Atlas legs for it a couple years after I bought the shaper right before he died. I've used it several times for small parts over the years.

My 2nd Atlas 7b came out of the basement shop of another elderly friend who was moving from Portland to Georgia. No way he could take all his stuff and he made me a great deal on all his metal working tools. I Just had to get them all up the narrow staircase without destroying the house which was for sale. Ended up being full two truck and trailer loads. Lathe and mill, two saws,...way more.

The big 28" Gould & Eberhardt came out of the Tacoma area in Washington State and I believe it was out of a Crown Zellerbach shop. I only used it once to cut a keyway in a shaft. It has the original vise as well that measures 14-1/2" accross the jaws. It weighs around 5000 lbs. Originally driven from a line shaft someone added an electric motor to it. A few pics of my shapers. Ed.

 

[ndnchf]

I've got this nice 7" AMMCO. It works great.

 

[MShaw]

My father had the best take, I think, on the shaper's place. He always said you could do more with much cheaper tools on a shaper than a mill. All you needed was a few hss tool bits and you can do dovetails, corner radii, and other features that require expensive cutters for a mill. No where as quickly though.

 

[DocsMachine]

Interestingly enough, just recently I've been working on this circa-1905 16" Stockbridge shaper:

(Full thread over on my board, if you're interested.)

Very much a 'labor of love' project. I have basically no need for it, and am rapidly running low on room, but the way I look at it, it's survived well over a century so far, and lord only knows how many owners and operators. I didn't want to be the one to finally junk it, so I'm investing the time and money into bringing it back up to speed.

And after that, hopefully it'll last another hundred years.

Doc.

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

I have a shop built 6". I was buying a patternmaker's tool box, it had William M. Marple and E.A. Berg chisels in it, plus other good stuff.

"What's this?"
"Oh, that's a baby shaper."
"What's it do?"
"Removes metal"
"You want it for $50 ?"
"Yeah, I guess so."

And that is how I ended up with another project.

 

[DocsMachine]

Current state of my Stockbridge:

Doc.

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

Nice job on the Stockbridge so far Doc. Good looking AAMCO too ndnchf. Something about shapers makes them interesting to have around even though they have largely been replaced by mills. Machining reduced to the basics and fun to watch run I guess. Ed.

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

I was working in a small machine shop, general help/millwright, and the boss came up to me and said see that pallet, those pieces are a shaper, put it together. I had never seen shaper before in my life or have a clue what they did. But a chunk of iron is a chunk of iron. When I finished, he said they are good for internal keyways .Now a days shops have broaching machines. Internal splines are where they really shine.