09-05-2016, 05:09 AM
I decided to get the trailer finished and pick up the shaper a day ahead of schedule, I have to be home for an isp tech visit tomorrow and they will only give me a 4-hour 'window' when they might come. Reckon I can use that time getting THIS off the trailer:
The seller had a forklift so there was no problem loading it. Unloading will be a little more complicated.
I've had a good crawl over it after getting it in the shed. There is one significant issue that I have found; it is not in fact a 12" shaper as advertised. It is a 18" shaper- at least the ram has just over 18" maximum stroke and the table has just over 18" lateral movement. The up-down movement of the table is about 11".
The stroke is adjustable from outside the machine, which I think is a big plus. I'm still pretty confident that everything is in as good condition as it seemed at first inspection. The gear that I was concerned about in the post above is indeed an idler and appears to run on a pair of tapered bearings or similar- should be able to get the slop out of it without too much hassle.
I think I am going to have to remove the major sub-assemblies with the engine crane before taking the main body off the trailer, don't think I have a hope of lifting it with my floor crane in one piece. Looks like I can unbolt the gearbox and electric motor, and the box table looks like it will unbolt from the cross-slide by undoing the 4 big nuts at the front. That should reduce the weight considerably. Removing the gearbox will also give good access to the idler gear that needs attention.
I'm wondering if there would be any reason not to unbolt the side piece out of the scotch yoke so I can also remove the ram? Would be nice to reduce the top weight also.
Also a couple more questions for the brains trust; the lubrication info on the machine specifies an oil for everything. The machine has nipples (''zerks' I believe they are called in the U.S.) which all appear to have been greased. Is there a fitting for an oil can to get oil into these things?
The single-leg front support for the table seems a bit minimalist (and I have figured out that the side of the table with the V-way and 2 T-slots is used to hold round stock vertically for working on the end). Is it worth thinking about putting a roller foot on this or some other improvement?
Lastly, what the heck is the purpose of the big T-slots in the base of the machine, under the table?
The seller had a forklift so there was no problem loading it. Unloading will be a little more complicated.
I've had a good crawl over it after getting it in the shed. There is one significant issue that I have found; it is not in fact a 12" shaper as advertised. It is a 18" shaper- at least the ram has just over 18" maximum stroke and the table has just over 18" lateral movement. The up-down movement of the table is about 11".
The stroke is adjustable from outside the machine, which I think is a big plus. I'm still pretty confident that everything is in as good condition as it seemed at first inspection. The gear that I was concerned about in the post above is indeed an idler and appears to run on a pair of tapered bearings or similar- should be able to get the slop out of it without too much hassle.
I think I am going to have to remove the major sub-assemblies with the engine crane before taking the main body off the trailer, don't think I have a hope of lifting it with my floor crane in one piece. Looks like I can unbolt the gearbox and electric motor, and the box table looks like it will unbolt from the cross-slide by undoing the 4 big nuts at the front. That should reduce the weight considerably. Removing the gearbox will also give good access to the idler gear that needs attention.
I'm wondering if there would be any reason not to unbolt the side piece out of the scotch yoke so I can also remove the ram? Would be nice to reduce the top weight also.
Also a couple more questions for the brains trust; the lubrication info on the machine specifies an oil for everything. The machine has nipples (''zerks' I believe they are called in the U.S.) which all appear to have been greased. Is there a fitting for an oil can to get oil into these things?
The single-leg front support for the table seems a bit minimalist (and I have figured out that the side of the table with the V-way and 2 T-slots is used to hold round stock vertically for working on the end). Is it worth thinking about putting a roller foot on this or some other improvement?
Lastly, what the heck is the purpose of the big T-slots in the base of the machine, under the table?
Lathe (n); a machine tool used in the production of milling machine components.
Milling Machine (n); a machine tool used in the production of lathe components.
Milling Machine (n); a machine tool used in the production of lathe components.