10.5" Douglas Shaper

[Mayhem]

Last week I saw an ad for a Douglas shaper for sale in Albany, some 430km (267mi) South of me. So I did a little reading about them and sent several questions to the seller and decided to drive down and take a look yesterday. Ten hours and fifteen minutes later, I had it back home

I had sat in the corner of this guys shop unused for several years, so there was no plug on it and it was covered in dust. It had been used exclusively for cutting keyways in pulleys. Whilst he had never used the auto feed, he was confident that it worked. Turning the drive pulley cycled the ram and the ratchet clicked forward but didn't seem to disengage and actual pulled the ratchet back - effectively rocking the table.

After getting it home, I unloaded it, put on a plug, oiled the ways and hit the green button. The ram actually travels faster than I expected and really hits hard on the return stroke. The motor is a new one, so it may actually be too fast. Alternatively, I may have screwed something up when I removed the ram to clean the old oil from the ways. What are the possible causes for the ram hammering home?

The ratchet mechanism and the gear it drives is covered in years of dust and I will give it a good clean and hopefully see what is happening. In reality, I need to do some reading and looking at youtube to learn how to adjust and use one properly.

OK the pics:

   
   
   
   
   
   
   

I had to laugh when my GPS told me I had gone off road!
   

Here is a link to the lathes.co.uk page on these shapers.

[dallen]

first make sure that it is running the right direction, the slow part of the stroke should be when the ram is going out cutting, then fast when it returns, the hammering may be from a wear on the parts where they fit together in the joint that the yoke fits into on the bottom side of the ram.

Nice shaper.

could you take nice close up of the ratchet mech. I'm still hoping to get a photo of the original one that is on my Cinci. but I'm starting to have my doubts of ever seeing a good photo of the original part.

Remember that shapers and an Oil can go hand in hand, and never stand in front when someone goes to turn one on.

Whats with the lawn mower wheel

[Mayhem]

Hi Dave - I'll take a look at that and I'll get you some close up pics. This will have to be next weekend however, as I am away on business at the moment. I'll clean it up first so you can see more than dust. I forgot to mention that the ram retracts quicker than on the cutting stroke.

I've no real idea why the lawnmower wheel is there. However, as this has no clutch and with the belt guards on, this wheel would allow you to manually set the ram position. The large pulley that is driven by the motor has a notch in the hub for a crank handle but this appears to have been lost at some point. I'm guessing this was easier than making a new crank.

[EdK]

Well this certainly deserves a or two

Congratulations on the new tool. I've had my eye open for a shaper for a long time now but none have shown up at a price I'm willing to pay.

Ed

[dallen]

sort of what I figured on the wheel, my big one you have to take it out of gear then you use the stroke adjustment which you lock up to manually run the stroke.

when ever you can, I'm in no hurry. I like the looks of that ratchet it looks sorta like the one thats suppose to be on my Cinci.

[sasquatch]

Is the stroke running the FULL length?
If it is try shortening the stroke a bit, and see if that softens the hammering.

[Dave J]

I have 2 and they will have a bit of clunk clunk as there is usually a little play in the sliding block.
The motor should be around 1440rpm.

Dave

[Mayhem]

Thanks Sas - I have to do a bit of reading on how to adjust the stroke and also the stroke start/finish. I'm pretty sure that it is currently at full stroke.

Thanks Dave - it is a 1440rpm motor.

[TomG]

Darren,

That's a perfect size for the home shop. Did you get a vise with it?

Tom

[DaveH]

Mayhem,
A very nice shaper.

DaveH