Shaper toolholders

[Rickabilly]

I've even seen a shaper used to cut helical flutes on tapered reamer blanks, and I'm sure the method could be adapted to helical mitre gears, But still the modern misconception is that shapers only do flat surfaces, which is a massive waste of machining capability.

A shaper can do almost anything a Mill can with the exception of drilling holes I suppose, and it can usually do it with far cheaper tooling, but as the skills are mostly lost you need to use some imagination. the helical jig used a rack on the ram turning a vertical shaft down to the table and connected to the dividing head drive through a set of change gears, using a three section form tool the "Gash/Gullet", Clearance and lands were all cut in the one setup, after hardening only the lands needed grinding. It was an inspired process to watch, A true work of the toolsetters art.

Regards
Rick

[Sunset Machine]

And there it is - imagination. So far, I've spent about 4 hours making chips with it, mostly just watching things. I started with flats because once that is down pat, the rest is pretty much where to put the flat. Two-way feeds (rough&finish) because there's no quick change toolpost and swapping between the two tools would be a nuisance. I use the same technique with a surface grinder and it works well for me. I'll add that a square nosed tool with about a 30 degree side rake worked best for finishing on the planer. Nice curls, smooth finish. But the work is large, didn't seem to be unreasonable to use separate tooling and take the time.

Working in isolation on things I've never seen before. Bound to make assumptions and blunders... I'd better get some more toolbits and get things sorted out.

Lost out on the Ebay toolholder, shucks. Looks like I'll have to make one.
Drawings, pictures, advice.. You guys are great. Thanks.

[Rickabilly]

Just keep on tapping away on it until you know how to get the best results for you and your machine, It can take years in isolation, but you are not on your own, are you? You've got us. Try a little back rake in combination with the side rake even just 5 degrees with a flat bottomed tool can make a difference also a big radius rather than just a flat bottom not a corner radius more like a crowned flat end. If it works it'll do wonders if the machine isn't rigid enough though it'll just chatter it's lungs out, not ideal.

Best Regards
Rick