Mystery Shaper rejuvenation

[kevin.decelles]

I'll be using this thread as documentation of my journey to rejuvenate a shaper that came into my collection this summer. I am using the word rejuvenate vs. restore as my goal is to have it 'functional' vs. having it 'museum' quality. I've come to enjoy the 'natural-cammo' paint job.

This machine came out of an estate where it sat outside (literally) for maybe 10+ years. I paid scrap price for it, and took it as a potential project, or perhaps a lawn ornament if it was roached. Once I had it it in the shop, initial assessment pointed towards this being able to be a functional machine again. It will be an exercise in de-rusting, de-tarring (yes, tar, more on this to come) and re-assembly.

Here are some of the 'before' pics.

 

[Everett]

This will be interesting to follow, mine was beaten and neglected but yours is certainly a taller challenge than mine was. I went for the functional route vs concourse restoration as well. It will be cool seeing chip-slinging pics of these after the pics of teardown, repairs, and coming back together!

 

[kevin.decelles]

Initial assessment:
Ram is seized (assuming surface rust). Daily doses of AeroKroil penetrating oil was started
Cut/discarded the drive belts (x3).
Pulley on the motor turned pretty freely
Clutch mechanism is seized
Table screw/nut could be turned (barely)
Knee bevel/screen could be turned (barely)
Down feed seized
Clapper box seized
There was oil/sludge in the gearbox, doesn't look like water got in
Yoke is not seized, but is rusted
Bull gear/pinion gear appear to be in good shape
No motor plate on the motor, but is wired for 220V 3phase
Manufacturer tag on motor indicates Odense Denmark
All fasteners are metric

The positive:
It wasn't ever painted pink or red
A forum member (@johnnielsen ) has seen this running before
It isn't hydraulic, we're dealing with simple mechanisms.
All fasteners that I've tried do turn once oiled. Nothing broken yet

 

[Tom Kitta]

That is going to take a while!

Any idea of make and model?

 

[Doggggboy]

At the very least it will help fill in all that empty space in the shop

 

[kevin.decelles]

That is going to take a while!

Any idea of make and model?

No, we only had the symbol on the down-feed to go by. We know it is from Europe, motor is Danish, bearings in clutch/flywheel are from Sweden....

 

[kevin.decelles]

Tar.

Well, rust cleanup is going well, but the Achilles heel of the work is a coating of what we surmise as 'tar' on almost every piece. In some ways it's been good because whatever there is tar on, there is no rust underneath. The downside is that this stuff is thick, and isn't dissolving easily in anything. Varsol/Gas seem to work best, and even that is a multiple step process of soak/wipe/scrape...

Either this machine was susceptible to tar in the work place before it went out to pasture, or it picked it up 'in the pasture' so to speak. It is possible that a roof was tarred in the vicinity.... I recall that the buildings did not have asphalt shingles but had the 'red scallop clay' type roofs. You can see it in the pictures I posted above. The down-feed handle is oblong due to the amount of tar on it.

 

[Dabbler]

wow - that's some pretty sticky asphalt.

 

[140mower]

I too will be following along. It looks like a worthy project for sure. It looks to be a fair size, what is it? 24" stroke?

 

[DPittman]

Fun project. Looks like a load of work not necessarily a bad thing tho.

My go to tar remover is gasoline. Ya gotta be careful obviously, but I think it is likely cheaper than most other commercial removers and just as effective in my opinion.

 

[Tom Kitta]

This shaper shares a lot with my shaper - it looks bigger then mine so maybe it is the 18". Mine is 13" it is prema #2. See images online and see how similar it is. maybe you have #3 / 4.

Prema Shapers - Sweden

Prema Shaping machines - built in Sweden during the 1950s and 1960s

www.lathes.co.uk

 

[kevin.decelles]

Disassembly and derusting - Downfeed

The process (tubs, evaporust, water bathes, fluid-film)

The results!

Some pitting, but overall pleased with the process.

 

[YYCHM]

Interesting that the clapper, holder, and down feed table are numbered?

 

[kevin.decelles]

Disassembly and Derusting - Drive pulley and Clutch

Before:

Assessment: Clutch is seized. Bearings on clutch/pulley need replacing. One of the prawls in the clutch is broken (I suspect this was my error on disassembly)



After pics (clutch)

Assessment: Clutch is in excellent shape (minus the prawl I broke -- second prawl shown in the picture above)

Clutch is a cone drive w/no-media (steel on steel). The prawl is levered against the inner busing to press cones apart.

I need a picture of the drive-pulley (that came out GREAT!)

 

[kevin.decelles]

Interesting that the clapper, holder, and down feed table are numbered?

My Von Wyck lathe (~1903 has all numbered parts too). I think this was common on machines w/castings

 

[kevin.decelles]

Repair: Make new Prawl (actually, make two so we have a spare)

Started with 3/8 piece of steel, machined thickness on CNC mill to 9mm thick.

Etch design, drill hole, band-saw + file for the win.

Assessment:

Original prawls are hardened (confirmed w/file on original)
Interesting design - the shape is not symetrical, and when in use will be rotating at drive RPM rate. The action on the clutch is all manual and the angle of the tapers on the end are at a soft-enough angle to prevent positive locking with the clutch-dogs


TBD: Pictures of the new prawls
TBD: Heat treating of the prawls.

 

[kevin.decelles]

Teaser: Results of first home-built EDM test (to be posted in a separate thread later)

Test: Take 3/16 brass tube (as electrode) and put hole through razor blade. Test passed. (video is cool)

 

[kevin.decelles]

Unseizing of the Ram and Gib

The ram and gib were seized on this machine. I started back in August with a daily spray of AreoKroil and kept this up for about 8 weeks. I would give it a couple of good whacks with a rubber dead blow hammer every day. After 7 weeks, I started to see bubbles and vibration in the oil when I tapped (success!)

with a little pressure she came apart

Picture of the ram, on the floor (upside down)

Assessment:

Well, it could be worse. There was quite a bit of rust on the non-precision side of the gib. The oil-paths in the gib were also full of rust/crud.


To soak the gib I used a piece of 2" PVC with a cap and evaporust

After pics of the GIB

 

[kevin.decelles]

Derusting the Ram - Resizable coffin needed

In looking at the remaining pieces to derust - I lack a tub and quantity of evaporust to be successful at a full immersion. This is OK as I only want to target the business-surfaces, such as the ways on the Ram, the ways on the base (vertical knee + top). I really only need about 5" of evaporust, but will need to dip/soak the parts which will mean inverting/dipping the base. Cumbersome, but doable.

To avoid making separate boxes/forms for all pieces I went with a hinged design that allows me to resize my box for each piece. For a bladder I'm using standard 6mm vapor barrier.

Here is the coffin:

I didn't hinge the two 'ends', but the size that is hinged can be made smaller as required.

Another pic:

And the dipping candidate (a shout out to my 1-ton gantry crane from PA)

Add evaporust

Cook for 2 days, then flip..... (looking good!)

 

[kevin.decelles]

Shaper Table - Removal and Derusting

Assessment: Table is near flawless (slots/surfaces). This is going to come out great.