off topic winter projects

8122pbrainard wrote: I'm off to the next project although it's not really "off topic winter" anymore! Now that I have the 1951 planer and jointer finished, I went looking for an old Delta shaper. I picked it up this morning from the same person I got the planer and jointer. He had offered it to me when I picked up the jointer but I didn't have the cash at the time. It's a 1959 HD 1.5 HP 3 phase so I'll have to add a VFD (variable frequency drive) for my single phase service. But, with a VFD, it gives you the ability to adjust the RPMS!!! I've already cleaned up the top. I got all the rust off but under it I found again that they used the flat surface as an anvil plus, there are grind marks that they may have even used it as a welding table No respect for a decent piece of "old school equipment!! I don't feel I'll go to the extend of a table regrind on this one. The good old belt sander with the resin bonded 36 grit did a pretty nice job. Getting all 3 pieces of old Delta woodworking equipment from the same person just happened to take me in a route within 2 blocks of Chris's (CQ) house. All 3 trips I stopped by and said hello as well as take a look at his and Kevin's (HW) Martinique. This morning, I rang the door bell at 10:30 in the morning and Chris answers it in a jammy's!!       (BTW also,I left before he had the had the chance to whack my pee pee )

Nice find Pete...what cutters can you run ? just router type or can you swap shafts to run blocks like we would call a spindle moulder here.
Its great to see this old "arn" with moden electrics gives them a new life running better than new.

uk1979 wrote: Rev Bob wrote: Amazing Roger! Nice work mate! At first glance I thought the big item was a steam powered Juke box! Thanks Rev Bob you may like this too Table

Roger,

Oh my, that's brilliant! The design has a certain Jules Verne quality about it, wow.

The shaper has been torn down to pieces, cleaned and primed. Ready for finish paint tomorrow morning. I pressed on new motor bearings and the spindle has been sent out for new bearings. I was going to try replacing them but everyone on OWWM said to send it out to the guy that does it all the time. Evidently Delta preloaded their spindle bearings by about .0005". For $75 (including bearings) it's worth sending out.

I won the missing fence casting off ebay Thursday!

Pete, Keep your eye out for a good set of quick change cutters & block there are many makes that have a pre set locating dowels you clip the cutters in
then clamp up, the cutters come in sets with most moulds you would use.

Most are 30mm or 1"1/4 bore so you may need your shop to turn up some top hat shape bushes to take it down to 1" if they do 1" you may find there more $$

8122pbrainard wrote: Roger, Thanks for the heads up. I have looked at the heads that have interchangable blades. I'll see if I can get one for the right price since tooling is a major expence - More than what I'm putting into the cost of the shaper and it's restoration! Well, the paint went well yesterday morning but I have to shoot the cast iron with one more finish coat. The little peaks on the CI sometimes don't cover with the paint even with a primer coat. The inside of the 20" x 20" cabinet base was also a PITA. No way to get some decent lighting down there and getting the gun inside it was the other problem. I missed some spots! So, if you ever come over here and visit my shop, I don't want you openimg up the dust door to inspect the inside paint job!!!!!

Nice machine Pete. I sold the modern version of it last year with the power feed for $900. It was the 3hp. I still have most of the cutters and do have the spindle head for inserts. I also have a sled for safely coping the ends of stock for frames. What will you be doing with this machine? Be careful it's dangerous

8122pbrainard wrote: juniorwoody wrote: Be careful it's dangerous Aren't all pieces of woodworking equipment! I've been around and used them all throuh my life but thanks for the warning. Yes, swinging a 5" diameter panel raising cutter can be intimidating!

I had inserts made for crown moulding and I had to send them back to remove some stock off the length. When I fired it up I had to duck below the machine. Thought I was back in Nam and the helicopters were coming. Don't think you'll be spinning these large cutters with the 1 1/2 HP though.

The shaper is done and all that's needed is getting the spindle back from getting the bearings replaced. The original manual motor starter is wired into the start on the VFD and the original forward reverse switch is wired into the forward reverse of the VFD.







Now onto the big costs - cutters!!!

Greg,
Thanks. I know it's going to get plenty of usage. I have lots of V tongue and grooved 3/4" Aspen paneling that I plan on recycling though the planer and shaper.

The VFD (variable frequency drive) I used is my fourth (plenty at the plant) that I've installed. They really perform well on equipment where you need more speed adjustment such as the lathe and shaper. The beauty of the VFD is they produce a constant motor torque below the nominal 60 HZ of the motor.

Jack,
Thanks for the input on the shaper cutters. It's been a few years since I've put lots of time in on one. Most was when I worked at a custom cabinet shop supplementing my college education. Before that it was learning the basics in high school wood shop. I know there is more to it than just RPM. Wood type, number of wings on the cutter, climb cutting and feed rates all come to play. However, I do remember slowing down the big diameter panel raising cutters.

Here's some interesting info:
"The proper spindle speed and feed rate will vary depending on the size of the cutter you are using, the type of wood you are cutting, and if you are hand feeding or power feeding.

The preferred method of determining the most efficient spindle speed and feed rate is to determine the number of knife cuts per inch you need, and set your RPM and feed rate off of that. A good starting point for knife cuts per inch is 17-19. To figure your cuts per inch, take your spindle RPM and divide by your feed rate in inches per minute. If you are running at 7000 RPM, and feeding at 25 feet per minute (300 inches), your knife cuts per inch would be 23 (7000/300). This may, or may not be too many cuts per inch. Take a look at the quality of the cut, and adjust accordingly. Remember, as cuts per inch increase, you run the risk of burning the wood and decreasing your cutter life."

I will not be using large diameter cutters anyway - the largest it will swing is about 4". Most all cutters are showing diameters in the 3.5" range.

I'm ready as soon as some cutters come in. Today I got the spindle back from the Pro! There is a preload on them that I didn't want to mess with. For $45 including bearings, it just wasn't worth it.

Some better pictures:






The VFD:

Roger,
Thanks. I have been looking at a ring gaurd that's on ebay now. I've also been looking at stock feeders - I lost the Delta that ended past my bed time last evening!! I bid on it but it wasn't high enough.

Hey Pete, I drove by this in a small town parking lot today. No one there to ask about it. I thought it was cool. I should have snapped a pic from the front. It has a very narrow beam. Any idea what it was originally used for?

Getting up there, my stamina sure isn't what it used to be so, I just took a little extra step with all the woodworking equipment I've been restoring. Yup, the lazy guy "push stick".





I set up the stock feeder to both run on my table saw and shaper. It will get used since I have that couple thousand BF of V grove paneling to clean up/repurpose.

The feeder it self I got from a private seller off Ebay. The base was off Ebay as well but it came from CPO outlets. It was a "recon" unit I got pretty cheap.

Feels like winter, time to bump this thread. Anyone working on anything or planning to work on something.

You should go visit Brad.