Shaper Advice requested

[DickDastardly40]

I was lucky enough to recently acquire an Adept Hand Shaper for I believe a very reasonable price and I tried it for the first time properly today after bolting it down.

Unfortunately I've passed a lot of water since my apprenticeship, shapers were only covered in theory with some small practice and I've never had the opportunity to use one properly until now. Any Workshop Technology I once 'knew' on the subject is now compacted so deeply as to be wafer thin!

What I would like to know if somebody/everybody would be so kind is what is the best shape of tool for general thickness reduction and making flats with what rake. I would guess at a rounded profile.

As I had a HSS external square thread tool handy I tried that and cut a couple of successful slots in brass and ally and started opening the slots out to reduce thickness, is this as good a method as lots of horizontal passes?

More questions to come I'm sure.

TIA

Al

 

[Tin Falcon]

I will try to get some info together for you. I gound a cutter that wolud take a .200 deep cut in aluminum. Am at work at the moment
Tin

 

[Circlip]

Same sort of shape that you would for cutting tools on a lathe Al , a shaper is a flat lathe. Tool end shape should be like an oval, then It's a case of reducing the cross feed to stroke ratio. If you use sharp pointy ones you're always going to end up with sharp pointy lines. Regards Ian.

 

[Tin Falcon]

i found the articles written here helpful when learning to grind shaper tools.

http://www.neme-s.org/shapers/shaper_columns.html
tin

 

[DickDastardly40]

Lots of good info there Tin,

thank-you very much

Al