There is no joy in the world like operating a machine tool which you have built yourself! These Acto Super 8 Metal Shaper machine plans are from just such a machine. It is the ideal companion to your milling machine performing tasks in many cases quicker, in many cases easier & sometimes doing a job that hitherto was impossible or difficult with the conventional milling machine. A shaper is brilliant for plate work, cuts any angle, dovetails or V shapes all with a single tool, machines gears & racks, cuts internal & external keyways, has considerably deeper machining ability than the longest extension end or slot mill plus a large variety of specialized machining. No, it will never replace a milling machine, but having both will increase your machining ability immensely.
Single point machining is certainly the cheapest & easiest machining & most tools with the exception of special form tools simply sharpened by hand.
Angle plates on each side of the table allows support for work up to 350mm wide & the front angle plate extends the table length to 260mm which allows the mounting of thrust stops, centres, small rotary tables or similar plus a variety of specialized tooling. The tool slide has power down feed which is unusual on a small shaper. The cross slide has a machining length of 300mm with a safety overrun either way. There are four ram speeds, six cross feeds & four down feeds. This is a steel fabricated machine but all the V ways travel in cast iron machined from readily available “off the shelf” cast iron section.
As with all our other plans available from machineryplans.com,these are full working drawings with
every part drawn separately & redrawn again as an assembly for ultimate understanding. Everything is specified down to even the door latch on the stand / cabinet. Along with the plans, over 80 pages of comprehensive instructions are supplied plus over 80 photos of components & views of the shaper.
A further description of these PLANS are available on our website (machineryplans.com)
where you may also download this or a large number of other plans including our popular 6" hand shaper without the postal costs.