Thread: My new project

I Recently acquired a 10.5” Douglas Shaper in pretty good condition, (thanks Grahame). Shapers are few and far between up here in NQ, so although it was a long day to pick up and drag home, (15 hours, including loading, and afternoon tea, thanks Kingsley) it was definitely worth the trip.
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The original plan was to give it a quick clean and set it up but I just seem to have got carried away with myself
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Years of grime, wood dust, bugs, old oil and grease were laid bare as the solvent, scraper and wire brush went to work. Electrolysis was put to judicious use to remove old the paint from most parts.
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Work, and rain have slowed the process of painting and re-assembly but it is getting near to pressing the play button now

Cheers Phil

Wot! No YouTube vid.

Here ya go!

Hi Phil,

Just noticed your post, nice machine.

As my Dad used to say "youv'e taken it apart, now put it back together".

As its gone back together here are a few of the steps. I just cleaned and painted and assembled onto the previous pieces.

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This machine looks to have had very little use. No discerneable wear on the ways and sliding pieces.
Got a couple of Q's about it
How tight should the sliding ram be? Should it be adjusted to drag slightly, or is loose enough, but no play felt in the dovetails good enough?
The tool holder and clapper box have a #52 stamped in them
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Whilst the removable dovetail for the ram has a #23 stamped in it.
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And I think I remember seeing some other #23 stamps as I put it together. Are these inspector stamps or is it possible the tool holder is from a different machine?
Did they put serial No's on them anywhere? I certainly cant find anything.

Cheers Phil

Hi Phil,

Thank for the extra pictures, you have made a very nice job of refurbishing that Douglas. I do however have one criticism That horrible dirty black motor. I've nothing against black but it looks dirty and detracts from the rather nice look.

As far as the numbers go, it is quite likely that there were other machines in use where that originally came from, and it is quite possible that some parts got swapped between machines, particularly if one was set up for a job and another job needed to be done on that machine.

With regard to the ram, it should run smoothly without any chatter. I would think that if the ram was disconnected from the drive you would be able to, with a firm push, move it from end to end of its stroke and absolutly no side play or lift at either end of the stroke.

Saddly I've seen far to many pieces of old iron, smashed to pieces for scrap, no attempt to unbolt them from the floor, just bashed with a sledge hammer until the casting gave way.

Nice machine

PS. Lathes UK might have some more info.

The ball race version (next version) of these has the serial number stamped on the top of the ram casting, along with the year of manufacture. Have a look there. @Steamwhisperer: can you confirm that this is true for the early ones with bronze bearings too?