For Sale: Boynton and Plummer 10" x 15" Traverse Head Shaper

I have a very nice Boynton and Plummer shaper I’m selling. Very good condition. Works as it should. This is the biggest one, 10” x 15”. It has a very nicely made motor drive for it, all welded 1/8” plate. The drive bolts to the side although I never put it on and most people here probably wouldn’t either. The shaper comes apart and I moved it easily in a mini van. I’m asking $1500.

I think it’s all original except for the holes drilled and tapped for the drive. All I did was clean it. It has the original vise. I made the handle for the flywheel so really that’s not original, pics in the album. I guess using the motor drive, the last owner didn’t want the handle spinning around causing havoc to anything in the area and removed it.

I’m going to keep the motor that came with it and is seen in the pictures but another motor would be easy to put on. But again, cranking the handle is half of the charm of this machine.

Here is a link to a B&P catalog with the specs.

Boynton & Plummer - Publication Reprints - Boynton & Plummer | VintageMachinery.org

Here is a link to a Photobucket album with more pictures than you probably really want to see.

Boynton And Plummer Shaper by Jeffrey Ward | Photobucket

Wow that is a beauty...I'd love to have it but no room and a long drive to Maine, good luck with the sale!

Paul

Very nice Jeff! That is the first traveling head Boynton & Plummer shaper I've seen with that style base. I hope you find a nice home for it. Jake

I think it would look good in the living room. Really nice looking. No teeth missing? Did you scrape it at all or was it still in good shape. I can't imagine a shaper that old that hadn't been overhauled.
I just came in from scraping on my own antique shaper.

Thanks Paul and Jake.
No missing teeth, just pretty dirty. I wiped it down good with mineral spirits and then oiled it. I could have gotten more dirt off but I didn't want to go too far. You can tell in a few of the pictures the original color was green. It is in very good condition.

I've had the shaper for a while and wrote this to post on PM just after I got it.
I never posted because it was a bit wordy and hokey but I had it saved on my computer, so here it is.



Most of us probably look for machines the same way, Craigslist, auctions, yard sales, local classified magazines, morning radio sell it/swap it shows etc. I also check the daily newspaper classifieds as I read the paper every morning. I’ve been looking for over 10 years but never saw anything worthwhile all that time. But I knew there were still lots of older people that don’t use computers who will still run a newspaper ad. That’s what they have always been used to. So I see an ad for a metal shaper. That’s good, finally. It’s probably a Craftsman or Ammco, but it’s worth a call.

I call and ask the seller who the maker is. He’s not sure but in the background I hear his wife yell, “It’s a Boyer and Plummer or something like that.” I’ll be honest; I still don’t know what it is. I ask, “Is it a bench shaper like an Atlas?” He says no, he’s had an Atlas before and this is a floor model. So now I’m thinking it’s an old flat belt 16” or bigger model, they are fairly common here. I ask him, if it’s really heavy. He says, “Well maybe 6 or 7 hundred pounds. Now I’m totally flummoxed. It’s pouring rain out and I have work I should be doing so I tell him I have to think about it and thank him for his time.

Just on principle, I search and find Boynton and Plummer traversing head shapers. Wow, that looks interesting. So I call back and say, “On second thought, I’ll be over.” I get there and it’s still raining and I’ll be glad to get in the house and out of the rain. Of course he says, “It’s in the back of my truck.” So, out to the truck and under a tarp is this shaper. I didn’t want to get it wet so I can’t take the tarp off too far. It’s hard to see it really well under there, and it’s been wet and is starting to show some rust. I actually had to think about it for a while before I said I’d take it. And I’m glad I did because if it didn’t sell I think it was headed to the scrap yard.

Like a lot of my machines I don’t know much about them until I buy them, then search for information. This shaper turned out to be in really nice shape except for needing a thorough cleaning. It even has the original vise. I’m glad I didn’t pass on it. It has a very nicely made motor drive. It’s made of 3/16” plate or sheet, I forget where one stops and the other starts, nicely bent and welded on all joints, see pictures in the album. Of course that’s moot because I’ve made the missing handle and reverted it back to hand operation. Once you get that flywheel spinning it has no problem making a cut. It would be nice to have a young apprentice build his arms up working the handle.

All the others posted on PM seem to be the smaller examples with open legs, so I thought I would add the largest one in the B&P catalog to the archives.

Here’s a link to more pictures. There are lots of them because I’m playing with the flash and angles.

(See first post for link.)

Much as this would be an interesting purchase I'm not setup financially to to take it at this time. But I wonder would you have a video of it running at all that we could view.
Thanks

Harold, there are a couple videos on youtube of a Boynton & Plummer shaper being operated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpLiheOY338

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du3aEdj24P0

Neat machines!!!

Irby

Thanks Irby.
Neat to see them run seems like with not to much effort.
Harold

Harold, I made a very short video but when I try to upload it to photobucket I get an error message.
You are right about spinning the wheel. Once that mass gets turning it is very easily done.

Thanks for the attempt. At least I got to see how it worked based on the links Irby linked to.
I admit would be neat to have just not capable at this time.
Harold

I finally put my video on You Tube.
The shaper now resides in Mass.

Boynton & Plummer Traveling Head Shaper - YouTube

Here's a few pictures back in this thread.

A few more.

Last pics.

maynah, thank you for rescuing your photos from Photobucket!

Yup - photobucket and these other "on-line" storage areas (and this includes "the cloud") ain't what they're cracked up to be.

As I related in another thread Snapfish pulled me in and hooked my Epix into oblivion - all because I had not accessed the pix for 5 years. "Oh so sorry" they say - "But a recent change in policy..."

One concludes "If you can't hold it in your hand - then you don't own it."

Joe in NH

Joe in NH said:

Yup - photobucket and these other "on-line" storage areas (and this includes "the cloud") ain't what they're cracked up to be.

As I related in another thread Snapfish pulled me in and hooked my Epix into oblivion - all because I had not accessed the pix for 5 years. "Oh so sorry" they say - "But a recent change in policy..."

One concludes "If you can't hold it in your hand - then you don't own it."

Joe in NH

Click to expand...

You are so right, Joe! I spent the entire morning making a listing of the file names of the photos and videos I had in each album on photobucket. Then I tried to delete my account for over an hour before it finally worked. Their new CEO who started their charging $400 a year to host the photos, etc. has been bragging at every place he speaks about how much money this has brought in - the d--k! Luckily I had all the files on my computer still, and now have a list of the files in each album I had there. Goodbye and good riddance to photobucket!

Irby

Is the shaper still for sale?

I live in Mass an am interested in your shape. Is it still available?

I sold it a few years ago. I'll contact the new owner and let him know of your interest.